The new season of Married at First Sight (MAFS) 2026 has finally kicked off, and it’s safe to say that it’s off to a chaotic start. In one of the most controversial moments of the evening, Adelaide bride Alissa Fay basically demanded that her match, Queenslander David Momoh, get on one knee and propose… at the altar.
As a visibly surprised David pushed back on her request, stating, “I can’t tell if you’re being serious” and “it’s too late, babe”, Alissa made clear that she was serious and wasn’t going to back down. Eventually, he gave in to her request, as his friends looked over in shock and concern.
The moment didn’t sit well with fans online, with one Reddit user saying that Alissa gave off “major red flag vibes”. Others say the demand was “manipulative” and reflected Alissa’s desire for “control and submission”. “It was no longer a request but a command, once she refused to go any further with it despite him saying he was uncomfortable with it,” added another fan.
Fans reflect on the racial politics of the moment
Many also found Alissa’s request especially inappropriate in light of David’s Nigerian heritage. “Something about it sat a bit uncomfortable to me,” another user began. “The image of a white woman demanding a Black man kneel… If I was her, and that was my game plan, and I walked in and saw him… I wouldn’t have gone through with it.”
Host of the MAFS Funny podcast, Joshua Fox, had similar thoughts. “Seeing [a white woman] standing there demanding David, who is a Black man demanding he… take the knee in front of a room full of strangers… Like that felt like just a little bit off given, like, the significance of taking the knee and how… getting down on one knee… now a symbolic gesture protesting racial inequality, systematic racism and police brutality.”
Fox said he was especially shocked when Alissa continue to make the demand after David didn’t seem comfortable going along with it. “When Dave was like, ‘nah, I don’t really want to do that’, the way she was like, ‘nah, I’d do it’. And with all these people are watching. She was very firm… I know Alyssa just meant it in the proposal way, but maybe she should have just been like, ‘Oh yeah. No worries’, when he went ‘nah’, because that’s where my mind went.”
MAFS 2026 airs Monday – Thursday on Channel 9 and 9Now.
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