Marriage Boot Camp Season 16 Release Date, Cast, And More Information

Fans of "Marriage Boot Camp" have reason to celebrate, as their favorite show will return soon. The series, which serves as one of WE tv's hit reality offerings, started airing in May 2013 as a spinoff of the questionably offensive 2004 show "Bridezillas." While the latter follows women on their way to the altar, "Marriage Boot Camp" checks in with brides and grooms long after they have said, "I do."

The series brings together four married couples, usually hip hop and reality TV celebrities, and puts them together in a house for ten days, where they work through their issues with a pair of experts who try to help. The series was initially based on a marriage seminar of the same name by husband-and-wife team Jim and Elizabeth Carroll. Jim is a businessman who studied with Dr. Phil, according to the seminar's website, and Elizabeth is a life coach with "a master's level education in Counseling Psychology." (Is that the same as a master's degree?) When KISS member Gene Simmons and his partner Shannon Tweed were having problems, the Carrolls joined them on "Gene Simmons: Family Jewels," and thus began their reality TV journey. The two served as relationship experts on the first seven seasons of the "Boot Camp" series.

Of course, fans of the show are anxious to get their fix for the next season, which just so happens to be its 16th installment.

Fans won't have to wait too much longer to catch the newest season of "Marriage Boot Camp." WE tv, which is a subsidiary of AMC Networks and sister channel to AMC and BBC America (among others), recently announced that the new season will start soon. Season 16 will be the next in the "Hip Hop Edition" of the series, and it's scheduled to premiere on Thursday, October 7, at 9 p.m., according to AMC's official press release.

While the series has already aired close to 20 seasons since its premiere in 2013, they are not all strictly labeled "Marriage Boot Camp." They vary when it comes to the secondary title. The first two seasons carried the name, and some of the cast members, of its parent program, "Marriage Boot Camp: Bridezillas." Then they revamped the show a year later as a "celebrity" series called "Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars." After seven seasons, the series added "Family Edition" to the title, so they could incorporate the couples' family members, as well. The last three seasons have been "Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars – Hip Hop Edition," and deal with celebs from the hip hop genre. The series is produced by Thinkfactory Media, which also created the reality show "Mama June: From Not to Hot."

With the new season of "Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition" just around the corner, WE tv and AMC announced the new cast members, also from the world of hip hop (natch). Hip hop legend N.O.R.E. and spouse Neri, who have been together for 14 years, are the first of the four couples. Per the show's introductory video on Facebook, the couple dated for four years before tying the knot, and they have three children. They're joined by Monie Love, twice-nominated for a Grammy, and her artist and songwriter husband Tuff, who have been together for 13 years and have one child together.

Producer Mally Mall and spouse Tresure, both formerly of "Love & Hip Hop" (Hollywood and Atlanta, respectively), have the added difficulty of a long-distance relationship because Mall is in jail for running a prostitution ring. And rounding off the four couples are "Love & Hip Hop Hollywood's favorite on-again/off-again couple" (per the press release), Siir Brock and Amber Laura. The two have a long-running relationship, having started out as best friends and high school sweethearts who made for tumultuous and historic television when Brock came out as bisexual during a previous season of "Love & Hip Hop."

The four couples will be joined by relationship experts Dr. Ish Major and Judge Lynn Toler. Toler replaces Dr. Venus "Dr. V" Nicolino, who served with Dr. Ish during Seasons 8 through 15 of the series.

Season 16 will dish up the tumultuous and stressful situations fans expect from "Marriage Boot Camp," with Dr. Ish Major and Judge Lynn Toler putting the couples through their paces. The two relationship experts will help the couples to "confront lies, tears, and denials," according to the official website, to see whether their relationships survive.

Each couple has their own problems, of course: N.O.R.E. and Neri struggle with more than just their names sounding alike (lol), particularly as N.O.R.E. claims he is both "the talker, and the better listener." (How is that possible?) Siir Brock and Amber Laura, of course, must deal with the elephant in the room, aka Brock's bisexuality. And, apparently Monie Love and Tuff will reconcile with his infidelity (which occurred while she was pregnant), and Mally Mall and Tresure's struggles seem related to drinking. Ooh, the drama!

The show's active Instagram and Facebook pages have lots of previews of the show, promoting more twists and trials. The sneak peek of the show promises "the toughest season ever," with pregnancy tests, deception and betrayals, "cruel disrespect," and "the biggest truth bomb in 'Marriage Boot Camp' history." Add to that the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the cast being quarantined in their respective hotel rooms for weeks, and being trapped in the house together. All of this blends into the perfect recipe for a dramatic season.