Considering Married At First Sight (MAFS) is one of Channel Nine’s biggest reality TV shows, you’d think the brides and grooms would be paid a big appearance fee.
The contestants have to commit to months of filming in Sydney, and for many it means taking time off work. Ankita Karungalekar was part of MAFS 2026, but her journey came to an end abruptly after allegations about her husband Micah Lomu surfaced on TikTok.
She tells Chattr contestants on MAFS 2026 are paid weekly rather than daily, and it’s not much at all. “They pay you per week. So it’s $1000 per week. Obviously that’s a lot less than what we usually earn during our nine to five jobs, or whatever you know, that we do on the side,” Ankita spills.
“And then you get, I think, a grocery list as well, [about] $300 or something like that.”
Contestants are also asked to provide their own outfits for the Dinner Parties, but are given strict rules to adhere to by production when it comes to styles and colours.
“When they told me that it’s not up to [me], it’s up to production, what they choose and what sort of colours we require on the screen, that’s when I got a little bit like, okay, then, I mean, are you gonna pay for it?” Ankita recalls.
“Because it’s like, per outfit, [I spent] $600 [or] $500.”
Did the MAFS cast reach out to Ankita after she was removed?
Ankita was abruptly removed from the experiment alongside Micah right before the first Dinner Party, so she didn’t get to say goodbye to any of her fellow cast members.
“I think everyone reached out to me after, I’m still in touch with all the cast,” Ankita recalls. “I think one thing that everyone was sort of coming together for was it’s unfair to kick me out of the show, even though there was things to do with Micah.”
The bride says the general sentiment about the situation was that it was “unfair”, because MAFS has rematched people on previous seasons.
She doesn’t see herself going back on MAFS for a future season, but admits her tune could change in the future. “There’s a lot of baggage that came with it… just disregarding someone right after they got to know that we were kicked out, the producers didn’t speak with me or anyone,” Ankita says.
“I don’t see myself doing that again, but that’s right now in this moment… it might change later.”
MAFS 2026 premieres on Monday, February 2 at 7.30pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.
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