A BULL riding accident put everything into perspective for Sean Hollands.

The Maryborough cowboy is determined to live life without regret, and it's a motto he's taking into Channel 9's reality dating series Married at First Sight.

The 35-year-old, who has two children with his ex-wife, will be one of 20 singles lining up at the altar to marry a total stranger in the eight-week social experiment.

"I'd only ever seen one episode, but I asked a few people about it and thought I'd give it a crack," he told the Chronicle.

"I thought the experts would be able to find me a really good match.

"I had no idea what was expected of me for the show, I was just really looking to find love."

After finishing runner up in the Queensland Rodeo Association in 2004, he was seriously injured in a bull riding accident the following year.

"I was at a rodeo up near Agnes Waters, I came out of the gate and I don't remember anything after that," he said.

"My mate told me the bull threw me into the fence and from the moment that happened I must have been in a daze. I just remember waking up with the ambo there. I had two fractured ribs, a punctured lung and internal bleeding.

"I was in hospital for nine days and on oxygen for five days. I didn't think I was going to make it through it. It was pretty scary."

Sean returned to work as a mining technician three months later, but it took him six years to get back on a bull.

"I finally jumped on another one to get over my fear and there's been no stopping me since then," he said.

"Before that I thought 'I wish I had done this or that', but now if I want to do something then I work my way towards it.

"I live life with no regrets. When I applied for this experiment people said a few things but when I explained it to them they understood."

Sean hopes to meet a woman who shares his love of horse riding, the outdoors and rural living.

"I knew it was going to take someone special who's got a love for those things," he said.

"And someone who knows the mining industry who could understand me being away for a week at a time."

Married at First Sight premieres on Monday January 30 on Channel 9.