Married at First Sight's Season 16 premiere date, returning experts, and a new MAFS digital series have been announced by Lifetime.

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Lifetime has announced Married at First Sight's sixteenth season, which filmed in Nashville, TN, will premiere on Wednesday, January 4, 2023 at 8PM ET/PT.

RELATED: 'MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT' SEASON 16 COUPLES  REVEALED! MEET THE NEW COUPLES AND LEARN ABOUT THE CAST (PHOTOS)

Married at First Sight experts Pastor Calvin Roberson and Dr. Pepper Schwartz will be returning for the new season.

Pastor Cal and Dr. Pepper will again be joined by two guest experts -- Hollywood producer, author and relationship advisor DeVon Franklin as well as psychotherapist Dr. Pia Holec, who specializes in sex and couples' therapy -- who made their MAFS debuts on the show's fifteenth season earlier this year.

Following the premiere of Season 16, Married at First Sight will continue to air two-hour episodes every week featuring five Nashville-based couples navigating the extreme eight-week experiment.

The 10 strangers who will tie the knot on Married at First Sight's upcoming 23-episode season were announced last month.

The pairs of strangers are Clint and Gina, Shaq and Kirsten, Jasmine and Airris, Chris and Nicole, and Domynique and Mac.

After the eight-week social experiment concludes, each newlywed must decide to stay married and start a future with his or her spouse, or get a divorce and part ways.

"This season, there will be even more romance and intense stakes, including a shocking twist where one bride's husband decides to make an indecent proposal to another man's wife," Lifetime teased.

But Married at First Sight fans won't have to wait until January to catch a glimpse of the new couples and the new season.

One week before the January 4 premiere, Lifetime will air a Season 16 Married at First Sight: Matchmaking Special on Wednesday, December 28.

The Matchmaking Special will feature the Married at First Sight experts selecting cast members from the show's filming location, Nashville, to wed total strangers.
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Lifetime will follow that up with a Married at First Sight: Kick-Off Special hosted by Kevin Frazier the following night on Thursday, December 29.

RELATED: 'MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT' COUPLES NOW: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS RE-MARRIED? (PHOTOS)

The Married at First Sight: Kick-Off Special will feature exclusive sneak peeks of the upcoming season as well as Kevin and a panel of fans predicting what will happen with each couple once "Decision Day" arrives.

Married at First Sight alums will also join Kevin and reveal "shocking updates" about their current lives and relationships, according to the network.

Married at First Sight: Afterparty, once again hosted by Keshia Knight Pulliam, will also return on January 4 and air Wednesday nights at 10PM ET/PT immediately after each new episode.

The Afterparty episodes will be one-hour long and welcome a rotating lineup of cast members discussing their experiences, from drama to romance, as well as special guests to offer a fresh perspective.

Lifetime also announced Season 16 of Married at First Sight will also include three additional episodes titled Beyond Decision Day, which will document the couples after Decision Day, when the cameras are gone and each couple is trying to make a relationship work in the real world.

Based on its description, the new three-episode Beyond Decision Day appears to be a replacement for Married at First Sight: Where are They Now?, the one-shot special recent MAFS seasons have included.

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Similar to Beyond Decision Day, the Where are They Now specials have updated viewers on each couple's status several months after Decision Day and at least a couple of weeks after the filming of a season's reunion special had already occurred.

However, a Lifetime representative was unable to immediately confirm Beyond Decision Day's placement in Season 16's production timeline, and if it would document events occurring before or after the season's reunion, when contacted by Reality TV World.

Lifetime is also launching a new exclusive digital series titled MAFS: Relationship Rewind starring Pastor Cal and Dr. Pepper for Season 16 of Married at First Sight.

The 20 digital episodes of MAFS: Relationship Rewind will feature the two experts giving their opinions on the most dramatic scene of that night's episode.

On each season of Married at First Sight, the strangers are matched based on their compatibility, goals, hobbies, religion, views of marriage and gender roles, and more.

After meeting for the first time at their wedding ceremony, each Season 16 couple will then have the next couple of months of their new married lives documented -- beginning with their wedding ceremony, reception and honeymoon, and continuing with the joys and struggles of daily life as they move in together and adjust to being newlyweds with their stranger spouse.

Over the years, Married at First Sight has resulted in 16 couples still married and nine children.

Married at First Sight is produced by Kinetic Content with Chris Coelen, Eric Detwiler, Montre Burton, Toni Gallagher, Erica Kessler, Amy Winter, and Cat Rodriguez serving as executive producers.

Married at First Sight just wrapped up its fifteenth season based in San Diego, CA, last month.

Only two of the five Season 15 couples were still together by the time the season's Where are They Now? special filmed: Stacia Karcher and Nate Barnes as well as Lindy Elloway and Miguel Santiago.

Stacia and Nate began the Where are They Now? special having separated shortly after they had filmed the season's reunion special, but they later reconciled.

RELATED: 'MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT' COUPLES NOW: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS RE-MARRIED? (PHOTOS)

Interested in more Married at First Sight news? Join our Married at First Sight Facebook Group or click here to view our Married at First Sight newspage!

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And click here for more updates on former Married at First Sight cast members and info on where they are now!


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.