Clare Verrall says she was “hurled into the lion’s den” during her time on Married At First Sight and warns against signing up for reality TV.
Eight years on, Verrall reflects on how the show manufactured ways to pit contestants against each other and stitch dialogue out of context.
“We look back in time at, say, the gladiators… and how disgusting and bloody and horrific that was that people would sit and watch that and cheer that on,” Verrall says. “We’re doing the same thing.”
“It’s completely manipulated… the way they cobble things together is crazy.”
Claire Verrall opened up to Antoinette Lattouf on The Weekend Briefing about her experience during MAFS, and her mental health since:
Verrall was matched with contestant Jono Pitman during the show’s second season in 2016, and says the experience heavily impacted her mental health.
“It was incredibly stressful – they throw you into every sort of situation so they make you explode,” Verrall says. “It was really awful for both of us.”
But Verrall does not keep not talking about her time on the show for fame and attention.
“I kept speaking about my mental health because I care about others,” she says. “I want to stop someone else from doing this – from putting themselves in that situation.”
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