Married at First Sight Australia 2023 viewers have started “slut-shaming” Melissa Sheppard after she seemingly didn’t respect her TV husband Josh White‘s boundaries around discussing their sex life.
The 41-year-old was praised during the MAFS premiere for her being open about sex. Still, viewers started to see “red flags” as her Disney-loving groom expressed how uncomfortable he was talking about “being intimate”.
“I’ve got some integrity, where I’d keep some things for us… I would never talk about that stuff in real life,” the 40-year-old said during the February 5 episode.
Meanwhile, Melissa was edited to appear as though she was always talking about “f*cking” and making crude comments about Josh’s body and their sex life.
It sparked a slew of “slut shaming” comments from fans, with some suggesting that Melissa pressuring Josh would be called out as sexual harassment if the gender roles were reversed.
However, others argued that Melissa’s comments were similar to celebrated (and younger) sex-positive influencers like Abbie Chatfield and Domenica Calarco.
Married at First Sight producers purposefully paired sex-positive Melissa with ‘conservative’ Josh
As reported in episode 253 of the So Dramatic! podcast, Melissa has been “crying every day” since MAFS 2023 premiered because of the over-produced “horny older bride” narrative.
“Mel and Josh’s whole thing is that Josh didn’t want to discuss their sex life on camera, and Melissa did,” an insider said.
“They are going to make it [look] like Josh rejected her because she was too horny and that she was too much for him,” an insider revealed.
Producers allegedly edited together all the times she spoke about sex over the entire honeymoon week, making it appear as though Melissa made multiple sexual advances in just a few hours.
“Mel and Josh are complete opposites — the experts deliberately mismatched them for sh*ts and giggles,” the insider claimed
The spy added: “They really wanted to paint her as the horny older bride and that’s the storyline and character they’re giving her so they’re only showing that side of her. They had it planned before filming even began.”
How did Married at First Sight Australia 2023 producers manipulate Josh and Melissa’s storyline?
Producers reportedly paired her with Josh and played up his traditionally “childish” interests like Disney and made it appear as though he wasn’t “sexually confident”, all to make Melissa’s sex drive look “even more exaggerated”.
“The producers hounded Mel to talk about sex or constantly ask her if she’s had sex today, or set her up in scenarios that would make her have to talk about sex or make it look like she was trying to have sex with Josh 24/7.”
It’s problematic on multiple fronts. They’ve edited the only older female contestant to look like a “sex fiend” and made it appear as though it’s impossible for a grown man to have interests that aren’t toxic and hyper-masculine (we’re looking at you, Harrison) and still have an active sex life.
Our source shared an example of the producers’ manipulation, as they reportedly ran Melissa a bubble bath and encouraged her to get in with a glass of champagne.
“Then they kept Josh in the other room. So, it will look like she put the bath stuff together for him and he rejected her,” they explained.
They also played up little things like Melissa wearing a silk ensemble to bed, while Josh wore Toy Story pyjamas.
Ironically, we’re pretty sure both sleepwear sets were from sleepwear brand Peter Alexander, and are generally expensive AF.
Married at First Sight’s Melissa Sheppard was ‘distraught’ as her negative edit encourages ‘slut-shaming’
Unfortunately, one of our spies confirmed that Melissa and Josh’s entire storyline will follow a similar trajectory.
A source close to Melissa revealed the hairdresser started clueing in on the producers’ heavy-handedness before the 2023 season even premiered.
“It’s been gut-wrenching for her. She’s been crying every day,” they said. “She didn’t expect this to be her experience or portrayal. She was on there for genuine reasons.”
While we likely won’t see the change in the final cut, Melissa reportedly started “lying” about their sex life because she recognised how uncomfortable it made Josh. Seems like a mutually beneficial compromise to us!
“He told her he wasn’t comfortable discussing their sex life on TV, so she began saying they hadn’t had sex, when they had, to protect him,” the friend explained.
“He said to her, ‘I’m not telling you to lie, I’m just asking you not to tell them.’ So that’s what she starts doing.”
Want even more goss? Listen to episode 253 of the So Dramatic! podcast with Megan Pustetto below!
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