We’re seated.

Channel 7’s brand new dating show, Stranded on Honeymoon Island Australia, draws some obvious similarities to Married At First Sight (MAFS) — both see the contestants marry strangers, and then live together in the hope of making their relationship work.

While MAFS sees the couples shack up together in a city apartment, attend weekly Dinner Parties with the rest of the cast, the Stranded on Honeymoon Island pairs live together on a deserted island, and meet up with the other contestants at Couples Cove.

But, despite the parallels between the two reality TV shows, bride Amy Dickinson tells Chattr that she believes Stranded on Honeymoon Island is actually better than the ratings juggernaut that is MAFS.

“I think it’s better because it’s a format that hasn’t really been done before [in Australia]. With MAFS, you know what to expect, whereas with Honeymoon Island, it’s new.

“It’s not only going to be new here for the viewer, but it was new for us as well. So everything was a surprise. Everything that happened was super organic, all of our reactions to things.

“It’s just this raw take on finding love, and it’s so stripped back, it’s so real, it’s so authentic. I just think it’s something that’s so different to what we’ve seen before.”
Amy and Mike on Stranded on Honeymoon Island. Image: Seven.

Why Amy believes the Stranded on Honeymoon Island format works

The premise of Stranded on Honeymoon Island involves six couples being isolated separately on deserted beaches for three weeks, in the hope that they’ll build a strong relationship.

Amy told Chattr that the challenge of being plonked somewhere so remote encourages the couples to work together to overcome obstacles.

“You really only have each other, so you’re forced to problem solve together, navigate the experience together. You really have to use teamwork and rely on each other and trust each other,” she explained.

“You get stripped from all of the things, like worrying about wearing makeup in front of someone and putting on an act, or keeping up appearances, all of that is stripped away from you, so you become very raw and very honest very quickly, and you see each other’s faults very quickly, because obviously you’re in an environment that really tests you. “

She added that it’s a good way to “fast-track a relationship” and to find out if you are meant for each other.

“You also don’t have distractions of still dating someone, and still being on the dating apps and wondering if there’s someone better out there. I think we just have so many options these days, and you can really get decision fatigue, whereas this makes you really invest in that one relationship and really see if it can work.”

Bring on the drama!