In defence of Hannah: MAFS UK 2024’s most misunderstood cast member

It was such uncomfortable viewing


We need to talk about Hannah. She is one of the cast members from this year’s highly polarising season of MAFS UK who has been on the show the least amount of time, but the impact and shitstorm Hannah has created has been immeasurable. Hannah needs only walk into a room and you watch the majority of the female cast bristle. It’s a wild watch, and it’s hard to see a steamrolling campaign of sheer schoolgirl nastiness directed at someone who – let’s face it – does not really deserve it.

Last night’s episode of MAFS UK 2024 really proved it to me: Hannah is the most misunderstood cast member out of all the brides and grooms this season. And it broke my heart to see someone feel like they have to weather the chaos of what being on this show must bring to this cast’s lives pretty much alone.

Last night we saw Hannah rejoin the group on the girl’s day, alongside other cast members who’d departed from the show at commitment ceremonies prior. The show did everything in its power to make her arrival intense and to rile up the other girls. Despite the fact time had passed and everyone Hannah was connected to and had pissed off was over it in the context of the show, she entered the room to Holly barking “look what the cat dragged in”. I mean, where do you go from there? From there on in, Hannah was the recipient of what felt like a dog pile. She was piled on by the girls for “going after” their husbands. Hannah went on one date with Orson – who Richelle had zero interest in. It was also revealed she’d struck up a friendship with Ryan – who was married to Sionainn.

Hannah could not have been clearer: Her and Ryan became friends after MAFS UK because they both needed someone to discuss their experience with and both felt excluded from group chats other brides and grooms had going on. This wasn’t enough for the group – and beyond the likes of Amy and Emma who spoke out for Hannah and said she doesn’t deserve to be dogpiled, it felt like there was no way Hannah could win in the scenario. I felt immeasurably sorry for her.

Hannah is no angel. The error she made on the honeymoon with Stephen was vile, when she used the thing he told her in confidence as ammunition. I think she was jarring and in the wrong a few times, but the way she could never redeem herself in the eyes of the group when they had been merciful to other cast members who had made similar mistakes just came across extremely playground and nasty.

Via Instagram

Hannah has spoken out since. She revealed on her story: “Me and Ryan built a really lovely friendship when we both got out of the experiment and that is all it has ever been! We have never dated and we have never been in a relationship. If anybody actually took a minute to ask us we would both have happily confirmed that but no! Instead it was playground whispers, rumours and a public ambush off of hearsay YET again!

“All the other cast built friendships (boys and girls) and were chatting, meeting up, enjoying a little WhatsApp group that we were left out of and as always it was more than ok for everybody else to get friendly – but of course not for me!” It’s actually horrible to hear.

And whilst we witness ringleaders of the anti Hannah brigade on MAFS UK like Holly double down on her behaviour in that episode, I think it’s worth saying that watching the edit we as viewers saw – this was not a cast member who deserved such isolation. Like Hannah said, she only knew them a week – she didn’t owe them anything.  And she’s well within her rights to have a friendship with male cast members without being treated like she just tore a marriage apart.

For all the latest MAFS UK 2024 cast member news, scandals, gossip and updates – like The Holy Church of MAFS on Facebook

 

More on: Dating MAFS Reality TV