Married at First Sight Australia 2018’s Davina Rankin has broken her silence following her split from her husband Jaxon Manuel.
During an exclusive interview with 9Entertainment, the 32-year-old opened up about how she’s been navigating this new chapter of her life.
The pair were married for a year and share a daughter Mila-Mae, so for Davina, the decision to separate wasn’t an easy one.
“I think especially when you become a mother, all of your decisions impact your children massively. We just really had to ask ourselves the hard questions,” she said.
The reality star explained that the couple realised they were “two very different people”.
“[I had to] have the strength to really look at [my] life and be honest about it and say, ‘Is this truly what I want?”’
Davina confesses that sharing her split on Instagram was ‘daunting’
Davina shared that the most “daunting” part of her split was announcing it on Instagram.
“The thought of having to open up publicly about my separation was probably one of the biggest things that I struggled with,” she confessed.
“That just goes to show that what I’ve been struggling with for a really long time is that fear of judgement, and that fear of being completely vulnerable.
“But as soon as that post went up, it honestly felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders,” she added.
The interview comes after Davina confirmed her split from her husband in a heartbreaking Instagram Story on May 2.
“Relationships are hard,” she wrote.
“Given the recent speculation, I feel like I need to confirm that Jax and I have separated.
“I will at some point discuss this further, but my current focus is learning to navigate my new normal while providing a seamless and loving transition into co-parenting our daughter.”
Davina Rankin receives support from her fans after announcing her split
Whilst she was worried about what her fans may think, Davina shared that she was surprised by the overwhelming amount of support she received.
“I had so much support and it was so eye-opening to see that so many people are going through the exact same thing. I wasn’t alone,” she said.
“Being able to face that fear of being your absolute true self and not having to put on a face to show everyone, it felt really nice.”
Despite the hardships she’s endured, Davina revealed that she’s been learning a lot about herself.
“Weirdly enough, it has been a really crazy, heartbreaking, sad journey, but it’s also probably been the best journey of my life. I’ve learned so much about myself.
“It sounds very cliché but with every day that’s painful or anxious… there’s not one bad day that I haven’t been able to survive yet.”
She added: “That’s been a really nice lesson to learn. I am a lot more resilient than I thought I was. Bad days come and go, but I’m still here.”
Davina said that while there are certainly some difficult days, her journey has allowed her to “level up in a way I never thought I would”, and she feels stronger because of it.
Power to her!
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.
