Married At First Sight Australia's David Momoh has opened up about the sudden shift in his wife Alissa Fay's personality during the experiment, attributing it to her recovery from a bullying scandal. The couple, who initially seemed perfectly matched on their snowy honeymoon in Mt Buller, Victoria, saw their relationship crumble after a car-crash Homestay in Adelaide.
David explained that Alissa's behaviour took a '180 turn' weeks before filming wrapped. He said the change was linked to her being at the centre of a texting scandal early in series 13, where fellow brides Bec, Gia and Brook sent vile messages about her on a group chat. The cruel texts caused her to break down and 'dim' her light.
However, when Alissa recovered and built bridges with her 'bullies', David noticed she became unrecognisable. He told TV Week: 'Alissa said herself that with the bullying stuff, she was a shell of herself... Then things got better, and she became friends with Bec and the bullies... She came out to a different side of herself, and then things just changed.'
David believes Alissa's newfound confidence led her to constantly speak over people and bulldoze conversations. He said: 'I’m a guy. I see myself as intimidating. I’m not gonna have a word battle with a woman. I don’t want to intimidate her, so I’ll let her do all the talking.' This ultimately made him retreat, despite proposing to her at the final dinner party.
In hindsight, David admitted to WHO: 'I overlooked so much... I went above and beyond to show how much I cared. It makes no sense to me how she sort of flipped the script. I was meant to be a subordinate and do things based on how she felt.' The couple made it to Final Vows but their last moments on camera did not pan out as expected.
