Their Byron Bay ceremony left them feeling “magnetised” by each other, and now Heidi Latcham and Mike Gunner reveal they wouldn’t have had their TV wedding experience any other way. “She has this pull and I have an attraction to her that I can’t explain,” reveals Mike.
While their relationship has already hit several bumps, Heidi insists she has no regrets about the Married at First Sight Australia experiment so far.
She also tells she’s happy she opened up about her heartbreaking past on the Three show, admitting her unconventional childhood has shaped her into the woman she is today.
“It made me become really independent very quickly,” the Queensland-based radio host tells us. “It left me taking a long time to rely on people, but I know I can always rely on myself.”
During their honeymoon at the Whitsundays, Heidi, 38, explained she had a difficult time getting into foster care as an adolescent, which left her feeling alone and abandoned.
Eventually, she was given government housing during high school, where she lived alone in a one-bedroom flat. She’d get herself to and from school each day, then would work after school.
“The reason I spoke about it on the show was to explain why I was so independent and maybe explain why it was hindering me,” says Heidi. “While it probably did, I never wanted to stop living my life. I’ve chosen to learn from it.”
While Mike’s surprising onscreen response was less than supportive, with the electrician telling his new bride, “I’m not your therapist,” like any couple, the pair are working through the ins and outs of their new relationship.
“I’m really disappointed to hear it back,” admits Mike. “It’s embarrassing and I’m ashamed, quite frankly.”
Not without his own past, Mike, 44, reveals he doesn’t deal well with heartache. “I proposed to a woman when I was 23, she said yes and then took off overseas. She had cheated,” tells Mike. “That set me up for a long period of trust issues that affected my relationships. I take break-ups badly.”
It seems the couple eventually found some common ground and have their eyes on a positive future. Heidi adds, “Mike and I just have this something. It’s unexplainable!”
