Melissa was meant to appear on MAFS Australia 2022 but pulled out 10 days before the wedding

Married at First Sight Australia 2023 bride Melissa Sheppard has revealed she was meant to appear on the experiment back in 2022 but pulled after her groom told her he had an incurable STD.

Melissa was matched with Josh White on MAFS Australia season 10, but that wasn’t always meant to be the case.

Just 10 days before she was meant to ‘marry’ someone at first sight, she was told her groom had an incurable STD and she wasn’t “comfortable” with pursuing the relationship.

via Nine Network Australia

Speaking with Yahoo Lifestyle, Melissa said: “When you start doing the auditions for being a part of the series, you go through tests and personality type tests and STD checks and health checks, which is great.

“Unfortunately, my partner’s test results had come back with a few things that weren’t right for him, which I felt so terrible for, and they had to make me aware of it.”

Melissa said the STD was something the groom had to “manage for the rest of his life”, which she wasn’t comfortable with.

“It’s not something that you can take a tablet and go away, it’s something that he has to manage for the rest of his life,” she continued.

“It’s not like you meet someone out and you have a chance to get to know them and go, ‘Hey, I really like you, I’ve got a disclaimer, I’ve got XYZ’. That’s not the version of the story.

“The version of the story is you’re meeting a stranger to sleep next to and build a relationship with that you know nothing about. It just was something that I wasn’t comfortable with.”

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Melissa claims producers had asked her what she wanted to do and were “p***ed off” after she made the decision to not go through with it.

Melissa eventually went on to be matched with Josh during MAFS Australia season 10. They ended up being the first couple to leave the experiment after failing to establish a connection with one another.

For all the latest Married at First Sight news and gossip, iconic memes and the best quizzes, like The Holy Church of MAFS on Facebook.

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Cameron says Lyndall wasn’t the ‘right person’ for him on Married at First Sight Australia

• It’s official! We can reveal the most iconic MAFS Australia 2023 cast member

• Olivia Frazer says she was ‘too vulnerable’ while on Married at First Sight Australia

Featured image credit via Nine Network Australia.