Married At First Sight UK bride Rebecca Fenney has teased that the series, which is currently airing, is set to “get juicy” as she details her ups and downs with husband Bailey Smith.
It’s been a rocky road to finding romance for Married At First Sight UK star Rebecca Fenney, but she’s revealed that it’s been a “life-changing” experience – even if the drama is about to ramp up even more.
The 32-year-old aesthetics clinician was matched with micro-brewery entrepreneur Bailey Smith, 36, on the hit E4 show, which premiered last month. While the couple didn’t see eye-to-eye at first, Rebecca reveals to Mirror that viewers will watch them go “from strength to strength” throughout the series.
“It is such a huge turnaround from the beginning of our experience to thereafter,” Rebecca says – although she can’t reveal whether they’re still together now. “We have our ups and downs and you’ll see that it’s not just sweet and perfect.”
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MAFS UK fans will know that Rebecca and Bailey have arguably been the least dramatic couple of the series. We’ve watched Steven Springett and Neelima Patel’s explosive rows unfold at dinner parties, while Leigh Harris and Leah Marie Tyrer have struggled to find a spark in their relationship.
Rebecca teases that it’s only set to become even more contentious as the series goes on. “The girls became closer with each other because of the rift that some of the guys put between their relationships,” the Liverpudlian says.
“I think you’re starting to see that already, but there’s a reason why the girls lent on each other so much towards the end and why we’ve got such close relationships now. It was difficult at times for people in the show and some of the themes that you’re seeing now just escalate.
“This is where it started to get tough. Things really did start to change, so it gets juicy.”
While Rebecca and Bailey became the “mum and dad” of the cast, they struggled to connect romantically at first – with Rebecca telling cameras that Bailey didn’t fit her “alpha male” type.
“We didn’t have that instant spark and I honestly found the wedding day so overwhelming,” she says. “I felt like, ‘This is never going to work.’ I slipped back into habits that I’d had before.
“I thought, ‘Go on the honeymoon, have a good time. He seems like a kind person that you’ll have a laugh with,’ but there was no spark or attraction there for me.”
Rebecca was branded a “bridezilla” by some viewers – however, she reveals that she didn’t actually kick Bailey out of her bed on the wedding night, which was shown on TV.
“I came across as a bridezilla and I totally get that, but on the wedding night, we did actually sleep in the same bed. It was filmed,” she says. “But what was shown was me asking Bailey to measure himself against the couch and saying, ‘You can sleep on the couch.’ That wasn’t how it happened in the end – I actually said after that, ‘You’re too big to sleep on that.’ He was really respectful and we got a good night’s sleep.”
Everything changed for Rebecca ahead of their Mauritius honeymoon – in scenes that weren’t caught on camera.
“Nobody knows this but it actually changed when we got to the airport,” she smiles. “Bailey booked us into the lounge and it was just us two so there were no cameras there.
“I just sat down with him for the first time and had a conversation with him without any other eyes on us. I was like, ‘Wow, you’re actually a bit of me. I really get on with you.’”
From then on, Rebecca and Bailey’s time on the show made them grow closer. “Bailey and I are always walking into the dinner parties hand-in-hand and we’re happy. We were always in the strongest position out of everybody,” she says.
“That is something I’ll cherish because I know some people used to go into them dreading it, but we never felt like that. We felt like we were going on a big night out with all of our friends and we were together.”
However, there were days when Rebecca struggled with being on the show. “The process is very, very intense. It’s like going through intense couples therapy day in, day out, while you’re doing it with a whole group of other people whose relationships you’re involved in,” she says.
“You’re away from friends and family and outside support. I found that the hardest. Nothing ever gets brushed under the rug, it’s very much, ‘Let’s air everything out.’ That’s the beauty of the show, but it is very hard.”
It’s also been difficult for Rebecca outside of the show – with trolls and the public weighing in online with their opinions. Earlier this month, Rebecca was forced to deny rumours that Bailey had cheated on her with his ex during the experiment.
“In the beginning, it was hard to navigate because it’s new to all of us,” she says. “We’re just normal people that have put themselves out there.
“I expected the comments and some of the trolling but you don’t realise how much of that you’re going to hear and see. When you’ve got content creators coming up with other things it’s a tough one.”
So what has she taken away from the show now that she’s returned to her career at her aesthetics clinic? “I’ve learnt that being myself is enough. I’ve come away from the experience thinking that who I am is absolutely worthy. It was a huge period of personal growth for me in there.”