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Married At First Sight's JJ Defends Ella From Transphobic Attacks
Trans contestant Ella Morgan Clarke is re-entering Married At First Sight UK with JJ Slater.
After having their first relationships fail on Married At First Sight UK season eight, trans cast member Ella Morgan Clarke and JJ Slater are now forming a new couple on the show.
The MAFS UK experts first matched Clarke with Nathanial Valentino, but things didn’t work out for the couple. This led to Valentino leaving the show. In turn, Slater was first coupled-up with Bianca Petronzi, but they broke up before making a final decision about their relationship.
Despite those failed first relationships, Clarke and Slater remained confident in the experiment and are now giving each other a second chance. As reported by The Sun, Slater was recently seen in a TikTok live with costar Luke Worley, which was flooded by transphobic comments against Clarke.
Thankfully, Slater did nothing but defend Clarke from the hateful comments. “Am I bi now? No. I see Ella as a girl. I don’t know how many times I have to say that,” he said in the live-stream. “The thing is everyone in the experiment saw Ella as a woman and a girl because that’s what she is.”
Worley, who was hosting the live-stream, also chimed in to defend Clarke and Slater’s relationship. “Ella to me is a woman. I have never been around someone trans, so I had to be personally educated,” Worley said. “I look at trans people totally different now. I had to have this conversation with Ella because I needed to be educated as well.”
Clarke has unfortunately been subjected to various transphobic attacks on social media. She made history as the first trans contestant to appear on MAFS UK, and it’s been rubbing some transphobes the wrong way. Nonetheless, Clarke has repeatedly showcased herself as a beam of light who is patient and willing to teach others about what it means to be trans.
Whether or not things these Married At First Sight UK relationships work out, we love to see that her costars are standing by her side, internalizing the things they’ve learned from her, and shutting down trolls on social media.
Slow – but real – progress is being made!
Bernardo Sim is a writer, editor, and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
Bernardo Sim is a writer, editor, and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
