Married At First Sight brides and grooms are allowed to become Instagram influencers

Once Married at First Sight ends, the fame-hungry contestants are eager to cash in on their newfound fame by becoming Instagram influencers.

But there’s bad news for this year’s brides and grooms, as Channel Nine has banned them from launching social media careers following the show’s success.

In previous years, contestants got their Instagram accounts back just two weeks after the final, but the likes of Evelyn Ellis, Bronte Schofield and Harrison Boon will have to wait much longer and by then their 15 minutes of fame may have faded.

“They won’t get their socials back until May 8 after the show airs in the UK,” an insider told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday.

The source said that ‘Nine and the production company cannot risk the cast going rogue on social media’ while season 10 is still airing in the UK.

It’s also another chance to hold their blue ticks hostage if they’re caught going to press with their “terrible edits,” they added.

According to the insider, Nine and the production company are considering returning some contestants without verification badges, potentially requiring the cast to pay their own money for that coveted “blue check.”

“A few people are worried that they won’t be verified and that they will have to pay for their blue check,” the insider added.

By the time the MAFS cast gets access to their Instagram accounts, their engagement levels will have dropped significantly, which will affect their potential earnings.

While the show was airing, contestants were allowed to write their own captions to photos provided by Nine’s publicity team, but that’s the extent of their social media activity allowed.

In recent days, Nine has allowed the brides and grooms to provide photos and captions to be posted on their behalf.

Comments on their posts are also disabled and the cast can’t access their direct messages, which is how sponsors contact them.

An angry unnamed bride told Daily Mail Australia she has no time to wait to get her social media accounts back.

“I met with a few brand managers and they told me they tried to contact me via DMs on Instagram but they couldn’t,” they said.

“I’m super pissed off, we’re not even getting your messages.”

While in previous seasons the number of brides on the show has soared to half a million followers, the new crop of brides hasn’t garnered the same amount of attention.

Claire Nomarhas’s follower count has risen from 2,800 to 122,660, while Melinda Willis – who was already an influencer for the show – has grown her audience from 150,000 to 294,287 followers.

Intruder bride Evelyn Ellis has doubled her fan base from 65,000 to 162,000, which is impressive, but a far cry from the heights of Martha Kalifatidis, Domenica Calarco, or Ella Ding.

Other stars have had only moderate success building their social media brands.

For example, Bronte Schofield has only 71,700 new followers, while Tahnee Cook has 82,300 followers.

Melissa Sheppard has attracted 23,000 new followers and Tayla Winter has seen an even more modest growth of 31,100 followers.

Considering that MAFS attracts up to two million viewers per episode, this growth is quite disappointing.

The social media expansion of this year’s brides pales in comparison to last year’s season Dom and Ella, who left the show with a whopping 500,000 followers each.

With the tenth season still underway in the UK, the brides’ bills could continue to grow in the coming weeks.