Mum Marries at First Sight S
he’s a mother of four, grandmother to two, worked as a journalist for 25 years, lived on the Mornington Peninsula for all of that time, and was one of the participants of Married at First Sight. Peninsula Kids Magazine talks to Melissa Walsh about her decision to put her love life in the hands of the experts in the social experiment that tests if science can find a soul mate, and life after the show. “After my last marriage I have found it hard to trust my ability to match myself with the right type of person,” said Melissa who was completely devastated when her second marriage ended. “I saw the advertisement for applications to the show and decided to download it and apply. I sent off a couple of photos and went upstairs to quietly make a small video telling them who I was and why I had been so unlucky in love.” Never expecting to hear anything back, Melissa deleted the video and went about her everyday life until a week later when she had a message from a Married at First Sight producer. “I was in total shock when I heard the message saying they were interested in my application. It had been my usual Friday night sitting at home alone with a glass of wine and I immediately thought ‘What have I done?’”, she says with a laugh. “After I composed myself and called them back I was delighted that I was being considered as I truly believed they might be able to find the perfect person for me.” Being a mum with grown up children as well as a 15-yearold (Ellie) living at home, it was important to Melissa that she discuss the prospect of doing the show with her family. “While the application process was intense and went for several months, I decided fairly early on to talk to my children about it as I wanted to make sure they had no concerns,” she said. “I decided that if any of them objected, I would withdraw my application but I was delightfully surprised by their reaction and they were incredibly supportive.” 22
Peninsula Kids – Winter 2018