Married at First Sight Australia 2023’s Alyssa Barmonde has revealed why she kept saying ‘I have a child’ during her time in the experiment.
The 35-year-old repeated the phrase so many times that it became her slogan on the show. She’s even gone on to launch merch with the now infamous words emblazoned on the front.
However, the former executive assistant was also heavily trolled for it. Fans criticised her for using her single-mum status as an excuse for her poor treatment of her husband Duncan James.
Alyssa has now responded to the backlash, telling Yahoo! Lifestyle why she used the turn of phrase so many times.
“I never in a trillion years wanted single mums to look crazy. Mums are more than mums. They juggle life, kids, work, friendships, a household — the list goes on and on,” she said.
“There’s such sh*tty stigma attached and I walked away from filming knowing, if anything, that I would do single mamas proud by sticking true to myself, find love for me again, knowing what’s best for me and my son and putting my child first.”
She added: “But it got so manipulated and twisted, it’s actually disgusting how it was portrayed.”
The Married at First Sight 2023 cast rally behind Alyssa Barmonde
Alyssa has since found support in her co-stars, who came to her defence once they regained access to their Instagram accounts on May 15.
The majority of the cast rallied behind her, claiming she was the victim of a “bad edit”.
According to Yahoo! Lifestyle, the coordinated statements of support were not planned. However, the stars had all been biding their time until they could speak up for Alyssa as they feel producers “went too far” with her scenes.
“We all knew things would be twisted and taken out of context, that’s the risk you take going on a show like MAFS, but they [producers] went too far with Alyssa,” one cast member explained to the publication.
“It wasn’t fair and she didn’t deserve that.”
What did the MAFS 2023 cast say about Alyssa?
Fellow bride Lyndall Grace expressed during an Instagram Q&A that everyone on the show “loved Alyssa”.
“I probably couldn’t name one person that didn’t,” she said.
Lyndall’s on-screen husband Cam Woods shared a video of Alyssa dancing during a night out, writing: “She might have a child but she is awesome!” LOL!
Intruder Rupert Budgen said in an Instagram video taken with Ollie Skelton that she was “massively blindsided” by how she was portrayed on the show.
Similarly, Tahnee Cook wrote during an Instagram Q&A that Alyssa was “one of the most beautiful people she’s ever met”.
Adding: “She is that friend that will always be there for you no matter what”.
Beauty boss Melinda Willis also weighed in, saying: “I’m getting on this bandwagon too because I feel like every single [cast member] has exactly the same thing to say about Alyssa”.
Her partner Layton Mills also showed his support for Alyssa.
Another bride to share their support for Alyssa was Bronte Schofield.
“The cast and myself have sat back and watched the public tear you down over an edit that you had no control over,” she wrote.
Caitlin McConville also added her two cents about Alyssa, describing her as “one of the most genuine, kind, warm-hearted people” she’s ever met.
Josh White showed his support for the bride with a simple: “We all love Alyssa”.
Alyssa Barmonde responds to the outpouring of love and support from her Married at First Sight castmates
Clearly moved by all the support shown to her, Alyssa replied with a tearful video, writing: “Real tears this morning. Happy ones this time.
“Thank you to all my cast peeps speaking out. It means so so much you have no idea. I feel so validated.”
It comes after Alyssa fled the country following her ‘villain’ edit on the show. It also saw her lose the executive assistant role she’d held for seven years.
Want even more goss? Listen to the So Dramatic! podcast with Megan Pustetto below!
Know something that we don’t? Spill the tea here!
Get the tea first! Follow So Dramatic! on Instagram and tune in on Mondays to get your reality tea fix with the So Dramatic! podcast with Megan Pustetto.
