In tonight’s episode of Married At First Sight NZ Rose Cruickshank will put on a wedding gown and walk down the aisle a fourth time, to tie the knot with a complete stranger.
The bubbly beautician is one of 12 brave Kiwis who have put their faith in the MAFS relationship experts to match them with Mr or Mrs Right on the hit reality television series.
“I’ve been married three times before and for various reasons these marriages haven’t worked out,” she says frankly, “so this is about taking a completely different approach and saying to the experts, ‘Hey guys, let’s see what you can do.'”
Rose hopes viewers will see her for what she is – “A genuine person trying to find love.”
The mum-of-three admits she was devastated by the breakdown of her third marriage to psychic Kelvin Cruickshank.
“I’m not going to lie, I was heartbroken,” tells Rose (45). “I thought I would be with Kelvin for life, but I’ve accepted it.”
The pair met in November 2016 after Rose accompanied her friend to one of Kelvin’s shows.
“I’m a bit of a spiritual person and that side of life intrigues me, so I happily went along with her. I bought a book, lined up for a book signing and asked for a photo with him. He got in touch with me the next day.”
Rose and Kelvin enjoyed a whirlwind romance and she relocated from Napier to Kerikeri to be with him. They wed in April the following year, but unfortunately it wasn’t a case of happily ever after.
“Our marriage ended quite abruptly after a year,” Rose says sadly.
“It was very unexpected and it wasn’t my choice. I’m so lucky I’ve got amazing, incredibly supportive friends who took me in until I could get back into a rental and pick my life up again.”
Rose’s faith in love hasn’t been shaken though. She has remained good friends with her first husband Wayne Beere, who is the father of her daughters – Simone (21), Paris (20) and Sophie (14).
“We created three beautiful children together, and we decided that no matter what had happened, we would always try and be the best parents we could be.
“He’s remarried and he and his wife have a home in Thailand, so the kids go over every Christmas for a few weeks and spend time with them. There’s absolutely no bad blood there,” says Rose.
She adds that she had a lot of amazing times with her second husband Richard Dixon as well, but concedes, “Something was just never right and it got to the point where I wanted to leave, which we did as amicably as we could.”
Rose says she was devastated by her break-up with Kelvin.
Although she has had three unsuccessful marriages, she has gone into MAFS full of hope.
“I’m never going to hold what’s happened in my past against the next person,” she says.
“You cannot compare. Each person is their own person. It’s not like I’ve got this bad taste in my mouth about men generally, I do not. I love men. I’m waiting for that right man in my life.”
It was actually Rose’s daughter Paris, who is living at home while she studies nursing, who encouraged her mother to sign up for Married at First Sight.
“We were sitting watching TV on a Friday night when the ad came on, and Paris said, ‘Come on Mum, apply!’ So we got the laptop out and just did it. I’m a very spontaneous person,” laughs Rose.
She has given a lot of thought to the fact that this new romance will play out in public though.
“Everybody is going to have an opinion, there are always going to be haters, the jealous ones, but there will be a percentage of people who see me for who I really am – a genuine person trying to find love,” she enthuses.
“I’m not a huge social media person,” she adds. “I have lots of friends around me, I’m highly sociable but not on social media. I don’t embrace any negativity like that in my life. So I’m not going to look at bad things. I’m just going to steer away from it.”
So what sort of person is she hoping she will be paired with?
“Well, I did say that my deal-breakers were shortness, baldness and smoking. I’m quite tall and I spend a lot of my time in heels, plus I love hair and have a lot of my own,” she chuckles.
“But in saying that, if the experts think my perfect match is a short, bald smoker, then I’ll give him a chance!”
Married at First Sight New Zealand is on Three on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights.*
