The season premiere of Married at First Sight on Lifetime has people buzzing, and it happens to be based in sunny San Diego for the first time.
The premise of the show is revealed by its name. It features singles from the same city, then matches them according to who they believe would be compatible for various reasons. The singles meet their match ... on their wedding day.
The first episode of season 15 was three hours long and aired on Wednesday, Jul. 6th.
Coincidentally, NBC 7 spoke with participant Mitch Silverstein for a special project for LX News called Connect the Dots (scroll down for the video 👇 ) where we interviewed Silverstein for his environmental work.
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In the project, Silverstein represents Surfrider Foundation’s San Diego County Chapter by talking about the amount of plastic that winds up in the ocean. He is their policy coordinator.
“In 2019, our volunteers did collect over 10,000 plastic bags from San Diego County beaches,” said Silverstein in a virtual interview.
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Silverstein is already the subject of quite a few social media comments in response to the first episode, which he says he is bracing for as more of the season airs. We caught up with him to ask a few questions about the experience, which he says is not something he ever thought he would do.
"This is not what I thought I'd be in the spotlight for, ever, before I just decided to do it," Silverstein admitted with a laugh. "It is a little crazy, it’s a little weird and it’s just starting, so I'm not really sure what it's going to be like."
In some of the trailers for this season, San Diegans may spot some familiar places including Mission Bay. Silverstein said he couldn't reveal too much about his time on the show (obviously, no spoiler alerts here!) but that he'd had to think twice if asked to do it again.
"I'll tell you this, if I knew how intense the process is, not only marrying a stranger, but just having it sort of documented, if I knew how much work that would be and how many hours per week it would be and how intense that would be up front, I may have not done it," Silverstein continued. "But I do not regret doing it and I'm glad I did and I'm a better man for it."
Check out the full video above for a Q&A with Silverstein on the experience including who he told before going on the show and whether it will impact his work as an environmentalist.
There are new episodes of Married at First Sight every Wednesday at 8/7c and are available for streaming.