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MAFS star refused entry from ARIAs red carpet in awkward moment
Former Married At First Sight participant Nasser Sultan was reportedly refused entry onto the ARIA Awards red carpet on Thursday night, which took place at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion.
The controversial TV personality, who has been accused of 'gate crashing' other high-profile events in the past, was photographed being turned away by event organisers at the beginning of the carpet as his name wasn't on the list alongside all of the big names attending.
He was then spotted making angry-looking phone calls whilst aimlessly walking around outside the venue, onlookers tell Yahoo Lifestyle.
It’s believed Nasser was hoping to attend the ARIAs as media to try and interview musicians for a small website, which meant he had to stand in a crowded pen with other journalists.
However, he later snuck out of this and onto the actual red carpet and spent the rest of the evening narrowly avoiding security.
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A source tells us: “Nasser thought he was there as one of the big celebrity guests, had spent weeks planning his outfit and thought he'd be walking the carpet and interviewing all the big names inside. He got a reality check when he arrived and found out he was stuck behind a barrier.”
Nasser ended up sharing photos and videos of himself on social media drinking champagne on the red carpet and posing in front of a photo wall. He also later posted a three-minute video from inside the venue.
Yahoo Lifestyle has contacted Nasser for comment.
While Nasser wasn’t included on the guest list to attend Australian music’s night of nights, there were a number of other reality stars who made an appearance.
MAFS stars Domenica Calarco, Jules Robinson and Cam Merchant were all spotted walking the red carpet, as well as Brittany Hockley, Angie Kent, Maria Thattil, Tanya Hennessy, Carla from Bankstown, Josh Moss, and even Chrishell Stause from Netflix’s Selling Sunset.
Other stars in attendance include hosts Natalie Imbruglia, G Flip and Ruel, Vance Joy, Tones and I, Dami Im, Casey Donovan, Hugh Sheridan, The Wiggles, Flume, Missy Higgins, Baker Boy, Genesis Owusu and Budjerah.
Nasser busted buying 40,000 fake Instagram followers
Nasser’s disastrous evening comes shortly after he was exposed for having approximately 40,000 fake followers on Instagram.
Yahoo Lifestyle revealed back in September that almost half of the self-proclaimed social commentator’s followers are bots, mostly based in Turkey and Iran.
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Statistics collected by social media analytics website Social Blade show that from August 2021 to August 2022, the 55-year-old's following has more than doubled from 42,000 to 88,500. Over the last 12 months, his account has gradually grown by several thousand each month, yet for the three years prior to August 2021, it had zero growth and gradually lost followers each month.
Instagram users often buy fake bot followers from ‘follow farms’ to make themselves look more popular, and you can buy 5,000 fake followers for as little as $39.99 on some websites. It is unclear whether Nasser bought the fake followers himself or if someone purchased them for him.
When asked for comment, Nasser told Yahoo Lifestyle: “If someone can buy me or show me how to obtain them I’ll be happy to take them.
“Maybe I should put out a video asking people to show me how? Because apparently if you have lots you can become an influencer.”
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