Dan’s ‘couch’ comments on Married At First Sight reveal a sad and wider problem on the reality show.
OPINION:
It wouldn’t be a season of Married at First Sight if there wasn’t a very average man body-shaming his attractive wife, and I’m so sick of it, it is actually making me feel sick – pass me the bucket.
Every season, a groom thinks he is a fitness guru because he goes to the gym and lifts weights while staring at himself in the mirror.
The poor man’s Dwayne Johnson than ends up body-shaming his wife.
In 2019 that honour went to groom Sam when he voiced that he’d never dated a girl as “big” as his new bride Elizabeth,
Later the series, he also said: “‘She’s got a beautiful face ... Maybe I’ll get her running in the mornings... but she’ll be right. We’ll get her going.”
Why do the worst men always talk about women like they are cars?
Famously after her time on the show Elizabeth lost a significant amount of weight, and can you blame her? She was told she’d look better smaller, so she became smaller.
I personally think she looks gorgeous either way.
This season we’ve been treated to Dan, who has repeatedly expressed that he doesn’t like that his wife Sandy likes hanging out on the lounge.
She has refrained from commenting that he dresses like a desperate divorced dad who just discovered singlet shirts.
He isn’t as direct as Sam, but he is still hyper critical of Sandy.
During a recent argument, he told her: “Sandy, if I spent that much time at the gym as you do on this f**king couch, I’d be absolutely shredded and ripped to no end. I’m out running, I’m out hiking, and I’m out in the water, in the ocean. I’m in f**king Beast Mode.”
Firstly, Dan, you aren’t the wolverine.
Secondly, sure, he didn’t outright say it, but it’s pretty clear he thinks if she went to the gym more she’d look better.
Things got even more grim when Dan attended a boy’s night and now rumours are swirling that he started showing them photos of ex-girlfriends and declaring they are hotter than his current wife Sandy.
Fellow bride Evelyn even revealed to the other brides what exactly Dan was saying.
“Rupert came back drunk and told me that Dan was holding up pictures of his ex-girlfriends, belittling Sandy and saying that his other girlfriends were way better looking than Sandy was,” Evelyn explained.
The audacity.
I can’t help but feel very angry that there’s an ongoing trope on silly reality show that constantly shames any woman that isn’t tiny.
Sandy’s body type is fabulous and so many women look like her. So, seeing Dan act like she isn’t hot enough for him sends a really toxic message.
I wouldn’t even call her curvy, she’s just a normal woman with curve to her body.
She looks healthy and gorgeous and yet because her body doesn’t resemble a Hadid sister that somehow makes her a target.
Why can’t the experts pair a slightly curvier girl with a guy that appreciates her body?
Dan’s gross comments just enforce the idea that there’s one type of hot and if you don’t fit into that very small box – you’ll end up mocked on national television by a guy who looks like he doesn’t own a home because he’s too busy buying several jet skis.
Representation on television is so important and there’s this ongoing theme on dating reality shows where the curvier girl always becomes the joke or is labelled as less desirable or isn’t even on the shows at all.
I’ve never seen a curvy contestant on Love Island for instance - and that speaks volumes.
What message does that send to women?
I just want to see a curvier woman on a reality show that doesn’t get shamed for her body. Is that too much to ask for?
MAFS Australia is available to stream first on ThreeNow or on Three Sunday 7pm and Mon to Weds 7.30pm.
Times: Thanks to a freak moment, this 'one-hit wonder' has a new generation of fans.