MAFS UK bride Laura Vaughan has opened up to Grazia about the highs and lows of her time on the Channel 4 show, revealing how the experience has helped her detach from people's preconceptions of her. The finance manager, 34 - who the experts paired with tennis coach Arthur Poremba - explains that she has often been hit with prejudgements that she is 'guarded' and 'stoic'.
'I've had people saying in daily life: "We were a bit worried to come talk to you,"' she explains. 'I've realised that it's mainly down to my facial expressions, which I just don't know I'm doing. After, I'm quite quickly hit with, "Oh my god, you're actually really nice."
'I've learned to not attach too much emotion to someone's first impression of you because it will quite often change.'
The dating show not only offers the chance to find lasting love, but to dig a little deeper into who you are at the core, with guidance from the panel of experts, Mel Schilling, Paul C. Brunson and Charlene Douglas. During her wedding episode, fans saw Laura bravely open up about how losing her father aged 19 impacted her.
Expanding on her loss, she shares, 'Losing my dad young... I've learned to be very self-sufficient. I think sometimes, people can mistake that for being cold and detached. I've had to detach myself at times because otherwise I'd be a wreck.'
She adds, 'I said to one of the cast members the other day, "How do I prove to people that I'm a really lovely, warm person, when I've spent a good portion of my life hiding it from people just because of hurt in the past?" But it's fine to wear your scars and be like, "This is who I am."'
Hampshire-born Laura - who also says she suffered from imposter syndrome when she met her fellow brides - has teased what MAFS UK fans have in store where she and Arthur are concerned.
She says, 'I've got emotional whiplash from the journey, so I'm sure the viewers will probably feel the same. What you've seen on the honeymoon is a real teaser as to what's to begin. I started to become a lot softer - a lot more three-dimensional. My guard just comes down. The ice queen thaws!'
So far, fans have watched Laura grow undeniably closer to Arthur - who was born in Poland and came to England aged 16 - on their honeymoon, following what appeared to be a rocky start on their initial meeting.
'The first episode was a really tough watch for me. There is so much that you don't see - you only see about four per cent of the day,' she acknowledges. And while Laura can't be the bearer of spoilers, she is full of praise for Arthur and the bond they developed.
'I think you'll see that I champion him and his incredible backstory,' she reveals. 'He always joked that if he could have employed me to be around for his entire life since he moved to England, he would have done so.
'I just think that [his move] is such an inspiring aspect of him - and he doesn't lead with it, which I think is really lovely, too. He's so confident in who he is that he doesn't feel that he needs to air that straightaway. I mean, the man can speak two languages. That's incredible and really special.'
The experiment is not the first time Laura has been down the aisle, as she was previously married for ten months. Following two years of what she calls intermittent crying and feeling broken, Laura decided to go against her risk-averse tendencies and respond to a message about MAFS UK.
After a stint on Celebs Go Dating further piqued her interest, she decided she wanted to trust marriage again, but with a 'safety net'.
Has she achieved the desired outcome? Still no spoilers we're afraid, but she wants to make a very loud and final point: 'If you go into it with genuine incentives and genuine intentions, you will get something out of the show. I know I did, whether that's a marriage, whether that's a relationship, whether that's friendships...you will get that if you apply yourself and really let yourself be in the experiment.
'I'm still just Laura, I'm still me. I think I'm more aware of myself.'