Married At First Sight viewers in tears as Ella comes out as trans to supportive castmates
Ella moved everyone to tears when she came out to her castmates. (Channel 4)
There wasn’t a dry eye among Married At First Sight UK viewers on Wednesday night (27 September) as they watched Ella bravely come out as transgender to her castmates.
Ella, who has made history as the reality show’s first-ever transgender contestant, had confessed last week that she was nervous to come out to the other brides and grooms and had been putting it off for the right moment.
That moment presented itself last night as the cast gathered for the first dinner party of the series.
In typical MAFS UK fashion, the dinner party was not without its drama. But the brides and grooms were quick to put all of that aside to support and uplift Ella.
Ella’s new husband Nathaniel, who was already aware that Ella is transgender, asked for the group’s attention as she nervously stood up with a piece of paper in her hand.
He kept his hand on her back for support as she told the cast: “When I was born, I appeared very different to how I do today.
“My mum gave birth to four boys, three brothers, and then me. My mom asked me when I was younger if I was gay, and I said, ‘No Mom, I am a woman.’ She said, ‘You want to be a girl?’ I said, ‘No. I am a girl.’”
She continued: “I’ve never questioned who I am. I’ve always known I’m Ella inside. We all have struggles in life. Most people just never have to question their identity or their gender.
“I don’t expect you guys to understand or get me. All I ask is that you respect me and treat me as the person I am. I’m not ashamed to stand here as an openly transgender woman, where there’s so much negative stigma about trans people.
“Now that my outside – and it’s a very sexy outside – matches my inside, I stand in front of you all as an openly trans woman, but more importantly, I stand here is Ella and all I want to do is be seen and treated as the girl that I am, finally.”
Ella was met with overwhelming support from her cast mates, who whooped and cheered and got up from their seats to shower her with hugs.
Meanwhile, viewers at home were reaching for the tissues.
“That was so brave of Ella. To be your authentic self, in a room full of people you hardly know and in a climate where so many people are so hateful. Thats a big thing to do,” commented one MAFS UK fan.
“No… YOU’RE crying your eyes out,” joked a second. “That speech was beautiful Ella.”
And a third pointed out: “No matter what you think of Ella, to have an openly trans woman on a dating show, and to sit and watch her come out to the rest of the cast, is a really big moment for British telly.”
After appearing on Married At First Sight, Ella revealed that she would be “taking a step back” from social media to protect herself and her family from transphobic abuse from the public.
“I don’t always read the comments anymore because of the transphobia. I can take it, I’m resilient to it. I’ve heard it enough times by now,” she told her Instagram followers last week.
“But it’s not fair on my family, who didn’t ask for all of this but they still want to support me.”
