I was on Married At First Sight UK and here’s what you DIDN’T know: Whitney Hughes lifts the lid on unseen drama, all-day dinner parties and how much say you REALLY get in the wedding day

Married At First Sight UK star Whitney Hughes has revealed what the contestants really get up to on the show and all the juicy off-screen drama. 

The Personal Assistant, 32, from St Albans, London, appeared on the show last year and became embroiled in one of the show’s biggest scandals when she had an affair with another contestant’s husband. 

In shocking scenes on series seven of the hit show, she opted to ditch her partner Duka Cavolli in favour of Matt Murray, who was married to Gemma Rose Barnes. 

Duka and Gemma then made the difficult decision to quit the show, with the experts controversially allowing barber Matt and Whitney to stay on as a couple, although they ultimately split after the show. 

Reflecting on her time within the experiment, Whitney spoke to Betway about the unexpectedly long hours, the drama that didn’t make it on camera and how much involvement the producers had in the show. 

Crikey: Married At First Sight UK star Whitney Hughes has revealed what the contestants really get up to on the show and all the juicy off-screen drama (pictured in May)

Newlyweds: The Personal Assistant, 32, from St Albans, London, appeared on the show last year and was paired up with recruitment HR coordinator and stripper Duka Cavolli

In the latter seasons of the show the contestants are not legally married, instead following the Australian format of the programme by making ‘a lifelong commitment to one another at a glamorous ceremony overseen by a wedding celebrant’

Yet despite there being no legal backing to the ‘weddings’, Whitney was surprised by how intense she found the ceremony, explaining: ‘I was really shocked by the words chosen by the officiant or priest during my wedding day. 

‘He was saying things like, “I promise to love you.” That was a bit of a shock for me and I wasn’t expecting that. 

‘But the rest of the process was kind of how I thought it would go. I wasn’t disappointed.’

As for the rest of the big day, Whitney revealed that she was pleasantly surprised by how much control she was given by producers. 

She explained: ‘I had free rein in choosing the dress. You don’t choose the location but you get to choose flowers, little favours and things like that. 

‘You do get a lot of input to be fair. I wasn’t expecting that and thought they would handle everything. I even thought they would do my vows for me, which they did in the end. They did end up helping me because I just couldn’t get it in my head. 

‘The idea of having to write these vows for a person I didn’t even know and couldn’t envision wasn’t working for me. They were like, “Whitney, we’re short on time so can you do your vows?”

‘I think I ended up doing them two days before the ceremony. Someone wrote them for me and I actually amended them. I couldn’t get it together in time.’

Wild: In shocking scenes on series seven, she opted to ditch partner Duka Cavolli in favour of Matt Murray, who was married to Gemma Rose Barnes (pictured on their wedding day) 

Switch: Duka and Gemma then made the difficult decision to quit the show, with the experts controversially allowing barber Matt and Whitney to stay on as a couple 

After the wedding day the newlyweds head off on their honeymoon and spend quality time as a couple before they begin a cycle of attending weekly dinner parties with their fellow contestants and the all-important commitment ceremonies with the experts, where they decide if they want to stay or leave in the experiment. 

While the dinner parties and commitment ceremonies are condensed into the hour-long episodes, Whitney revealed that filming them was an all day affair, with some days so tiring that she struggled to stay awake. 

She explained: ‘Filming was quite long and the commitment ceremonies were crazily long. I used to fall asleep during them!

‘There were couples who were having pumpkin spice and everything nice relationships, so there was no arguing happening when they were on the couch. 

‘You’re driven out of the apartments at about 8am and you’ll get back at around midnight. You’re there all day filming.

READ MORE: Which Married at First Sight UK couples are still together? The brides and grooms that have stayed the distance

‘The dinner parties were an all-day thing as well, but it wasn’t as intense because you’re chatting, having dinner and having a drink. That was ok, but it was more the commitment ceremonies. I dreaded those to be honest. 

‘Obviously I was the naughty one, so I knew that I was going to be up last. I knew I was going to be told off, so it felt a little bit like being a naughty kid at school and you’re waiting outside the headmaster’s office. 

‘I was dreading it, which is probably why I was trying to sleep, to keep away from the craziness that was going to come my way.’

While Whitney wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself on the show and found herself in the midst of several rows with castmates, she revealed that the worst moments didn’t even make it to air. 

‘What you saw on screen was just a tiny snippet of how bad it was,’ she confessed. ‘The arguments were really, really bad. That tension and bad vibes carried through off screen for sure… 

‘The commitment ceremonies, dinner parties or a girls’ day were hard because you knew you were going to be around people that had strong opinions of you. 

‘I just knew they were going to be coming for me constantly, so I did not look forward to those days.’ 

Whitney also revealed that she was left paranoid by the producers splitting up the couples to get their thoughts on how the relationship was going, admitting she and her partners were concerned that show bosses would try and manipulate them into saying something. 

 She explained: ‘One thing that I found odd when filming was we did this thing called voxing, where you’ll go to another room or location and discuss everything you’ve experienced, thinking or feeling. 

‘I was obviously living with Duka or Matt at the time, and you never know what they’re saying. When they go off to do the voxing it’s like a guessing game for what that person is actually saying to the camera. 

‘”Are they saying what’s really happened or are they twisting things?” I found that to be quite strange. Duka would be like, “don’t let them twist you or don’t let them put ideas in your head!”‘

Despite these fears, Whitney was quick to shut down rumours that the show is ‘staged’, insisting everything was ‘real’ and confirming: ‘There’s the odd little bit that has a bit of cheeky editing, but it’s not scripted or anything like that.’

Fuming: While Whitney wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself and found herself in the midst of several rows with castmates, she revealed that the worst moments didn’t even make it to air 

As for the advice she would give herself if she could go back in time and warn herself before the show, Whitney insisted she wouldn’t do anything differently. 

She confessed: ‘If you asked me this question last year, I would have told myself to do what the rest of them were doing: be fake and stop being honest! 

‘Now that I’ve come out the other side, I would just say to do exactly what you did and be yourself. If people don’t like you, that’s fine. 

‘At least people don’t like you for being yourself, rather than love you for being fake.’

Whitney’s season of MAFS UK wasn’t short on drama, betrayal and lust, with Zoe Clifton and Jenna Robinsons the only couple from season seven that are still together now. 

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