Married At First Sight’s love experts have spoken about introducing the first transgender bride in the new series.
The hit E4 reality show returns this week with a brand new cast of singletons who will be matched up on their wedding day.
One of those joining the new series is 29-year-old Ella-Morgan from Weston-Super-Mare who will be the show’s first openly trans bride.
Ahead of the first episode this evening, the show’s relationship experts Paul C Brunson and Mel Schilling have spoken about the pairing with Ella following negative online comments.
Chatting on Capital Breakfast with Roman Kemp, Mel said: “I think the most important thing to talk about with Ella, firstly, we love her so much, and what an incredible role model, she would hate to think that I was saying that because she doesn’t see herself as a role model, but just having visibility of a trans woman to normalise that is so important, so incredibly important.
“The number one thing that was important for us was looking after her from a mental health perspective, the duty of care to her is number one, and then it’s about consent, we’re not in the business of surprising anyone, this is not a gotcha moment, this is a proper relationship between a man and a woman.
“So, we did get consent, we got her consent, and we got his consent, he knew that he was marrying a trans woman.”
Paul added: “I think it’ll be apparent once you watch the show, right?
“Everyone’s talking about things that they haven’t even seen yet, but once you watch it, you will understand how much care that we’ve put into not just Ella’s match, but in everyone’s match on the show.”
Listen to Capital Breakfast with Roman Kemp, weekdays from 6am – 10am across the UK and on Global Player.
Married At First Sight airs on Monday-Thursdays at 9PM on E4.
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