Season eight of Married at First Sight UK made history by casting the series’ first-ever trans contestant. From Weston-Super-Mare, Ella Morgan Clark was introduced to viewers as a 29-year-old clinic consultant who went on the show looking for love.
Over the course of the season, Ella was paired up with 36-year-old Nathaniel Valentino, a marketing manager from Manchester. While he already knew that Ella was trans, she hadn’t yet come out to her costars. But during a dinner party that took place in the latest MAFS UK episode, Ella delivered an emotional speech to come out to the entire cast. She said in the speech:
“When I was born, I appeared very different to how I do today. My mom 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’m a woman.’ She said, ‘You want to be a girl?’ I said, ‘No. I am a girl.’ I’ve never questioned who I am. I’ve always known I’m Ella inside.”
She added, “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 [even though] there’s so much negative stigma about trans people.
Ella concluded her speech with, “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 as Ella and all I want to do is be seen and treated as the girl that I am, finally.”
The entire cast got very emotional and embraced Ella with nothing but love and support. The reaction on social media was equally positive, with viewers taking to Instagram and Twitter to praise Ella’s beautiful speech.
It’s also taken Ella a lot of courage to come out as trans on a dating show – a genre of television that has largely ignored the LGBTQ+ community, with very few exceptions.
We’re over here rooting for Ella’s journey on Married at First Sight and hoping that she finds the love she deserves!