WEBVTT - BONUS | John Aiken Opens Up About How MAFS Has Evolved Since 2015

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<v Speaker 1>Or Joe's.

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<v Speaker 2>This is a very very special part of the podcast

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<v Speaker 2>because I can't tell you the last time that I

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<v Speaker 2>sat in a car park Elizabeth with John Akem for matts.

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<v Speaker 1>I can't even remember.

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<v Speaker 3>List.

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<v Speaker 4>I can't think of the last time I did it either.

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<v Speaker 3>Do you remember, John? Do you know?

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<v Speaker 5>It was one of the things I've always wanted to do.

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<v Speaker 5>It's on my bucket list. I'm sitting here in a

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<v Speaker 5>car park with a two of you, early in the

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<v Speaker 5>morning on Friday.

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<v Speaker 3>It doesn't get better.

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<v Speaker 1>It's what dreams are made of.

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<v Speaker 4>Isn't it? Isn't it?

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<v Speaker 6>One thing we found out about you this morning is

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<v Speaker 6>you played cricket for New Zealand.

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<v Speaker 5>Yes, in New Zealand A. I played it for about

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<v Speaker 5>a decade and yeah, I loved it, but ultimately Maps

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<v Speaker 5>has taken over since then.

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<v Speaker 1>It seems like a bit of a strange transition.

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<v Speaker 4>Yes, it does.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm playing for New Zealand A and playing professional cricket

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<v Speaker 2>to becoming a relationship expert on Maps.

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<v Speaker 1>So how do you get there?

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<v Speaker 5>Well, it was kind of a bit of luck, you know.

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<v Speaker 5>I went into private practice. I was seeing singles and

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<v Speaker 5>couples after cricket, and then One day in twenty fourteen,

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<v Speaker 5>I got a email asking for an audition for a

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<v Speaker 5>crazy show where you marry strangers at first sight. And

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<v Speaker 5>I remember showing my wife thinking what do you think

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<v Speaker 5>of this? And she thought, well, this is pretty weird.

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<v Speaker 3>It could be.

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<v Speaker 5>Fun, so I went for it. And then we're now

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<v Speaker 5>ten seasons on and the show goes into one hundred

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<v Speaker 5>and twenty countries, So it's changed my life.

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<v Speaker 6>It's an absolute juggernau at this show, isn't it. Do

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<v Speaker 6>you think people go on to it genuinely wanting to

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<v Speaker 6>find love or is it a bit tricky? Is it

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<v Speaker 6>people wanting to get their own OnlyFans account or boost

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<v Speaker 6>their Instagram following, or get a breakfast radio gig?

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<v Speaker 4>What is it?

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<v Speaker 6>Yeah?

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<v Speaker 3>Well I think it's a combination. Now.

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<v Speaker 5>I think all of them capable of coping with cameras

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<v Speaker 5>on them, and they don't mind the spotlight at all.

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<v Speaker 5>So there is that sense of, you know, I want

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<v Speaker 5>some sort of attention, but then you've also got a

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<v Speaker 5>want for finding love. And what I would say is

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<v Speaker 5>that what's compelling when you watch these guys on the

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<v Speaker 5>show is that they aren't good at relationships. They're very

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<v Speaker 5>poor at them, but they don't really know why. And

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<v Speaker 5>so one of the things we're doing is we're matching them,

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<v Speaker 5>but then holding a mirror up to try and teach

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<v Speaker 5>them how to do better.

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<v Speaker 2>Do you ever get with some of the couples early on?

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<v Speaker 2>Do you ever go this is shit, Oh, this isn't

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<v Speaker 2>going to work.

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<v Speaker 3>Look, and you're a dick it?

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<v Speaker 1>Do you ever have those things?

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<v Speaker 3>I wouldn't.

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<v Speaker 5>I wouldn't perhaps say that's the exact word that I'm

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<v Speaker 5>thinking when I'm sitting on the couch. But what I

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<v Speaker 5>would say is that I get very disappointed when they

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<v Speaker 5>don't work out. Sometimes I get shocked at how different

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<v Speaker 5>they are when the cameras roll, because you know you do.

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<v Speaker 5>It's a two month matching process. You get to meet them,

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<v Speaker 5>you test them, you really deep dive on them, and

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<v Speaker 5>you think a lot about the matches. So when they

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<v Speaker 5>don't work out, and particularly when they don't work out early,

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<v Speaker 5>it's really hard to watch.

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<v Speaker 3>And all the experts feel that way.

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<v Speaker 2>I would want to make relationship work to not disappoint Johnny.

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<v Speaker 6>I've met him for one morning and I just want

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<v Speaker 6>him to be happy with me.

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<v Speaker 5>Let me tell you, they don't mind disappointing me at

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<v Speaker 5>all our participants on the show. And you know, that's

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<v Speaker 5>one of the things that I think people watch for

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<v Speaker 5>because it's very compelling on the on the couch. When

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<v Speaker 5>we have those commitment ceremonies, when they come at us

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<v Speaker 5>and they don't like what we're saying, it's really interesting

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<v Speaker 5>TV because you don't often see that with reality shows.

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<v Speaker 6>I want to ask about Harrison, I do want I

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<v Speaker 6>don't because I think I just think he is a

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<v Speaker 6>self involved narcissist.

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<v Speaker 4>Is that an accurate description?

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<v Speaker 3>I think I think Jordy's been triggered by this fellow.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, because I've met some Harrison's in my time.

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<v Speaker 1>So you like Harrison.

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<v Speaker 5>She can't stop talking about it, that's for sure. Look,

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<v Speaker 5>Harrison is very unique. He's unapologetic, he's very opinionated. He's

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<v Speaker 5>an alpha.

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<v Speaker 4>You said to me, he's just getting started.

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<v Speaker 5>Yeah, Oh look, I tell you what. He is a

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<v Speaker 5>major player throughout this series. He does things that really

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<v Speaker 5>polarize the group. Also his partner, and so we have

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<v Speaker 5>to call him out a lot. And I think also

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<v Speaker 5>this year, the guys on the show, they're very strong

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<v Speaker 5>with their bro code. So we have a job to

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<v Speaker 5>do as experts to really break them down and get

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<v Speaker 5>them to take some accountability. And frankly, a lot of

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<v Speaker 5>them don't want to hear it. So you know, we

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<v Speaker 5>have to be very direct in the short amount of

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<v Speaker 5>time that we have on the couch to get through

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<v Speaker 5>to them.

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<v Speaker 1>You guys have been doing this for so long.

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<v Speaker 2>Are you finding a shift in generation with how people

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<v Speaker 2>deal with feedback from the first season to now?

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<v Speaker 3>Totally? Totally?

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<v Speaker 5>So now, you know, there's almost I can see it

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<v Speaker 5>in their faces when I'm you know, the angry guy

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<v Speaker 5>on the couch, you know, giving them a serve. They

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<v Speaker 5>are looking at me like, you know, no one's spoken

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<v Speaker 5>to me like this before, no one's held me accountable

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<v Speaker 5>or held up a mirror to me, And so I

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<v Speaker 5>think it takes them a while to get used to it.

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<v Speaker 5>Some of them simply don't. They just resist, they refuse

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<v Speaker 5>to listen. Others take it on board and they can

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<v Speaker 5>change during the experiment. But any bad behavior, we've got

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<v Speaker 5>a job to make sure that we're calling it out.

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<v Speaker 6>Yeah, I mean, I hate nassism, But let's talk about

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<v Speaker 6>me for a second.

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<v Speaker 1>That's a classic segue, isn't it.

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<v Speaker 4>I want to ask you breakfast radio. When you've got

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<v Speaker 4>a duo, it's like a marriage.

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<v Speaker 6>It's basically like an early morning marriage, probably seeing this

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<v Speaker 6>person more than you see your own partner. We've just

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<v Speaker 6>started out, we have a we've started with a great basis,

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<v Speaker 6>great friendship. We really genuinely respect each other wise and

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<v Speaker 6>let me just.

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<v Speaker 1>Carry off there. There's a few little cracks. Is that

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<v Speaker 1>what you're going to say?

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<v Speaker 3>A little concern just starting to grow between the time.

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<v Speaker 6>It's going to ask what's the key to longevity in

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<v Speaker 6>a breakfast radio relationship?

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<v Speaker 4>Do you think, well, we're tired a lot.

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<v Speaker 5>Yes, I do think you've got to kind of be

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<v Speaker 5>friends going in or at least.

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<v Speaker 3>Develop that friendship pretty quickly.

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<v Speaker 5>And that's not different to like an intimate relationship either.

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<v Speaker 5>You know, you've got to do little things that build

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<v Speaker 5>the chemistry.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, so.

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<v Speaker 5>You know, catching up outside of work, you know, to debrief,

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<v Speaker 5>or when one of you texts the other person, you

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<v Speaker 5>immediately get back to them, or you actually start sharing

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<v Speaker 5>about your personal life outside of just what you're doing

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<v Speaker 5>on the radio.

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<v Speaker 3>So all those things.

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<v Speaker 5>Sort of act like a little bit of a glue

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<v Speaker 5>that sticks you together as opposed to two people that

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<v Speaker 5>just literally come in with their own egos, they do

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<v Speaker 5>their part, and then they leave.

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<v Speaker 3>You're not about the egos, you too, You're all about

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<v Speaker 3>the love.

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<v Speaker 1>And you said that since day.

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<v Speaker 2>We'd be quite seriously and we're in a pretty good

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<v Speaker 2>spot because we probably know too much about each other.

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<v Speaker 5>And I think I think one of the biggest challenges

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<v Speaker 5>is when you know, because obviously you can see your

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<v Speaker 5>growing in terms of your success and it's going up,

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<v Speaker 5>and that's when things, I think become really challenging. Whenever

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<v Speaker 5>you have success, that's when the egos start coming into it.

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<v Speaker 5>And being able to stay grounded and friends is a

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<v Speaker 5>key part of not letting that get away.

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<v Speaker 4>Forgot to tell you how accurate everything you've just said is.

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<v Speaker 1>Because you're doing this for free.

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<v Speaker 4>I mean we're on the same money, right.

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<v Speaker 5>I don't know if I want to be around for

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<v Speaker 5>this conversation.

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<v Speaker 2>Personally, Jonas Well, I've got a brother in law who

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<v Speaker 2>is in the Wild Maths fraternity.

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<v Speaker 1>Michael Goonan. First of all, do you remember.

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<v Speaker 5>Oh, I love Mickey g I mean he bought the

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<v Speaker 5>Thunder in series seven. I mean he called people out,

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<v Speaker 5>he was authentic, he was funny, and you know, he

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<v Speaker 5>was a breath of fresh air and look, I haven't

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<v Speaker 5>seen him for a while, but he made an impact

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<v Speaker 5>and I loved watching him in that experiment.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I mean lucky it went both ways because I've

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<v Speaker 2>spoken Michael about he said that I love the experts,

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<v Speaker 2>so thank god it went both ways.

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<v Speaker 1>If John was about to go, I couldn't stand him.

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<v Speaker 4>Is it glad he went on that?

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<v Speaker 6>He?

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<v Speaker 2>I think so, Like he hasn't he hasn't spoken badly

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<v Speaker 2>of it, Like he has put it down as a

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<v Speaker 2>really really fun and unusual.

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<v Speaker 1>But a positive experience.

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<v Speaker 3>It didn't work, Yeah it did. It didn't work, but

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<v Speaker 3>it does change their lives.

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<v Speaker 5>I mean that's the thing that I watch now, you know,

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<v Speaker 5>because some of them go on to such huge notoriety,

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<v Speaker 5>you know, from podcasts only fans to you know, doing

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<v Speaker 5>TV or radio. It is it's a complete overhaul of

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<v Speaker 5>their life for some of them, and it's interesting to

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<v Speaker 5>watch where they go after that.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>I think he enjoyed as well, because he didn't have

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<v Speaker 2>intentions of getting to the media or starting a podcast

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<v Speaker 2>or anything. He has his own business and that's all

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<v Speaker 2>he's known and that's all he wants to do. This

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<v Speaker 2>was like, oh, I'll just have a crack of this

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<v Speaker 2>and see how it goes. And it was a different

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<v Speaker 2>experience which I'll remember forever.

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<v Speaker 5>I mean, I think one of the challenges when we're

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<v Speaker 5>matching people is there's such big personalities now and because

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<v Speaker 5>they don't really have a lot of insight into, you know,

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<v Speaker 5>where they're going wrong with relationships. When they come on

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<v Speaker 5>the show, it can be very confronting and they may

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<v Speaker 5>not learn during the show.

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<v Speaker 3>If it doesn't work out.

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<v Speaker 5>But we're hoping that maybe down the track they think

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<v Speaker 5>about it and think, well, maybe I'm going to do

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<v Speaker 5>this differently.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, I'm just trying to work out your pathway.

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<v Speaker 6>Because you managed to get a breakfast radio gig without

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<v Speaker 6>going on MAVs. Big brother brother Johnathan, I could talk

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<v Speaker 6>to you all day.

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<v Speaker 4>Thank you so much for joining us.

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<v Speaker 3>It's a pleasure and I wish you all the best. Guys.

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<v Speaker 3>This is a great chemistry that you've got together.

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<v Speaker 1>From the expert.

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<v Speaker 5>Yeah, yeah, it's just bigger and better things for you too,

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<v Speaker 5>But just the good actors.

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<v Speaker 3>Remember, don't let him get too big on I know

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<v Speaker 3>where he's here.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, I've told you keeping grounded.

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<v Speaker 6>This will only mess up. If he starts being a dickhead,

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<v Speaker 6>look I.

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<v Speaker 3>Tell you what. If he starts talking in the third person,

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<v Speaker 3>bring me on.

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<v Speaker 2>It's the biggest warning sign of all the time referring

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<v Speaker 2>to self the third person, John, thank you so much, man,

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<v Speaker 2>it's so good to have you. Adelaide, it's a pleasure. Guys,

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<v Speaker 2>thanks for having me.