Married At First Sight EXCLUSIVE: The upcoming season finale will look VERY different this year as Nine relocates the set to Sydney’s trendiest eatery
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For the past seven seasons, Married At First Sight has filmed its dinner parties and group therapy sessions at a warehouse in Sydney’s Lilyfield.
But things will look very different in 2021, after production of the last two episodes was moved elsewhere.
Daily Mail Australia understands this year’s finale and reunion were filmed at one of Sydney’s trendiest eateries, The Grounds of Alexandria.
EXCLUSIVE! Married At First Sight 2021 will have a brand new look after producers were forced to find an alternate location for the show’s dinner and cocktail party after the famous warehouse was booked out by another production
Endemol Shine had to find another finale location with the same look and feel after a rival TV production company booked out the Lilyfield space.
‘The reunion episode was supposed to be filmed in mid-January but it just kept getting pushed back. There was no way they could afford to keep it locked in.’
The warehouse is owned by Legs on the Wall, a group which specialises in physical theatre and owns several large spaces on the industrial estate.
Shake up! Daily Mail Australia can reveal that this year’s two part reunion episode will be filmed at The Grounds of Alexandria in Sydney
Studio 1, which is hired by Married At First Sight each year, costs $7,000 a week to rent.
The space is usually reserved for Channel Nine and Endemol Shine from the start of October to the end of January.
To hire the space for this long would cost approximately $112,000.
Action! The reunion was filmed over two days at Sydney’s Ground of Alexandria on this week after the usual Lilyfield warehouse location was booked out. Pictured: Cameron Dunne (left) and Jake Edwards (right)
Originally scheduled for mid-January, the season eight reunion dinner party was postponed due to border closures and only took place last week.
This wasn’t the first time the show had faced delays due to the pandemic.
In March last year, it was reported the new season had been postponed in the wake of the first Covid-19 outbreak in Australia.
Throughout production, the cast and crew were all required to undergo mandatory testing for coronavirus.
Perth brides Booka Nile, Beth Moore and Rebecca Zemek, and Melbourne-based Jake Edwards, were all tested for Covid-19 ahead of the show’s reunion this week.
Couples from Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Queensland were all required to self-isolate for 14 days upon their arrival in New South Wales.
Despite the delay, Married At First Sight is only premiering a few weeks later than usual – on February 22 at 7.30pm on Nine and 9Now. Pictured: Beck Zemek and Beth Moore