DIVA sat down with one of the brides from the latest series of the beloved Channel 4 show
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGES BY CHANNEL 4
Fans of Married At First Sight UK (MAFS) were overjoyed when they found out that the show was going to include their second-ever lesbian couple. Charlie and Eve seemed perfect on paper, and some were excited to see another sapphic love story to follow in the footsteps of the inaugural lesbian couple on the show Jenna and Zoe.
Despite having a promising wedding, cracks began to show on Eve and Charlie’s honeymoon. After a tough experience in the experiment at home, it was revealed on an episode this week (2 October) that Eve and Charlie would be leaving the experiment, unable to work through the problems in their marriage.
But despite the ending to her experience, Charlie tells DIVA that she is still happy that she went on the show. “I feel like I learnt so much about myself,” she explains. “I have confirmed that my gut instincts are always right and I should listen to it a bit more. I’ve found a lot more self-love in myself. I’m proud of myself.”
MAFS has been leading the way in representation for lesbian couples ever since it featured Jenna and Zoe in their 2022 series. For a long time, reality TV shows – especially dating shows – have been almost exclusively focused on straight couples. But with the surge in sapphic representation on shows like I Kissed A Girl and The Ultimatum: Queer Love, Charlie is excited to be part of more lesbian representation on screen.
“I feel like putting a lesbian couple in front of people has educational purposes. It opens the minds of people who may not have been around a lesbian couple. I’m just so proud to be there to represent our community because it’s nice to be someone that can put themselves out there and show people that we’re here,” Charlie says.
Although Charlie may seem incredibly open and confident in her identity now, when she was younger it was a different story. At school, she watched the only lesbian girl in the year be severely bullied. With no representation on screen that looked like her, she spent her childhood watching Disney films wondering why she preferred Cinderella to Prince Charming.
“I felt like you had to look a certain way to be a queer woman,” she laments. “The whole stereotypical question like ‘Are you going to shave your head and be covered in tattoos?’ forces you to believe that if you don’t look like that, then that can’t be you. I really struggled.”
While Eve and Charlie’s relationship ended on the show, Charlie believes that it’s important for other queer people to see that lesbian relationships are not always the picture perfect thing that we might see on screen. “Regardless of whether we’re queer, lesbian, gay, or straight, we are all human beings at the end of the day. Regardless of your sexual orientation, relationships will be what they are,” she tells me.
“People go through these things whether you’re lesbian or straight. It represents that regardless of what we see in the media, we still struggle and there are problems in lesbian relationships. I hope that seeing this show will take away the pressure to have these perfect U-haul relationships. It’s not realistic and people do clash.”
While rewatching the experience has been an “emotional rollercoaster”, Charlie is proud that she held her own. “I was true to myself. It was important to go on and be true to who I was and show raw emotion.”
She has also rallied a wide support community around her online, and describes the messages she’s received from fans as “incredible”. Charlie has also awakened the Taylor Swift fanbase with her recent TikToks, and I end our chat asking what era she feels like she’s in now. “This is my Reputation era. Taylor Swift will always be my therapist.”
You can watch MAFS UK on Channel 4.
DIVA magazine celebrates 30 years in print in 2024. If you like what we do, then get behind LGBTQIA media and keep us going for another generation. Your support is invaluable.
