(Seguin) — If you caught Wednesday night’s premiere of the newest season of the hit TV show “Married at First Sight,” then you might have also caught sight of a couple of familiar faces. The first being of Seguin native Ryan Kiel who appears on the show serving as not only the friend but ultimately the best man for Ryan Ignasiak, one of five starring men who go through the matchmaking process. In fact, Ignasiak, of Houston, is also no stranger to Seguin having attended Texas Lutheran University.
Clips of Kiel and Ignasiak were originally spotted by local viewers on the program “Kicking Off Houston,” a July 14 preview of “Married at First Sight,” that was aired again this week on the Lifetime Channel. That drove even more viewers to tune in to Wednesday’s premiere of the season’s first episode “Lone Stars No More.”
Although Kiel, who currently lives in Dallas, can’t divulge ultimately what happens to his friend and new wife Brett, he does share more about the experience of watching the production of the show and the real-life events that unfold for Ignasiak who marries a complete stranger and allows the rest of the world to watch as they get to know each other.
“It’s a really really thorough process of probably a three-month process with Ryan on the show on different levels of interviews and match making…”
“And then we went out to do some filming at the golf course and one of the experts showed up that day. He wasn’t expecting it. You know some of this stuff you think it’s staged but that was a complete surprise to him, so Dr. Viviana Coles showed up and told him he was getting married. So, we had champagne there on the golf course that day and from then on out, we did a lot of filming of getting to know Ryan more in-depth, so I have done some sit downs with him. So, I’ll think you’ll start to see a more in-depth look at who he is and what his goals are and then at the same time, his wife Brett, who he married – a more in-depth look with some of her closer friends and the process that we are a part of leading up to the wedding – the bachelor and bachelorette party and then from here on out, it’s going to be the more in-depth look at who these people really are, what they are looking for and then you’ll start to see some weddings and probably some good times, some bad times and everything in between,” said Kiel.
This marks the 13th season for the matchmaking special which this time couples 10 singles in Houston. Throughout the show, the couples are guided thanks to relationship experts who are all rooting for real “love at first sight” experiences.
During the show, every key moment of establishing that new relationship is noted including the wedding – a wedding that Kiel describes as having been awesome.
“I was actually the best man at the wedding, so I had to give a speech at the wedding. The pre-wedding was awesome. They had a great set up for him. The bride and groom, they didn’t have to, but they shared some gifts with each other that were pretty amazing from both sides and then the wedding was – I mean he is marrying somebody who he has never met in his life. So, you see a girl walk through the door and that’s who he gets to marry that day. So, his nerves were rolling. My nerves were rolling. I think there was only 12 guests on each side allowed due to COVID, so it was a really really small wedding but out of the five weddings, I guarantee there was not a wedding that had more of a party than we did. We had an amazing time. The wedding was wonderful. The wedding was spectacular. It was awesome,” said Kiel.
As for his friend, Kiel is truly hoping for a happily ever after ending and is honored to have been a part of this unique experience.
“Ryan and I met on a trip to Mexico through a mutual friend in 2014. He went to Texas Lutheran (University). I went to Texas Lutheran but we didn’t know each other in school. I lived in Houston. We became a lot closer. We started travelling together and then he had gotten picked up on the show. He’s been wanting to get married for a while. He wants to have kids. He wants to coach his kids in youth sports, things like that — kind of the All-American dad I guess, and the opportunity came up and I said what is it going to hurt to explores the opportunity and then he realized – he saw how in-depth the matchmaking was. It wasn’t just a shoot from the hip situation like you would expect a TV show to be, but they really want these marriages to work out because the goal is to not have five couples get divorced. The goal is to have five couples stay married and live happily ever after and that’s what makes the show great,” said Kiel.
No matter the outcome, Kiel says being a part of the reality show has no doubt been a good one for his friend and looks forward to what is yet to come.
“I would say it’s been a life changing experience. He was somebody that was a little bit quieter and kind of stayed in his shell a little bit in our group of friends and throughout this process, it kind of has given him another level of confidence. I got to spend time with his wife, Brett, the day after the wedding. So, we did a brunch the day after the wedding. She’s an absolutely amazing girl. She’s just a stellar individual and she is confident and fun and outgoing and then he is successful and loyal and all the things that you would want so but for him, if I had to describe it, I would say it was life-changing for him. He’s a different person now than he was at the start of all of this and the start of the process and the journey and then their journey has been fun to watch and fun to see unfold,” said Kiel.
The Seguin Daily News looks forward to following the honeymooners even closer with a future interview with Ignasiak. Look for that feature in an upcoming edition of the Seguin Daily News.
The premiere for the show was aired Wednesday night. The episode is set to re-air at 10 a.m. Saturday. The series will continue at 7 p.m. Wednesdays on Lifetime. The show is also available at mylifetime.com.