In the lead up to their wedding, DIVA caught up with the first lesbian couple to appear on Married At First Sight UK
BY YASMIN VINCE, IMAGE BY CHANNEL 4
Back in 2022, Zoe Clifton and Jenna Robinson made reality TV history by becoming the first lesbian couple to appear on Married At First Sight UK. It was an important step forward for sapphic representation and lovely to watch a healthy romance grow between the women. Contrary to the name, the MAFS couples do not get legally married at the start of the show, but two years after their stint, Zoe and Jenna are getting hitched – for real this time!
In the midst of their wedding planning, we caught up with the couple.
How are you guys? How’s wedding planning going?
Jenna: Wedding planning is not going at all! I’d quite happily let Zoe do all of the organising and I’ll just rock up.
Zoe: We think we know where and we think we know numbers-ish. We know dates – well, we’re still arguing about that actually. But I think it should be quite an enjoyable thing to do, so taking the time to plan it and enjoy being engaged is a priority.
J: I’m quite easy going. I’m happy to do it on a whim and be like, “Should we just nip to the registry office and get married today, and have a party in the garden?” We’ll just hang up our own fairy lights, play our favourite music. That’s up my street. There’d be friends, family…
Z: Not 50 cameras!
Why is it important to you to get legally married?
J: We’re gay and we’ve not always had that privilege. I think people tend to forget that it’s not been legalised for that long.
Z: When I first came out, it wasn’t legal and it’s a symbol that we’re an equal now. Our marriage matters, our relationship matters just as much as everybody else’s. And our love matters.
Looking back, how do you feel about your time on the show?
Z: We actually had a conversation about this last night. We’re kind of annoyed with ourselves. During that process, you spend a lot of time trying to work each other out.
J: Which is understandable because you are strangers and you’re trying to get to know this person but because of the extra added pressures of other people’s opinions, the other couples, the cameras in your face, you can’t relax and enjoy the experience and the amazing places that you’re going to. Really, when we look back, we think about what an incredible experience it was but we wish we were in the position we’re in now, where we know each other and we’re in love and happy.
Z: And we can have 12 weeks off work to just attend dinner parties with friends! We said that we were going to go in disguise and apply for the show again, hoping they match us and then we could just enjoy it instead of having the anxiety. We wouldn’t be talking about vegans the whole time.
You’re probably one of the biggest MAFS success stories. Why do you think you were able to make such a success of the experience?
Z: I think one of the main things is utilising the sessions with the experts. People think they’re TV characters but they are giving you really helpful tools for your relationship. When we were in those commitment ceremonies we found other couples were facing problems that we faced after the experiment, but we used the advice they got to help our relationship.
What do you think of this season?
J: We are loving it! We’re absolutely hooked and cannot wait for next week.
Z: This season feels a lot like our season. I always get emotional at the weddings, but especially with Eve and Charlie. I didn’t realise I would feel like that, but when I was watching Eve waiting for Charlie, the anxiety I felt was like I was in that room again.
J: It just shows you that representation is important because even though Eve and Charlie weren’t successful, it’s more relatable for us. The whole time I was watching them, I wanted to crawl inside the TV and give them advice. I’d just tell them to take a minute to relax and try to communicate how you’re feeling as you go.
Z: I think that more advice needs to be given for when it’s actually shown on TV and people start sending you messages, especially for lesbians. I had people messaging me homophobic comments and they really do stick. When I was watching Eve, my main worry was if she was okay because there are people who think it’s their right to send you a direct message. So my advice is to block messages.
How much was representation a factor when you chose to do MAFS?
J: Being gay played a big part in why I applied, first for representation and also because your dating pool is smaller so it’s harder to find somebody. Do you know what would be great? A whole gay MAFS!
You can watch MAFS UK on Channel 4.
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