Today is the premier of The Super Switch, a spin-off of The Seven Year Switch. During the intro, it’s described as “an extreme social experiment”.
Six couples will be split and live in two seperate mansions. They’ll be paired with a stranger, someone who is more likeminded, to find out if the grass is greener in someone else’s yard.
They’ll have Jaqui Manning, a psychologist, and Guy Vicar, a “couple expert”, looking after them during the experiment.
It’s feeling very MAFS, even though they keep trying to tell us it’s NOT like MAFS at all!!!
The opening montage shows the couples crying, drama ensuring, people yelling, and a fight, so it’s starting to feel a lot like MAFS, but go off I guess.
This year was the first time I watched MAFS, and I lived for the drama, so to see this montage is an excitement.
Let’s prepare a drinking game for the show – every time someone cries, take a shot. There’ll be a shot tally at the end.
We get to meet the first couple, Ben, 34, and Christie, 27. They’ve been together for one year.
“We met on a casual Friday night, he basically begged to take me out,” Christie says.
She wants him to be a bit more serious. He’s busy with renovating houses, probably one of the six he owns, and so Christie will often help Ben so she can see him.
He’s trying to build a house empire, and then he likes to have a few drinks on the weekend. It’s more like binge drinking. Christie wants him to not have to entertain everyone else, but pay more attention to her.
They start to bicker on camera.
“I enjoy one on one time with her,” Ben says.
“It just never happens,” she replies. “At all.”
She’s also looking to move in with him at some stage, but he’s more interested in setting himself up financially. He has housemates come and go, and rents a bedroom on airbnb.
“If we want some alone time, we have to lock ourselves in his room.”
Christie says, “There’s nothing new happening. Our feelings are on pause.”
There’s an awkward pause.
“My feelings aren’t on pause,” Ben said.
“Mm… I feel like mine are.”
After a bit more footage of their relationship, Ben says, “Christie said if it wasn’t for this experiment, we wouldn’t be together. This has haunted me for about a month or so.”
Oof.
The second couple is Justin, 28, and Neeshan, 21.
“We met at a football function,” Neesh says. “I approached him, he was too scared to approach me.”
Justin is wanting a family soon, but that’s where the age gap comes in. He wants kids by the time he’s thirty, but Neesh isn’t ready to have kids in the next two years.
She says that Justin wants a traditional relationship where she looks after the kids, and he provides.
On the same hand, Justin just wants to do his own thing, and feels like Neesh won’t let him.
“When Justin is out with his friends, he’ll completely ignore me,” she said.
All she wants is an apology, but he’s not about that at all.
“He says he wants a family and he wants kids really soon, but it’s a communicaton and respect thing.”
She starts to cry – take a shot!
Neesh stands in a doorway, Justin lying on the bed.
“I’m saying I feel like shit, and you don’t care,” she says.”
“Whatever,” he grumbles, and slinks further into the bed, scrolling on his phone.
Our third couple is Kendrick and Romina. They’re both in their early thirties and have been together for three years. Their love of dance brought them together – he was once her student.
Ro is pretty fast to cry – take a shot! (At this rate, we’ll all have alcohol poisoning)
They’ve split up on various occasions because Ro can be quite hurtful when communicating. I’m excited to see her hurtful communicating.
Ro and Ken run a Latin dance school. They’ll often carry their problems to the dance floor. We’re shown what it looks like, each being a bit passive aggressive to each other while trying to teach.
He doesn’t like problems and will check out.
“I need a change of attitude when it comes to listening to me. When ther is a problem, he ignores me or shuts me down.”
She cries again – take a shot!
Ro seems like she’s a definite crier.
“Something needs to change,” Ken says.
He says a few hurtful things in their montage, and she cries in the car. Let’s take another shot, as the experts come to harass the couples in their homes.
Jaqui meets with Justin and Neesh first.
Neesh says she wants to have a family, but not yet. Justin says he doesn’t want to be and old dad. They talk about their childhood.
Justin is described as traditional, and Neesh as needy.
Then, he talks about how he likes to have alone time where he just zones out and does nothing, but she wants to avoid being alone.
Jaqui explains that it’s because she’s an extrovert and he’s an introvert. She explains that this could be something to heavily consider.
“This could be a toxic relationship,” Justin says.
This experiment is a make or break for them. We won’t make that a drinking game today, because I lost count, but next episode, we’ll take a shot whenever we hear that this is make or break.
Guy comes to talk to Ben and Christie.
Their story is a bit boring to me. he’s really trying to set things up for his financial future.
“You want to fix me,” Christie says.
“No…” Ben says, but Guy is quick to say he thinks that’s what’s kinda going on.
“She’s very stubborn,” Ben says. “If there’s a plan and one little thing doesn’t go her way or the way she’s envisioned it, she says, ‘We’re done’, and walks away.”
Christie is described as headstrong, and Ben as larrikin.
They never have the chance to resolve their issues. He uses humour to shift the conflict away, which suppresses the problems and makes things worse in the long run.
Jaqui visits Ken and Ro and looks around their house.
She finds out that Ken was very very very little wardrobe space.
“Are you happy with how much space you have?”
“I’d like more,” Ken tells her, “but it’s not worth fighting about.”
Ro yells during arguments. Ken will look relaxed or quiet, or even switch off, until he blows up.
She’s described as temperamental, and he’s closed-book.
The big picture is this – if this doesn’t work, the next time they break up will be the last. The dance school is also on the line.
Ken and Ro tell their friends about the experiment. Ro is worried that Ken might cheat.
When Ben and Christie tell their family, they’re not keen.
“We just need some help,” Christie tells them. “We know that we could potentially come out of this not together.”
Their family are very concerned about them breaking up through this. Christie’s brother thinks it’ll be fine, but he’s worried about Ben, as is her sister-in-law.
Ben has cheated on someone before, and lost her. He doesn’t regret it because it made him a better person.
“It’s a masive risk,” her brother says.
Ben says, “If she’s going to be happy with someone else, I have to let her go.”
Everyone’s packing up their stuff, and pulling out risky clothes to tease their partners.
“Should I pack this?” someone asks, holding up stuff that I never want to ever see, or associate to them.
The contestants also talk about sharing beds and if it’s allowed.
Neesh lets a few tears go – take a shot!
It’s time to head to the mansion.
Ben and Christie are the first to arrive.
They come in and gasp at how nice it is.
“Are you gonna be able to hear me in a room with another girl?” Ben asks.
Christie pulls a face. “Why would you say that?”
Neesh and Justin are next to enter. Ben practically runs to them to greet them.
While talking to Ben and Christie, Neesh is REALLY hoping she’s not paired with Ben. She’s not interseted at. all.
Ro and Ken finally arrive, and aren’t greeted as fast.
The three couples crack out drinks and cheers to the experiment, wondering if these are they people they’ll be swapping with.
Jaqui and Guy arrive and tell them what’s happening.
They’ll be swapping with different people, not the ones with them now.
The girls are moving to another house, and the guys will be staying here.
“This will allow the couples to have a shared experience,” Jaqui tells us.
Really, she just tells us that it’s so we can have extra drama, it’ll be more intimidating and scary, and more explosive than ever before.
Everyone cries and hugs as they say goodbye. Let’s just take one shot for this whole area.
There’s a lot of, “We love each other, but things have to change,” and “This is make or break for us,” as they hug their partners.
As the women head away from the beach mansion, we meet our next couple.
Our fourth couple is Lachlan and Miranda.
They’ve been together for 2 years, and met at a night club.
“I said, ‘I’ll buy you a drink if you give me a smooch,'” Lachlan said.
When talking about when they first met, Miranda says, “Oh, I think he’s a bit of a dick.”
He wants to marry her in the next two years.
“Umm…” she pauses.
There’s an awkward silence.
He hates when guys come up and approach her.
“Of course I’m gonna come up to the bloke and say something to him,” he says.
She doesn’t like that he’s really protective.
He calls her naive to other guys intentions. TBH, I think he’s kinda the worst, and I’d break up with him.
“Usually, it’ll just end with him walking off or just leave it. It’ll cause an argument. I feel pretty miserable afterwards,” Miranda says.
“I’m only doing it for how much I love you,” he tells her.
Ugh.
Over in WA, is Aimee, 28, and Markus, 32.
They’ve been on and off for a year. He added her on Facebook one day. She doesn’t normally add random people, but she did this time.
Aimee has been married before and has two kids.
“I feel like having kids has aged me a lot, and Marcus being immature at times makes it feel like I have a third child,” she says. “I’m younger than Marcus, but I feel more mature than him. I have more responsibilities. I have a house, a mortgage. At the end of the day, I’m lying there feeling unloved, unwanted, unattractive, all because it’s too hard.”
They fight a fair bit, and he reckons he can’t do anything without getting in trouble. He claims she gets vindictive.
He had been messaging other women a couple of months ago, and then one of the girls sent Aimee screenshots of the inappropriate messages.
Jaqui comes to meet Lachlan and Miranda.
Lachlan says Miranda needs to cut the conversation with men earlier, but she says she can handle herself, and cuts them off when it’s a good time, and not be rude.
He’s described as possessive, and she conservative.
Miranda has made it clear that if things don’t change, she can’t see it going on.
Guy meets Marcus and Aimee.
He has his own place, and is a temporary visitor.
But what’s stopping them from moving in? She doesn’t want 3 kids.
He admits he can be quite immature, but he wants to spend his time being fun and happy.
Marcus is described as a man-child, and she as inflexible.
Aimee wants someone to rely on, and she’ll snap for his attention. She feels like she’s bottling things up, and her anger controls her. She wants his attention more than anything.
Marcus said he wants to fight for her, but not every day. It’s mentally tiring.
Our last couple is Tyler and Olga.
They’e been together for six years, engaged for one, and have been in Australia for four. They’re originally from Canada, and I love their accents.
Since moving to Australia, he can’t give her all the attention she wants, and she gets very possessive.
“She touched your arm! She’s flirting with you!” Olga all but yells through clenched teeth.
Later, Olga tells Tyler that she tells guys who approach her to leave. If a girl comes up to him, he’s supposed to walk away. She just doesn’t trust him.
After grumbling about how he’s not allowed to talk to other girls, Olga says, “You never have time for me. You work all hte time.”
She says she does all the cooking and does so much for him. She feels so alone, with all her family in Canada.
He’s prioritising work so they can live. I don’t like her, but I’m hoping for some Ines-esque MAFS drama.
Guy goes to meet Tyler and Olga.
The biggest issue Olga has is how much Tyler works. His issue is that she wants all his attention straight away.
Guy calls her irrational, and him a workaholic.
Olga starts to cry – take a shot!
“I just feel like he doesn’t love me anymore.”
Her jealousy pushes him away, which pushes her further.
Actually getting married is not a top priority for either of them at the moment.
As they’re packing, Olga reminds Tyler that she’s his fiance and he can’t do anything.
These three couples discuss the same bed situation, and then there’s a lot of, “This experiment could make or break us.”
Olga starts to sob again (take a shot!) and Tyle says she’ll move back to Canada if they break up.
Everyone hugs and says goodbye as they get into their taxi’s and head to the mansions.
It’s time to meet their experimental partners. The first three boys are in the beach mansion, and the first three girls are in the city mansion.
The city mansion is first to be filled up.
Marcus, the immature boy, comes in to meet Neesh, Christy, and Ro.
Lachlan, the possessive one, is next, followed by Tyler, the workaholic.
The girls get a bit thirsty over the guys.
So the city mansion is full with Neesha, Christie, Romina, Marcus, Lachlan and Tyler.
Over at the beach mansion, the girls are meeting their boys.
First in is Aimee, the inflexible one. Next is Miranda, and finally Olga.
It’s all very awkward.
Olga asks Ben if his partner can be trusted. He jokingly says that he’s cheated on him six times. She freaks out, even though it’s obviously a joke and everyone laughed.
The beach mansion is full with Ben, Justin, Kendrick, Olga, Aimee and Miranda.
Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out who’s matched with who. I’ll speculate nonetheless…
As usual, I write my recaps as I’m watching the episode, so there are spelling and grammar mistakes.
As well as doing The Super Switch recaps, I’m also doing MasterChef Australia ones, and you can find the link to those ones right up the top, or over at southhemitv.com, as well as the episodes.
Enjoy my recaps? Consider buying me a coffee.
Felicity Feiner 
Omg I never watch these shows, but your recap has me excited! I will be reading these so I can keep up with the office gossip, thankyou! Not sure about the drinking game, there are a lot of tears and I don’t want to become an alcoholic over this show 😂
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Haha thank you, I hope it helps you out.
Yes, that’s a really good point… there’s been a lot of crying so far and I can see it getting intense. Although, perhaps we’ll need the alcohol to get through it, who knows?
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