'I went to the reunion believing him.' MAFS Natasha on the rumours Mikey and Stacey cheated.

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Tonight, after eight long weeks of cheating scandals, petty arguments and a rogue toothbrush-related incident, this year’s Married At First Sight participants will gather for one last dinner party.

If the trailer for tonight’s reunion episode is anything to go by, we’re definitely in for a wild ride.

Unlike previous seasons of the reality show, however, much of this season’s drama has taken place off the screen.

 

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A post shared by Married At First Sight (@mafs) on Mar 30, 2020 at 2:29pm PDT

In fact, this season’s participants have been more candid than ever, sharing their thoughts on social media about how they have been represented – or misrepresented – on the show.

Natasha Spencer, who exited the show in early March, has shared a lot about her experience online since departing her on-screen marriage to Mikey.

Speaking to Mamamia ahead of Tuesday night’s reunion episode, Natasha opened up about how she feels she was represented on the show.

“I think I got a good edit compared to most people. But I did find it pretty disappointing that a lot of stuff had been edited out,” Natasha admitted.

“In the first commitment ceremony we had, I spent the entire night in tears because Mikey had said during the week, ‘Why don’t you just have sex with somebody outside of the experiment?’ But it wasn’t shown at all,” she added.

“Another example is that the reason I didn’t want to go to one of the dinner parties was because Hayley had a plan to attack me. I think leaving stuff out like that which shows people’s intentions is unfair.”

On this season of MAFS, Natasha believes that many of the other participants were misrepresented or unfairly edited throughout the series.

WATCH: This is what the experts are really like on Married At First Sight. Post continues below.

“I liked Lizzie when I met her but I think it’s really unfortunate that a lot of stuff got edited out. I know that there were glasses that got smashed because of how quickly she jumped up [at the girls’ night],” she said.

“I thought that Vanessa’s edit was not true to her at all. There were a lot of people that didn’t get the air time to show their real personality, which I think is really disappointing.

“[I was disappointed] especially with Poppy’s edit. I think that she is one of the funniest women that I have ever met and the show only showed her as this poor mum crying for her kids the whole time. She didn’t deserve that.”

When Natasha first entered the experiment, she had high hopes about her relationship with Mikey. Once the honeymoon began, however, things quickly fell apart between the pair.

“I cannot tell you how much [of our relationship] got edited out. There were so many fights that we had,” Natasha said.

“Our relationship was basically failing from the honeymoon. It was mainly that he didn’t engage with me whatsoever after the wedding,” she added.

“From day two of the honeymoon, it was a constant effort to try and communicate with him. But on screen, it looked like we were playing happy homes. So people were kind of surprised when we left all of a sudden.”

In recent weeks, text conversations between Mikey and Michael’s ‘wife’, Stacey, have leaked in the media. In the texts, Mikey was seen asking Stacey whether she would consider “swapping” partners with him.

 

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A post shared by Mikey (@mikeypembroke) on Feb 12, 2020 at 1:56am PST

“If they let you swap, would you do it?” Mikey reportedly asked Stacey in one message.

After seeing the text messages, Natasha felt unsure about how genuine her relationship with Mikey was.

“Now that I’ve read the messages where [Mikey’s] trying to get Stacey to come to an agreement to do a partner swap, I just don’t know how much of [our relationship] was authentic,” she said.

“There were times that I did believe that [a relationship] could be possible between us but now I think it was more that Mikey was really pushing to stay in the show.”

The leaked text messages also seemed to insinuate that Mikey and Stacey were having an affair off-screen.

“At the end of the day, they are the only two people who know the truth,” Natasha said.

“I went into the reunion dinner party believing that Mikey was being sincere in his admissions that he had slept with Stacey. Because in my eyes, I never believed that anyone would lie about cheating.

“But now in hindsight, now that I’ve read those text messages where Mikey was really pushing for the partner swapping storyline, I think that there is a potential that [the affair] might be made up.

“Both sides are plausible but it’s hard. It’s a horrible rumour and right now, I’m up in arms about what happened.”

Clare and Jessie Stephens recap the last week on Married At First Sight on Mamamia Recaps. Post continues below.

Although Natasha and Mikey left the show on good terms, the pair are no longer speaking.

“When I went to Bali, Mikey was in contact with me every day,” Natasha shared.

“We initially both came to an agreement to not go crazy in the media and I think after five articles of Mikey trying to slam me, it just ended the friendship. How do you uphold respect for somebody that is not only hurting you on the show, but continues to hurt you in the media?”

Reflecting on her time on the show, Natasha remembers the commitment ceremonies and dinner parties as being particularly hard.

“I cannot even explain to people what it’s like. While the set looks really beautiful, the actual warehouse isn’t insulated, so if it’s 40 degrees outside, it’s 40 degrees in the warehouse – and they even have the fires going for ambience,” Natasha recalled.

“They really do tape the whole thing in high temperatures and harsh conditions to manipulate you to get you as cranky as you can be. It’s not okay what they do at all.”

If you’re confused as to why this year’s contestants have been sharing so much information following their time on the show, Natasha shared that their main intention is to warn next season’s potential participants.

 

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A post shared by Natasha (@tashki_) on Mar 24, 2020 at 12:31am PDT

“I think it’s really important that we warn next season’s contestants that it breaks you as a person,” Natasha said.

“I’m really proud of all of the contestants who have stood up for themselves.”

As for anyone who is considering going on the show, Natasha has a simple message: “Don’t do it”.

“I thought I was the most mentally resilient person and this show shattered me. It’s so manipulative,” the 26-year-old said.

“There are so many people that have received death threats [since going on the show]. Not just personally but to their parents, their children, their siblings. It’s something that no television network is going to help you with.”

Since wrapping up production on the show, Natasha has dipped her toe back into the dating world.

“I’m a little bit scarred. I pretty much see everything as a red flag,” she admitted.

“I’ve tried a little bit but there hasn’t been anything serious.”

The Sydney woman, who was formerly working as a financial analyst, is now going down an entrepreneurial path, working on creating content for her YouTube channel and making her own beauty products which she plans to release in the next year.

Feature Image: Channel Nine.

Married At First Sight continues on Tuesday night on Channel Nine at 7.30pm.

For more on this topic:

• ‘The producers made us stay.’ MAFS’ Mishel on what isn’t shown about her marriage to Steve.
• “It was Ivan’s decision.” The truth behind why MAFS’ Aleks and Ivan really split up.
  
• MAFS’ Jonethen was about to leave the show. Then he made a ‘secret contract’ with producers.
  
• “How did they not show her attacking you?”: The 19 editing fails viewers have spotted on MAFS.
  

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