Former ‘Married At First Sight’ expert Pastor Cal Roberson recently told fans on social media that getting fired from ‘MAFS’ this year was actually a “blessing in disguise,” as the show no longer aligned with his “values.”
Pastor Cal– who joined ‘MAFS’ in Season 4– recently took to social media to provide some details about the expert-ousting, while revealing to fans that there were many others sacked by the show amid the shakeup.
As The Ashley reported earlier this year, Pastor Cal and fellow ‘MAFS’ experts Dr. Pepper Schwartz and Dr. Pia Holec announced in January that they would not be returning to the show for Season 20. The announcement came as a shock to many ‘MAFS’ fans, as none of the departing experts disclosed in their respective statements why they were exiting the show.
At the time, production company Kinetic Content confirmed the show’s revamping, telling viewers it was “embarking on a brand-new chapter of the ‘MAFS’ journey with our partners at Peacock.” (‘MAFS’ debuted on FYI, where it remained through Season 4. The show went on to air on Lifetime from Season 5 to Season 18, before moving to Peacock for Season 19.)
“ … You’ve been asking, I’m gonna answer,” he told fans. “‘Married At First Sight’ was sold to Peacock and the network let go of the entire production staff– experts included, myself included. I’m okay with that, it happens in TV all the time.
“It was a blessing in disguise,” he continued. “And, in fact, I believe they were doing God’s work, because I was having some values conflict with things.”
(Pastor Cal made similar statements about his ‘MAFS’ exit last month on Instagram. He stated the show was moving in a “completely different direction,” and mentioned the “values conflict” he’d been having with the series.)
On Wednesday, the Instagram account @mafsfan reposted a clip from Pastor Cal’s video, along with alleged screenshots from individuals who worked on the show, confirming that “most of the crew” was fired after Season 19.
“Field producers, story producers and editors all let go,” one of the messages read.
While Pastor Cal claimed in his update video that he will not be talking about ‘MAFS’ going forward, he did share details about his post-show plans.
“ … Here’s what I’ve learned after 25 years of doing this, marriage doesn’t need the show, marriage needs the work,” he stated, before revealing that he’s launching his own podcast “very soon.”
In addition to the podcast, Pastor Cal told fans he’s creating a “platform” that will help people work through their relationships and learn “how to advert disaster.”
“This is where healing begins … ,” he said.
Following Pastor Cal, Dr. Pepper and Dr. Pia’s exits, matchmaker and relationship coach Paul C. Brunson, and clinical sex and marriage therapist Dr. Lisa Paz were brought onto the series as the new “experts.”
Season 20 of ‘MAFS’ is currently streaming on Peacock.
You can watch Pastor Cal’s full update video below.
RELATED STORY: ‘Married At First Sight’ Season 2 Star Ryan DeNino Dies at 40; His Ex-Wife Jessica Castro & Co-Stars React
(Photos: Instagram; Lifetime; Peacock)
I mean, if I failed 6 times out of 7, I wouldn’t be hunting around for the reason I got fired.
The “experts” will be like “Meet Vanessa. She’s a 29 year-old registered nurse who loves dancing and her dog Charlie. Vanessa’s friends want you to know she has a loyal and open heart, but she needs someone who can keep up with her energy level.”
“And this is Karl. He’s a one-eyed Zoroastrian fundamentalist with incurable halitosis and a life-threatening allergy to soap. He’s currently on the 7th year of his undergraduate degree and trying to launch a career as a professional cheese critic. Karl’s friends want you to know that he only knows how to turn left when walking, and can’t reach orgasm unless you make cat noises ”
Then they cut to the experts’ panel and they’ll be like “I think these two would make a good match because they’re both Family Oriented.”
I liked Pastor Cal as far as de-escalation and teaching people how to communicate in more productive ways, but I didn’t like how he pretended there were ways to overcome when two people were clearly incompatible and it was obviously a bad match.
The vetting process has proven to be terrible (Dani’s post may explain why) and this shake up is overdue for that reason alone. It seemed to only get worse each season.
I think the few rare successes were mostly just luck. Those are the ones that made the show fun to watch and there were fewer of them in later seasons. I don’t watch it anymore.
They want drama not actual matches, that’s not hard to see. And not hard to guess that’s probably what doesn’t align with his values. Picking the biggest trainwrecks not at all marriage material? Hmm. Ratings baby.