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.

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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’.

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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.