They say you never forget your first, and after 29 year-old Matthew Bennett lost his virginity on Tuesday night’s episode of Married At First Sight, we doubt he’ll disagree.
The Sunshine Coast videographer, who was partnered with 31 year-old makeup artist Lauren Huntris, had everyone at home cheering after he had sex for the first time on his reality TV wedding night. But let’s just hold that thought for a moment.
Why were we cheering? Did we really have to be part of such an intimate and private moment?
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Did MAFS share a little too much last night? (Image: Channel Nine)
The newlyweds journeyed to South Australia’s McLaren Vale for their honeymoon and after watching them take a romantic helicopter ride and cram themselves into a bubble bath together, all everyone wanted to know was the answer to that burning question: did Matthew get lucky?
During an intimate dinner, Matthew shared some very personal and difficult details from his past that brought him and his new wife closer.
“I took a chance and really opened up to her about the traumatic experience I had and what really led me to closing myself off and having these issues with being intimate and vulnerable,” Matthew told TV WEEK.
“She really understood and was compassionate and kind. There was a definite connection there.”
Back in their hotel room, cameras got up close and personal as they filmed Matthew and Lauren kissing in bed before playing some horrifying sound effects of Matthew’s moans of pleasure and Lauren gushing, “That feels nice.”
Call us prudes, but it gave us the creeps.
Umm, should we look away? (Image: Channel Nine)
They say that sex sells, and the Married At First Sight producers know this all too well.
Speaking exclusively to the Woman’s Day podcast about all things MAFS, one of last year’s grooms Nasser Sultan revealed that the producers not only leave condoms in the room just in case but they push the contestants to spill all the juicy details.
“As soon as you wake up, the cameras are in your room at six in the morning waiting for you to wake up, they pull you aside and ask, ‘Did you have sex last night? How was it?'” he said.
He went on to say that on the morning after their wedding, he and his on-screen bride Gabrielle woke up to find five camera crew members in their room.
What does this say about us as a nation? Are we so obsessed with all things sex that we’re violating people’s basic rights to a bit of privacy? God help any future MAFS babies who have to learn that their parents did it on screen.
WATCH: Matthew loses his virginity on Married At First Sight. Post continues…
Putting the sexual awkwardness aside, why is Matthew’s virginity such a big deal anyway? Every time he is introduced on screen, he’s referred to as some variation of “The 29 Year-Old Virgin” like he’s the star of his own cringe-worthy movie.
“Being a virgin in your twenties isn’t that dramatic,” one person tweeted during last night’s episode.
If you were foolish enough to take a drink every time the v-word was mentioned, you’re probably having your stomach pumped as this is being typed.
MAFS fans are now wondering what’s in store for Matthew for the rest of the series. Now that he’s been stripped of his virgin status, what is his unique selling point?
Whether you’ve had sex or not, it is not something that defines you yet we continue to live in an age when there is a massive double standard. Virginity seems to be something that’s very valuable when you’re a woman but when you’re a man, it’s shameful. Just look at the way Matthew was picked apart by his fellow grooms at the bucks night.
If we watch a man lose his virginity on screen this year, what on earth will it be next year when things are expected to be even bigger and more outrageous?
He may no longer feel crippled by social anxiety and scared of intimacy, but let’s just hope we haven’t taken away too much of Matthew’s sensitivity and patience and made a MAFS monster.
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