Let me start by saying I’m no spring chicken.

I turn 52 next week, the hot flushes are coming in thick and fast, and I’ve reached the stage of walking into a room and forgetting why I’m there. I pull back my jowls in the mirror and wonder how much another facelift would cost.

GliaStudios

Which is exactly why I feel qualified to say this: as much as I wish I weren’t, I’m obsessed with Nine’s Married At First Sight – in particular, the ‘mature’ couples (yuck, I hate that term) who are closer to my age.

This year, I found myself glued to the relationship between Rebecca, a 51‑year‑old leasing agent, and her groom Steve, a ‘silver fox’ creative director, also in his 50s.

The season is already delivering the usual chaos: dinner‑party blow‑ups, accusations, tears and dramatic walkouts. But there’s something else simmering beneath the surface – a slow burn that I am seeing time and time again.

It’s the way some older men react when matched with a woman their own age.

This year, I was glued to the marriage of 50-something MAFS couple Rebecca and Steve. As it all fell apart, something dawned on me – and I’m not the only one thinking it

The Daily Mail caught the pair packing their bags as they left the experiment

It says an awful lot about the male ego, and possibly male delusion. Before you get out the pitchforks and accuse me of being man-hater (I’m not), let me explain.

I know I am not the only woman over 40 yelling the same thing at the TV this season. Steve isn’t just ‘confused’, ‘overwhelmed’ or – in his words – ‘worn down’.

TV & Video

From where I sit, it often looks like there may be a teeny-weeny feeling of disappointment he won’t admit out loud. Namely that being paired with an age‑appropriate woman wasn’t what he signed up for.

Before the couple’s exit from the experiment, he seemed to say it without saying it a few times. ‘Highly emotional, loud and rude’ stood out to me, in particular.

I think we all know what you really mean, Steve. Just bloody say it. Is she truly too much? Or is she simply not young, eager and easy to impress?

And it’s not just this couple. We’ve seen it before, the same old pattern of silver foxes – and I use this term loosely.

In 2024, there was Tim and the lovely Lucinda.

She was in her early 40s, but I still got the sense her on-screen husband would have preferred someone a little younger and more amenable to his ‘bachelor pad’ lifestyle.

Lucinda is, of course, far too gracious to criticise Tim, who I’m sure isn’t a bad bloke. However, she did say something in an interview after the experiment that I felt was quite telling:

Lucinda and Tim were a textbook example of a recurring MAFS trend: the ‘silver fox’ who seems to find women his own age ‘too much’

Read More The Jackie O problem hiding in plain sight. Yes, Kyle was out of line – but he’s not solely to blame

‘I think there was a lot of resistance from him about who I was. You see him early in the season going, “Well, if she’s a meditator, we’re going to have some problems.”‘

Then there’s last year’s Morena and Tony – the most ridiculous example of the trend.

You might remember that Tony’s idea of a fun relationship involved fist bumps and ‘hug-locks’, which Morena wasn’t a fan of, obviously.

The wheels fell off pretty spectacularly with old mate admitting, ‘it got to a stage where I just couldn’t be around her and I was ducking and weaving and I was going to see my dog.’ How charming.

Oh, and the pièce de résistance? Tony blurting out that he had hopes of having a child. At 53. His wife was 57. Mate, that ship has sailed.

(As an aside, while researching this story, I wasn’t remotely surprised to see photos of him partying with a 23-year-old looking like the cat who got the cream. Sigh.)

If you’re not as well-versed in deciphering men’s language as I am, allow me to translate what Steve and his ilk usually mean when they say, or imply, that a woman their age is ‘too much’.

I don’t hear ‘too much’. I hear, ‘She sees straight through me,’ ‘I can’t get away with old tricks,’ ‘She expects effort.’

Morena and Tony – the most ridiculous example of the trend

You might remember that Tony’s idea of a fun relationship involved fist bumps and ‘hug-locks’, which Morena wasn’t a fan of, obviously

While researching this story, I wasn’t remotely surprised to see photos of him partying with a 23-year-old looking like the cat who got the cream