Not to be too negative straight off the bat, but this year, our lives seem to be getting drearier and drearier. It makes sense then, that we are all obsessed with watching other people’s realities, from about two years ago when everything was… not like this. That’s why Channel 4’s Married At First Sight: Australia seems to be all we can talk about right now, despite the fact the season first aired in 2018.
At least, it’s all anyone’s Googling. According to Google trends, questions like ‘does Elizabeth come back to MAFS’, ‘what did Bronson call Ines on MAFS’ and ‘what is Bronson’s blurred tattoo’’ are currently huge searches. For your information, Elizabeth does come back, Bronson called Ines the C word during that fateful commitment ceremony and his tattoo reads ‘Just Don’t Give A F*ck’. Yeah, you can kind of see why Ines got bad vibes from him now, can’t you?
But one of the most common questions everyone seems to be Googling isn’t about the toxic marriage that was Ines and Bronson but the seemingly loved-up-turned-catastrophic relationship between Lauren and Matthew.
What happened between MAFS Lauren and Matthew?
Lauren and Matthew left Married at First Sight after the second commitment ceremony. Despite Matthew having sex for the first time ever with Lauren, something she thought meant he cared deeply about her, he admitted he wasn’t physically attracted to Lauren and they subsequently both chose to leave the programme.
The biggest talking point from their relationship though wasn’t just that shock revelation, oh no. Their scandal came earlier, when Matthew asked Lauren the most shocking thing about her that he didn’t know and she responded: ‘I used to be a lesbian’.
Now, let’s start by addressing the obvious, that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. With that line, Lauren is implying that someone can easily change sexualities, that it’s a choice someone makes. While it might just seem a bit ludicrous to some, it’s actually a very harmful myth to perpetuate particularly when women who openly date women are often told by ignorant people that they’re just ‘going through a phase’.
Alternatively, Lauren might said that she either went through some confusion and questioning of her sexuality that she experimented with before coming to the conclusion that she was straight, or that she was and still is open to dating men and women generally – whether that means she identifies as bisexual, pansexual or queer would be up to her.
But here’s where it gets really dangerous – Lauren says she actually wasn’t the one to come up with that line at all. In fact, she alleges that while she did used to date women, she never initially used the term ‘lesbian’ in her conversation with Matt but was pestered to do so by producers in pursuit of a more salacious plot twist.
‘Let me tell you what really went down,’ Lauren said on Instagram after being asked about the storyline. ‘Firstly, to answer your question. No, I was not a lesbian. I hate titles. I hate labels. As you guys know the question was "What is something about you that would shock me?". Anything would've shocked him so me being me - the comedian, stirrer that I am…I started telling him I went through a phase in my life, as most girls do, when they're young adults. I was like 18 at the time. I started experimenting with girls and had crushes on girls.'
‘The producers were like "that's awesome, this is great content, this is going to make great TV but we'll get you to repeat it and say you used to be a lesbian - keep it short and simple",' Lauren continued. ‘I argued back and forth with him and said "I don't label myself as a lesbian nor was I... I don't feel right about that".'
I was so tired and done I just caved in to his manipulation.
Despite her objections, Lauren alleges that the producer told her ‘if I just say the word lesbian I could finish filming for the day’ and even pretended to be gay himself in order to convince her it wasn’t offensive. ‘I was so tired and done I just caved in to his manipulation,’ she said.
It’s not the first time producers have been accused of plot-manipulation, Sam Ball eluded to the idea that the affair storyline between him and Ines was also faked – commenting on Instagram that viewers should spot the editing fails, a reference to her wearing different underwear in scenes where she was supposed to have stayed at his apartment all night.
Ines also was asked if it was real of fake on Instagram, to which she replied ‘The whole purpose of a TV show - if you do the math - networks have money to make or they can't run. We are puppets filming a TV show for your entertainment.
‘There is only so much a cast member can be held accountable for because we are not in full control,’ she continued. ‘I don't think it's fair on anyone who films one of these shows because it is a lot for one to carry and to be held responsible for the entire thing. I'm sorry to disappoint. I know a lot of you are really crazy MAFS fans, and they think it is actually fully real. But you're playing a character and it is a lot to carry that character.’
Grazia have reached out to the producers at Married At First Sight Australia but are yet to receive a comment.
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