Why MAFS bride Tamara doesn't think she's a ‘villain’: ‘It is what it is’

One week into season nine of Married At First Sight and Tamara Djordjevic has already made quite a strong impression on viewers.

The 29-year-old bride, who has been paired with Brent Vitiello in the experiment, sparked controversy during her TV wedding when she admitted that she wouldn’t date a retail worker because it “doesn’t match my lifestyle”.

“I asked for someone who was ambitious, I want someone who has those same values that I have,” she said during the show’s premiere.

“Not because I think working in those kinds of industries is bad... If that's your goal to stay in a retail job for the rest of your life, and not progress, good on them, but that's not me.”

Viewers took to social media following the incident to label the operations manager as “aggressive”, “judgemental” and “awful”, with many predicting that she will be this season’s ‘villain’.

RELATED

• MAFS' Tamara reveals the honeymoon moment viewers didn't see on TV

• MAFS experts reveal how much they really see during filming: 'Very different'

• MAFS' Domenica reveals ex-husband's 'angry' reaction to her TV gig

In an exclusive chat with Yahoo Lifestyle, Tamara has now responded to the criticism of her retail comments - which she says were taken “completely out of context” - and explained why she doesn’t believe she’s the bad guy.

“I definitely don't consider myself as a villain,” she asserted.

“I don't go out of my way to upset anybody or cause any unnecessary drama to somebody else, but I wasn't shocked to see that I was painted as a villain from first impressions. I don't always leave the best first impressions on people.

“It’s one of those things, it is what it is and I’m someone that you either like or you don’t like,” she added with a laugh.

‘I would never say that’

Tamara, who actually worked at her father’s Subway franchise in Ballarat when she was younger, admitted that she’s “nervous to go to the shops again” following the intense backlash she received online.

“If people listen to the whole conversation that we had at the wedding, I wasn't bagging out retail at all,” she said.

“Brent and his friend put words in my mouth that I was looking down on retail workers. I used to work in retail myself, I have no problem with retail or people who work in retail. That’s absolutely not what I was trying to say and I didn’t articulate myself properly.

“Some people read into things too much and take it out of context. I don't think that I'm better than anybody else, I would never say that. I actually come from a very humble working-class family.”

‘I don’t really think before I speak’

Speaking about being trolled on social media after the first episode, Tamara confessed that she found it difficult dealing with the mean comments.

“The reactions online from the wedding were very harsh,” she said, adding that she can also understand why viewers were so angry.

“It takes a little while to understand my personality and my views. I just say things as they are and honestly, I don’t really think before I speak.

The TV bride also revealed that she’s done “a lot of self-reflection” after seeing herself on-screen, and she’s excited for fans to watch the rest of her journey.

“As you get to know me and my personality, I think I have a lot of different personality traits that will show throughout the experiment. People were a lot kinder to me after the honeymoon, seeing that I am a bit more relatable, which was good.”

Never miss a thing. Sign up to Yahoo Lifestyle’s daily newsletter.

Or if you have a story idea, email us at lifestyle.tips@yahooinc.com.