Married at First Sight Australia's Melissa Sheppard defended by ex-husband Josh White after backlash
30 March 2023, 09:24
MAFS star Josh White stuns fans with act of kindness for ex-wife Melissa
Melissa Sheppard has been forced to apologise to her MAFS Australia husband Josh White after backlash.
Married At First Sight Australia star Josh White has defended his TV wife Melissa Sheppard after she received backlash from fans.
The couple didn’t have an easy time on the show, and Melissa shocked viewers when she made comments about the couple's sex life during a recent commitment ceremony.
After the episode recently aired Down Under - as the show is a few weeks ahead of the UK - Josh pleaded with people to be 'kind' to Melissa.
Taking to Instagram, he said to his followers: “Hi, everyone. The events of Married at First Sight happened a few months ago and Mel and I have had a chance to heal from our experiences.
“What you saw in the experiment is no different to real life where two strangers come together from different backgrounds to try to learn more about each other, and themselves in the process.
"I think that we had some really beautiful moments, but we also had some moments of reflection, and I think that both of those will be pretty long-lasting.
- Married at First Sight Australia’s Jesse defends himself after controversial 'ick list'
- Married at First Sight Australia's Shannon Adams 'becomes a delivery driver after filming'
- Shock moment MAFS Australia star Tahnee realises she's related to husband Ollie
“I've always maintained the pressure of the experiment affects people in different ways. But let me be very clear about one thing: what happened in the experiment happened between Mel and I.”
He continued: “Please do not attack Mel. It doesn't make me happy. It doesn't give me any satisfaction. It doesn't raise me up at all.
“We are real people. We have real feelings. And we all came into the experiment looking for something.”
Adding a caption to the video, Josh said: “I ask you as an audience to please be respectful and kind to Melissa.
“There isn't a need to attack her at all. I understand people will want to but that doesn't make me feel any better and it just perpetuates a cycle that we should all reflect on.”
This comes after Melissa criticised Josh during a radio interview following filming, claiming he is a 'different person' while the cameras aren’t rolling.
But she has since apologised to Josh, saying she’s sorry for her ‘hurtful’ words.
“Josh, I am sorry that my words were hurtful or damaging to you and that was never my intention to hurt you in any way, shape or form,” she wrote on Instagram alongside photos of the couple on their wedding day.
“I went in this MAFS experiment hoping to find our perfect matches and as we didn’t find our forever after, wanted to let you know I hope when you're ready you will find love and find what it is that you need out of a future relationship.”
She added: “Take care and hope to smile with you one day when we both have healed,' she finished the message.”
