This season of Married at First Sight UK has been just as dramatic as we’d hoped, and this is largely due to the tumultuous relationship between Ella Morgan Clarke and Nathanial Valentino. Their marriage got off to a rocky start, and the latest episode of MAFS UK saw them choosing to remain in the experiment as a friendship couple.
We already know that Nathanial ends up quitting the show after feeling like the matchmakers did not take his preferences on board when selecting his bride as he’s done a series of tell-all interviews where he revealed that he never wanted to be paired with a trans woman or a sex worker.
Although she's remained tight-lipped on the drama with her on-screen husband, we've finally got to hear Ella’s side of the story. She appeared as a guest on GKBarry’s podcast, Saving Grace, this week - and, honestly, the entire episode is worth a listen, especially for those who want to hear exactly what went wrong between her and Nathanial.
Ella reminded Grace that she fell for Nathanial’s charms at first, and their wedding left her hopeful for their future. “I was deluded, I was giving delusional. I actually thought I was going to be with him forever.” Hindsight really is 20/20, but she wasn't alone, as fans and viewers also thought Ella and Nathaniel's connection at their wedding would go the distance - or at the very least, last longer than a single episode.
Things quickly went south when they reached Mexico for their honeymoon and Ella saw a new side to her new husband. “When it was just us, the cameras were off, amazing. The cameras were on, very different person.”
She insisted that Nathanial was against her from the start, and was unwilling to work on their connection. "Everyone else... on their wedding night, slept in the same bed as their partner. [Nathanial] was like, 'No, I think we should stay in separate rooms.'"
Ella was immediately confused, as she had felt an instant connection on their wedding day. “Weddings over, does he want to spend any time with me? No. Does he want to share a bed with me? No.” Is it really any mystery that they didn’t connect? “How can we connect if I was in a room on my own?”
In one of Nathanial’s interviews, he confessed that he only chose to go on MAFS UK because another deal he had fell through. Ella saw this as further proof that he was not on the show with the best of intentions. “Don’t use me as your scapegoat!... This is what I said on the honeymoon, fake! Because I knew he had done other shows… and from what I’ve heard, you aren’t doing this for the right reasons.”
Since Ella and Nathanial are clearly no longer together, we’re excited to see the rest of Ella’s solo MAFS UK journey, and we have no doubt that she’ll finish the show as one of the most talked-about brides.