As an ambitious and glamorous tech worker, viewers have been gripped to see if Sophie Brown will hit it off with the outspoken and free-spirited carpenter Jonathan Wileman in the latest series of Married At First Sight.
Now Sophie shares some of the behind-the-scenes secrets about the explosive weekly dinner parties. She says, “The dinner parties were very, very long days. You do a lot of filming, often 12 to 14 hours a day, and you have to be ready as soon as you get up in the morning.
“I don’t know if there was a limit with alcohol, but we were sneaky! Those glasses at the dinner parties are deceivingly big, so when the decanters of wine were placed on the table, it was a bit of a free-for-all, especially if you were nervous! My first dinner party was intense – there was a lot to go into, and the alcohol was probably my friend for some of those nights!”
During the show, Sophie and Jonathan – who had been smitten with each other – hit a stumbling block when they found themselves embroiled in a debate about women’s bodies, after he revealed that he wouldn’t want a woman with “muscley horse legs” and would end a relationship if his partner gained “a huge amount of weight.”
The conversation sparked debate among viewers all over social media. And Sophie now says that while the chat with Jonathan may have been a bit awkward, she’s glad it brought the topic to the forefront. She says, “I think any discussion around body image and body positivity is a really important one. For women especially, a lot of your worth is determined on the way you look. And that’s a really difficult thing to deal with sometimes.
“I think, as women, we just have to surround ourselves with people that make us feel comfortable in our own skin. It’s also good to follow people on Instagram who show what a real woman and real body is, not those who just present a perfect life. Those are my tips for body confidence.”
