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19 March 2024, 16:39
Married At First Sight's Stephen has opened up about the car accident which left him with scars on his face.
MAFS Australia groom Stephen has revealed the tragic childhood accident which left him scarred on the face.
The 26-year-old hairdresser joined the cast of Married At First Sight season 11 halfway through the experiment when he was matched with Michael, a groom who was stood-up previously by drop-out Simon.
As viewers are introduced to Stephen for the first time, he opens up about the scars on his face, the accident which caused them and how he struggled to accept them when he was younger.
When he was just eight-years-old, Stephen was involved in a front-on collision on the freeway, explaining: "I remember waking up to the sound of mum screaming."
Tragically, the driver of the other car involved in the crash died.
Stephen admitted that the recovery of the accident was more intense than the incident itself, and that he struggled to deal with the changes to his appearance when returning to school.
"Going to school for the first time and the kids being scared to be around me," he said: "The reality of like, this is what I look like now, this is what everyone else is seeing."
As a young man, Stephen began to start preparing himself for rejection because of his appearance, reflecting that at is something he has "carried with him".
Stephen explained how his family was a massive support to him during this time; the MAFS groom is one of eight children and an identical twin himself.
"I've got an awesome family who are super supportive," he added: "No one allowed me to dwell in my own sorrow. It was like – this has happened, we move on. I'm really thankful for that."