Sunday 3 July 2022 11:12 PM MAFS Australia cancelled by American cable network Lifetime trends now

Married At First Sight Australia has been unceremoniously dropped by its U.S. broadcast partner in a shock move that has left the show's loyal American viewers reeling.

About 300,000 Americans watch MAFS every week on cable channel Lifetime, which first bought rights to the Channel Nine show in 2020 and also airs the popular U.S. version.

But when viewers tuned in to watch the latest episode last month, they were disappointed to find another program in MAFS' usual time slot.

No explanation was given for why the show was no longer airing on the main channel. A post on Lifetime's Instagram account said viewers could continue watching the series on Lifetime's streaming app.

The move is strange given that MAFS was performing well in its Wednesday 10/9c time slot, and the season was just hitting its stride heading into the nude photo scandal.

Fans flocked to social media to protest the move, with some accusing Lifetime of using 'shady' tactics to force viewers download the streaming app.

Others said they only watched Lifetime for new episodes of MAFS Australia and would be abandoning the network altogether.

But most of all viewers were upset because their favourite reality show had been pulled halfway through the season.

'Un-freaking-believable! I literally cannot believe that Lifetime has taken MAFS Australia off their regular cable TV channel in the middle of the season! I freaking hate this streaming crap... just give me regular TV,' one furious viewer tweeted.

'Lifetime is whack showing fluff instead of airing the next episode of Married At First Sight Australia,' another added on Twitter.

Many fans complained they were having trouble accessing new episodes online, with one saying on Reddit: 'I went looking for it... It's not even on Lifetime app.'

Over on Instagram, one disgruntled fan commented: 'This is ridiculous! Why start airing it in the first place?'

'Incredibly p***ed this was decided mid-season,' a second added.

Another wrote: 'You blew it, Lifetime! MAFS Australia is so much better. Show all the Australian seasons and stream the inferior U.S. version.'

One particularly mad viewer raged: 'This is the most ridiculous thing you could have done... especially right in the middle of the season.

'Whoever was in charge of this decision should pull their head from their lower end. BRING IT BACK.'

Another fumed: 'Ridiculous! To show only some of the episodes and take off the air is definitely a way to have people quit watching Lifetime altogether. Then don't air it in the first place.'

There's no word yet on whether Lifetime's decision to pull MAFS from television will affect its deal with the show's Australian distributors, or if the cable network plans to air future seasons of the Channel Nine show.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Nine and Lifetime for comment. 

The latest season of MAFS Australia premiered on Lifetime on March 30.

So far the show has been drawing about

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