Married at First Sights Laura: ’I was the first to notice Brads controlling behaviour’
Married at First Sight star Laura Vaughan has opened up about her close friendship with fellow bride Shona Manderson, including how she had been one of the first people to spot trouble brewing during the recent tensions with Shona’s husband Brad Skelly.
In an exclusive chat with OK! , Laura revealed that one of the unexpected bonuses of taking part in the show was having formed a lifelong friendship with her fellow bride, something which turned out to be an invaluable support to Shona during her tumultuous relationship with Brad.
“I think I think that there's a lot of focus around Shona and I at the minute in the sense of our friendship has been such a benefit to Shona in particular, because of what she's kind of been going through in her marriage recently,” explained Laura.
The MAFS bride then continued: “I was the first one to notice the issues with Shona and Brad. And I don't really want to go into them too much, because it's not my story to tell – but I recognise that my friend wasn’t who I originally kind of met at the hen.”
“And I think a marriage when it's at its best should bring the absolute best version of each person out, not to the detriment of the other one. And for me, I wasn't seeing that.”
Encouraging Shona to speak up for herself and call out negative behaviour before it could escalate, Laura and Shona were able to forge an enduring and vibrant friendship – and one that seems to have extended far beyond the confines of the experiment.
“ I think that just goes to show that actually, these marriages are so true as to what we see in normal everyday marriages – you do lean on your support system, when things get tough,” added Laura.
“You do need that girl time, you do need that extra kind of viewpoint to maybe see things are not as rosy as you think they are.”
The 34 year old star then continued: "I think there's been a really lovely emphasis on me and Shona really lifting each other up as well.”
“I think girl power I've seen kind of like quoted around us quite a lot. And I think people are really getting on board with being champion in showing her and kind of helping her find her voice again in her relationship”
Laura then confessed that she and Shona are still in close contact, with the stylish stars chatting every single day and keeping their friendship alive.
“We're still incredibly close today, not a day goes by where we don't talk, at least talk on the phone. So I think, as an experiment, aside from the marriages, it's also like a really lovely social experiment as well to see kind of where friendships form, and how they form as well.”
It wasn’t just Shona that Laura was advocating for however, when she was quick to challenge problematic behaviour, but also herself, particularly in regards to the gold-digging comments that had been made by Luke Worley shortly after her wedding day.
Having stood her ground on the show and called Luke out for his misconceptions, Laura revealed a her own insight into the incident, as she explained: “You're never gonna please everyone.”
“I think no matter how much you concern yourself with having a balanced viewpoint, you can't always think that everyone will approach matters and conflict and opinions with the same kind of mindset.”
Laura then added: "I think really trying to detach yourself from what other people think of you is key, because it's not any of my business, what other people think of me.”
“You don't have to prove that to anyone else. If someone's made a judgement of you. The onus is on them, that it's not on you to prove them wrong. And I think that's a really powerful message.”
Having kept her cool throughout the commitment ceremony, Laura also revealed that the show’s relationship expert Mel Schilling had also been firmly on her side and was quick to help her make her case and explain that making such assumptions was not okay.
Discussing her involvement, Laura then explained: “Mel really had my back of that commitment ceremony. And like, she was absolutely livid. It didn't show all of it, but she was raging.”
“Mel's a girl's girl, she champions feminism and she really understood why that name and that word, and that to be judged on that basis was just so wrong on lots of different levels.”
“It made me realise that advocating for yourself is super, super important, because you never know, who might be watching and who you might be impacting in a really positive way.”
Married At First Sight continues Monday to Thursday at 9pm on E4
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