Mishel Karen’s Married At First Sight appearance came at a cost… quite literally.
Speaking about her tumultuous time on the unconventional dating show, the unlucky-in-love 49-year-old said she, along with many of her female co-stars, were forced to pay for absolutely everything and were shunned by the show’s producers if they tried to wear the same outfit more than once.
“The girls want to look half decent, and we can’t ever wear the same outfit twice, so we were hiring clothes, we pay for all of it. We do (our own makeup),” she told he Not Here To Make Friends podcast on Wednesday.
“I had the injury on the snowfield, so I tore my meniscus and had to have surgery and all up I’m in debt about $38,000,” she admitted. “It’s massive. I’m a single mum, I’ve paid for my kids to grow up, private school fees, this is a big dint. And everyone thinks you get all these freebies. Do we? Wow, we got free water, giddy up.”
Their salary is a stark contrast to what bride Elizabeth Sobinoff was offered, with rumours swirling the retail manager was paid a whopping $100, 000 for her short-winded appearance. Of course, this has left Mishel and many of her co-stars questioning whether her lucrative pay package was the only reasons she agreed to return.
“I don’t think she (Lizzie) wanted to be there. I think she wanted to be there, but I don’t think she actually wanted to be a part of the group,” Mishel said, prompting host James Weir to ask why she decided to star in another season seeing as her first time on set was tough.
“Money …” she said. “I don’t know, it’s speculation, but I think it was $100,000.”
To make matters worse for the rest of Lizzie’s co-stars, she received special treatment while the rest of the contestants struggled to get a look in.
“She didn’t do it like us. She did it in first-class while we did it in third class… No, the luggage area of the plane,” the Brisbane based school teacher told WHO in a recent interview.
Then, there are claims Elizabeth was hoping to be thrust back into the spotlight and couldn’t wait to revel in her newfound fame.
“She’s fake,” Mishel said of Lizzie. “She was in it for fame. Like, no one would ever endure this twice. If you had sanity, would you go through the whole experiment as we went through again?” she asked her television husband, Steve Burley. “She wants to be Insta famous, she wants an extra 150 not 150, 000 followers.”
Fellow bride Hayley Vernon also concurred she was sceptical of Lizzie’s intentions, suggesting her relationship Sebastian Guilhaus is disingenuous.
“I’d like to say that I’m optimistic, but I haven’t got any feels for them. I think it’s very misconstrued… It’s not kosher to me. I don’t vibe what’s going on there. Not to be a judgmental b***h, but I just think it’s a little bit put on,” the bodybuilder told the paparazzi during a night out in Sydney last month.
Jessika Power and Dan Webb also echoed a similar sentiment after watching her MAFS debut, admitting they’re also questioning whether her intentions were pure.
“When I found out she was going back on the show last year, I said ‘you have to be desperate to go back on.’ I mean, come on,” Jess told New Idea with her cheating ex Dan.
“And then when I heard about that fight with Lizzie and Cyrell and how she was getting upset that she wasn’t getting publicity… And it’s sort of like, are you going back on the show for Instagram or love? I think if it was anyone, Melissa should’ve gotten a second chance. She really wanted to find love last year.”
“I don’t know. She’s made a massive transformation so I don’t know if she finds it hard meeting someone. I know you and me and a lot of other people know it’s not that hard to meet someone. Do you need to go on national television to meet someone? Yeah, probably not,” Dan added.
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