Married At First Sight Australia bride Alissa Fay’s personality ‘did a 180’ towards the end of the experiment, according to her husband David Momoh – and here’s why.
Married At First Sight Australia‘s David and Alissa began their TV relationship in wedded bliss after falling hard for each other on their action-packed honeymoon in snowy Mt Buller, Victoria.
Blowing away the experts with their instant connection, the loved-up pair seemed perfectly matched and initially sailed through the experiment without arguments or issues.
But all began to crumble towards the end of the series as the former power couple came to blows on multiple occasions following a car-crash Homestay in Adelaide.
Since the show ended in Australia, David has had time to reflect on why their marriage fell apart and puts its failure down to ‘demanding diva’ Alissa’s behaviour taking a 180 turn weeks before filming wrapped.
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David revealed the reason why he thought Alissa’s personality changed. Picture: Channel Nine
Claiming she completely changed but that he ignored “red flags” as he “cared for her”, he said the actual reason behind her ‘personality transplant’ was down to her initial drama with the girls.
At the start of series 13, Alissa found herself at the centre of a texting scandal in which fellow brides Bec, Gia and Brook sent vile messages about her on a group chat.
They were circulated around the group, eventually getting back to a heartbroken Alissa, and the cruel texts caused her break down, ‘dimming’ her light.
But it was when she recovered from the nasty texts and built bridges with her ‘bullies’ that David noticed she became unrecognisable to him.
He explained to TV Week: “Alissa said herself that with the bullying stuff, she was a shell of herself in the experiment.
“Then things got better, and she became friends with Bec and the bullies, and they were hanging out together.
“She came out to a different side of herself, and then things just changed.”
Alissa was at the centre of a mean-girl texting scandal sparked by Gia, Bec and Brook. Picture: Channel Nine
The girls became friends around halfway through the experiment, meaning most of the drama fell before the fifth and sixth dinner parties, when it all came to a head.
But after Alissa put it behind her and Bec and Gia apologised for their part in the two-faced attack, the social media star found her voice – and it was all too much for David.
He told Pedestrian.TV: “All I’ll say is when the bullying died down, I feel like she was probably more able to look at our relationship and express herself.”
And her fresh injection of confidence meant, in David’s eyes, that she constantly spoke over people and bulldozed conversations.
He revealed: “I was like, ‘That’s Alissa. She wants to take the forefront of talking.’
“I’m a guy. I see myself as intimidating. I’m not gonna have a word battle with a woman. I don’t want to intimidate her, so I’ll let her do all the talking.”
Cracks in their marriage began to show towards the end of the experiment. Picture: Channel Nine
And it was all the talking that made David eventually retreat, despite proposing to her during one shock moment at the final dinner party.
In an unexpected twist, the rocky couple actually ended up making it all the way to Final Vows, but their last moments on camera didn’t pan out how anyone predicted.
He now believes the pair were a terrible match right from the start, admitting to WHO: “In hindsight, knowing how much I cared for her, I overlooked so much.
“From ‘get down on a knee’ to things I found out on the honeymoon from the challenge box that never aired.
“I went above and beyond to show how much I cared. It makes no sense to me how she sort of flipped the script.
“I was meant to be a subordinate and do things based on how she felt.
“If she felt it was right, it was right. If I felt it was wrong, we can’t have a conversation about it because she’s right. You know, that didn’t change.”
“I don’t owe you an apology,” David hits back in a blistering interview.
EXCLUSIVE: MAFS’ David breaks his silence on Alissa’s new love
After a rollercoaster run on Married At First Sight Australia, David has finally come out on the other side.
From the reunion drama to the moment he knew the relationship with Alissa wouldn’t last, and an eerie prediction his father gave him before going on the show, David opens up to Woman’s Day about what really happened behind the scenes and spills on why he’d never do the show again.
That reunion dinner party was wild! We saw you and Alissa get quite heated, which we had never really seen before. How was it watching it back?
“Intense. Oh, God.”
What was going through your mind walking into the party?
“I was in the other room getting my microphone tested and I could already hear Alissa going off… I said, ‘I need a drink right now before I go in.’”
“ She was very upset, obviously. She was so mad for someone that I didn’t hear from, you know? I mean, if she was really mad she would’ve reached out after final vows and said, ‘I’m upset how you handled things.’ But no, didn’t hear anything. She just wanted to come at me right there and then in front of everyone. It was hectic.”
And you refused to apologise…
“I did the right thing. It was like, ‘I don’t owe you an apology.’ You know, ‘I’m not the one who disrespected you, you disrespected me and I set my boundaries.’
“ ’You’re trying to flip the narrative, because accountability is something you don’t want to take or you’ve never had to take.’”
There seemed to be a lot of outside noise – mainly directed at Alissa – that seemed to have affected your relationship. Do yo think you two would have worked outside the show?
“I don’t think we would’ve ever survived. I don’t think it was meant to be like, I don’t think she’s my person.”
What made you stay so long then?
“I’ll be completely honest. From day one, when she asked me to get down on one knee, people were asking meme, why did I stay? In the real world I would run. That moment alone would have been enough for me to get the hell out of there. But I came onto the experiment to try and change my past behaviour and not run away. I was a little more toxic and had issues in relationships. So what did I do? I overlooked the fact that she told me to get down on one knee and I stayed. And I really did try.
“I left so much behind, I didn’t even want to go on MAFS. MAFS reached out to me. I didn’t apply. Like, I was very happy in life. I didn’t need to chase a woman. So when I went on MAFS, I decided to fully invest in the experiment to try and see a different outcome.”
Did you ever love Alissa?
“I did… but at the same time, my need for respect is bigger than just love.”
I feel like we didn’t get to see the real you during the experiment – were you annoyed that a lot of yours and Alissa’s story got left out?
“I’m a little bit annoyed. There was some really passionate moments [between Alissa and I] that were all skipped. We didn’t really get to see the times where we bonded. I also feel like I wasn’t really myself for the whole thing. I was on antibiotics [from my knee injury on our honeymoon] and I feel like I lost my aura a bit. My knee was infected until the last three weeks of the experiment and I was bleeding out through my suit pants.”
What did your parents think of the whole thing?
“My parents did not support me going on MAFS. But the crazy thing is. I’ve not said this to anyone, so my dad is a spiritual guy, right? He’s Christian. And he texted me after my first interview [with MAFS] and was like, ‘Dave, this is what I’ve seen. If you go on MAFS, you will get a physical injury but with prayer, the emotional damage will be less severe.’
“And guess what happens? During the honeymoon. I slipped and split my knee. I honestly could not believe it. My dad, that’s a prophet!”
Have you been surprised by the public reaction since the show aired?
“The support is like overwhelmingly good. There’s so many beautiful people and there’s just so much support. Like, I’m actually mind blown. I just went to Ultra Music Festival [over the weekend] and just to get 200 metres to the bathroom was impossible. Just one person after the other taking photos. When one group takes a photo, the other people see it and they’re ‘David!’. It’s just ridiculous.”
Obviously Alissa now has a new boyfriend, Nathan Ryles. How did you react when you saw that she had moved on?
“I found out through the media. I saw an article when it first came out a couple of weeks ago. Honestly, I was like, oh, great. I’m happy for her… I wish you nothing but the best… I hope she finds the love she’s looking for.”
Are you dating anyone?
“I’m in the dating market, that’s for sure… if the right woman comes along, I’ll go on a date.”
Would you ever do the show again?
“Definitely not. Definitely would not do it all again.”
What’s next for you now?
“Now I just wanna continue to build on business… I’m not really like trying to be an influencer… I’m just living my life.”