married at first sight australia mike heidi

UK Viewers Are Calling Out Our ‘MAFS’ Experts For “Gaslighting” Heidi & It’s Déjà-Bloody-Vu

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Another week, another controversy for the angry UK viewers still in lockdown and still obsessed with Married at First Sight Australia.

And no, it’s not about Susie’s Splenda. This time, it involved Season 6’s most divisive couple Heidi Latchman and Mike Gunner. On the most recent commitment ceremony to air in the UK, viewers witnessed a now-infamous moment between the experts and Heidi.

Heidi spoke about how Mike uses all the towels in their apartment when he showers, then throws the towels on the floor. This leaves her to clean up after him, while not having any clean towels for herself.

This was a valid concern that demonstrates how Mike can be inconsiderate and selfish, but John Aiken, Mel Schilling, and former expert Trisha Stratford tried to tell Heidi that she was just getting upset about petty issues (not having a towel to dry her body) and this simply was her “self-sabotaging”.

This was a recurring reaction to Heidi on MAFS: she would tell the experts her concerns with Mike, and they would dismiss her or talk over her.

Here’s a refresher on how Heidi was often treated by the experts at commitment ceremonies:

It was harsh at the time, but this has aged particularly badly. Instead of listening to what Heidi had to say, John is more interested in telling Heidi how she has a “great guy that’s into her”. Does this mean she shouldn’t voice her concerns? Does this mean she should accept being treated badly?

The scene has led to a bunch of thinkpieces published in the UK, arguing that Heidi was not only gaslit by Mike on the season — but also by the experts.

UK viewers are furious at the MAFS experts for condoning Mike’s actions:

Some people in the UK are even saying they will boycott the rest of the season.

This is nothing new to Australian MAFS fans. We went through this in 2019, as we watched Heidi week after week have to put up with Mike’s thoughtless actions while manipulating her emotions. Yet, when it came to the weekly commitment ceremonies, Mike was rarely called out by the experts — instead Heidi was labelled “needy” or as someone “self-sabotaging”.

It’s low-key refreshing to see that UK viewers have had a similar reaction. We hope that the experts on this year’s season are better at judging these situations and holding people accountable for their bad behaviour.