“I always feel judged for my appearance,” Sam Ball explained to expert John Aiken on why he has been unlucky in love. But it seems he isn’t above judging others for their appearance.
Dubbed in the promotional material as “too good looking for love,” the Married at First Sight Australia groom shocked viewers when he reflected on his first impressions of new wife Elizabeth Sobinoff.
“I’ve never really dated girls as big as Elizabeth in the past,” he declared, going on to suggest that he could perhaps “get her running in the morning”.
But despite the backlash, the Sydney tradie stands by his remarks.
“I’m an honest guy, and that was the honest truth,” Sam, 26, told TV WEEK. “She’s not a big girl, but she’s just a little bit bigger than girls I normally date.”
Watch: Sam’s body shaming comments about Elizabeth. Story continues after video.
“Health and fitness is huge for me and I was a bit concerned when I saw Elizabeth. I just hoped she’d want to live an active lifestyle too,” he continues.
“It’s her personality too. She just seemed to be very big in every aspect. She’s super-loud and you can’t escape her. She talks over you and it can be confronting.”
Though Sam said he was willing to give their relationship a shot, he says he wasn’t “over the moon” with his match.
“I did feel a little cheated,” he says. “It wasn’t what I asked for. My type is a lot more natural and down-to-earth.”
Elizabeth, on the other hand, was more than happy with her groom – at first. However she says Sam’s shortcomings became apparent as time went on.
“I’m someone who goes with my gut feeling, and I couldn’t read him,” the 27-year-old explains. “He just wasn’t connected, which just made me feel uneasy.”
Things went from bad to worse when Sam ditched Elizabeth ahead of their honeymoon to attend the funeral of his ex-girlfriend’s mum.
And hinting at even more drama to come, Elizabeth blasts her groom as a “great actor”.
“He’s the type who would say anything to please you to your face – and then say the complete opposite to other people,” she declares. “I think he has unreasonable expectations of women.”
Meanwhile, Sam has claimed that he is seeking psychological help after seeing the show go to air and hearing Elizabeth call him “tubby” as she caught first sight of him from behind.
“I’ve been running ever since she made that comment – I’ve been on the treadmill daily,” he told NW magazine, saying it feels like post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I’ve got a counsellor. I’m trying to sort my s— out.”
It hasn’t been an easy run for Sam since filming finished. He was also involved in a freak accident after falling off his roof and being impaled on an iron fence.
“I thought I was dead,” Sam said of the incident. “Looking at the fear in my friends’ eyes and them telling me it was going to be OK… I thought, ‘I’m done here’. It wasn’t good.”
“It [the spike] hit the thickest part of my leg,” Sam explains. “But if I’d landed any lower on it and penetrated an artery, I would have been dead in three minutes.”
