It was a first for Married at First Sight Australia – two gay grooms were matched and married at the altar. But one of the grooms, Craig Roach from season 3, has spoken out about his experience, claiming he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after appearing on the reality show.
In a post to Facebook, the 42-year-old hairdresser said “‘I suffered PTSD and it also affected my relationship with family friends and I almost lost my job as a result of it all, I was stupid going on the show and was blindsided by the thought I may actually find love.”
“Never had I ever been so tired and drained in my life and to do it all with a camera up your a…” he wrote. “You only have to look at the footage of me and you will see the pain it’s so real and I couldn’t hide it!”
Craig, right, and his groom Andy meet for the first time at the altar.
Roach claimed his groom was the opposite of what he’d said he was looking for. “He was never there for the right reasons and admitted that to me in private,” he wrote.
He accused the producers of manufacturing scenes to cause conflict and claimed he had been made to look like the bad guy. “I didn’t think in my wildest dreams that it would have been this tragic and I was left feeling emotionally raped,” he said.
“The reason I am telling my story isn’t to bitch and winge, it really is just to tell the real story and actual events that took place.”
“I invested my heart and soul into the process of the show I was hoping I found the man of my dreams unfortunately I was matched with my worse nightmare on every level.”
Craig and “husband” Andy Ankers were matched in the third season of the show in 2016. But it was rocky from the beginning, with Craig wanting to move things forward and Andy keen to “take things slowly.”
“We’re on top of the mountain living the dream and he doesn’t even want to touch me. He doesn’t even want to kiss me,” Craig said during their honeymoon. He walked away from the union just days after the wedding.
It’s not the first time Roach has slammed the show. In another Facebook post in 2016 he claimed “nothing on the show is real.”
The pair were ‘married’ in Queenstown.
“Fortunately for me I knew within 24 hours that this guy wasn’t good for me at all and got…out of there.”
“We were required by the producers to shot some footage of us getting to know each other as they didn’t have any. So I agreed to 2 scenes of us spending time together that was all scripted.”
“What you saw on TV was nothing what really happen TRUST ME!”
Like the latest season of MAFS Australia, none of the couples from season three remained together.
