Alyssa Barmonde has made a fresh comment about her time on Married at First Sight Australia and her ex-husband Duncan James, shortly after the cyber security expert confirmed his romance with a fellow series ten contestant.
The American-born reality star, who was chatting to HELLO! at the launch of a brand-new dating app Even, with whom she has partnered, opened up about how tough she has found watching the series due to feeling "edited" by the producers.
"I'm just grateful that it's over and to have my voice back and for people to see that I'm a normal person and a loving mother," she began, adding of her ex: "I do wish the best for Duncan and his future relationship, but the person portrayed on TV is definitely not me."
© Channel 4Speaking in more detail about how she felt about her portrayal on TV, Alyssa added: "It's been hard watching it back specifically because of how the story went, which is not how I remember it."
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She continued to HELLO!: "[The editing] almost gave me more doubts about the entire relationship. Because then I started thinking back and I think there was the time when the experts asked him if it was a concern that my child would be a priority. And in real life, he said 'Yes, it's a concern', but then they edited him to say 'No, it's not a concern' and I thought 'I can't do this anymore.'"
Alyssa and Duncan married on the show but after many ups and downs, Duncan cut off their relationship at the final vow ceremony. Since then, Duncan has moved on with fellow series ten contestant, Evelyn Ellis, and the pair confirmed their romance on 9Entertainment earlier this week.
Since then, Alyssa has clearly "found her voice" and partnered with a brand new dating app catered specifically for single parents. As a single mother to her young son, the dating world as parents and care providers is a subject close to her heart.
"When Even came out, I was like, 'Wow, this is so spot on'. And with all the stats [about dating as a single parent] and all the ways that they purpose the app, it made so much sense. If there was an app like this [before], then I probably wouldn't have had to go on reality TV, to find love! It's just so needed and so necessary."
© Channel 4She added: "There's such a huge gap in the market and I feel like that goes back to the stigma. Single parents are kind of forgotten about because if you're looking for love, society [says] 'Who's taking after your child?' Or that we don't have enough time, or we're not desirable enough to have our own app that's catered specifically for us. To have it specifically for like-minded people to be open and honest and transparent about what we're looking for, about our lives, about our availability, about our priorities, is heaven on earth."
Even, which is a sister brand to Match, is a brand new dating app for single parents to help those who a raising children solo find love. And the statistics about single-parent dating speak for themselves, proving the need for Even's existence in the dating app pool.
© NINEEven's research states that 57% of single parents have been ghosted after revealing they have children. Almost a quarter of the single parents polled (23%) say it's typical to be met with a wall of silence when the date realises they can't be as flexible with their time, whereas one in five (19%) say the ghosting happens the moment they tell someone they have kids. The term 'off-springing' - the act of springing off when they realise you have kids - has been coined by Even to describe the unkind phenomenon.
The app which is available now and free to download means singles will be able to view up to 100 profiles a day. To boost their experience, singles can subscribe to ‘Even More’ to view unlimited profiles and find out who has liked their profile. Find out more at even-dating.com.
Check out more photos from series ten of Married at First Sight Australia...
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