MAFS' Tamara shares her advice for future brides: 'Fake it'

After being portrayed as one of the ‘villains’ on this year’s season of Married At First Sight, Tamara Djordjevic has now shared her advice for next year’s participants.

The 30-year-old bride spoke openly with Yahoo Lifestyle on Wednesday about her time on the reality TV show and what she wishes she knew before filming.

MAFS' Tamara Djordjevic.
MAFS’ Tamara Djordjevic has opened up about her time on the show. Photo: Channel Nine

“Don't be your full self, hold back,” she says with a laugh.

“And even if you don't love the person you're matched with, pretend you do. Pretend you love them because everyone loves the person who loves love and is obsessed with their partner, you can see that.

“You’ve just got to fake it.”

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Tamara went on to say that if she could change anything from her MAFS experience, it would be her length of time on the show.

“To be honest, I wish I wasn't there until the end,” she admits. “Looking back at my emotional state and how I was throughout the end of the experiment, it was too much and I wish that I had left earlier.”

She adds that she wishes she was allowed to go home when she wrote ‘leave’ at the commitment ceremony after the couples retreat.

“With MAFS, both people have to write ‘leave’, and I know Brent really didn't want to leave,” she details.

“So I sort of stayed for his sake and I was like, ‘Okay, he wants to be here. I'll give it my best shot’, and I really wish that I had sort of put myself first. I think that's why I got so angry because I stayed more for his sake than my own and I got really bitter and I just wished that I had stuck to my guns and said, ‘No, I still want to go home’.”

MAFS' Brent Vitiello and Tamara Djordjevic.
Tamara admits she wishes she didn’t stay until the end of the experiment. Photo: Channel Nine

‘So far from the truth’

Speaking about her on-screen portrayal, Tamara asserts that there were plenty of moments that viewers never got to see on TV.

“It's so crazy because I used to love watching MAFS myself, I was obsessed with the show and when someone would go on about an ‘edit’ I’d be like, ‘Oh get stuffed, there’s no such thing. You said it’,” she says.

“But you don't see the full context and everything that goes on behind the scenes, like the production side of things, as to why someone can be so frustrated and angry. It might not be at that one certain particular situation, but it's everything on top of it.

“So I get a lot of comments like, ‘You showed your true colours in the end’. It's like, no, that's really not who I am. That's when I'm pushed to complete breaking point.”

Tamara also says that one major example of a scene that was heavily edited was when she was ‘upset’ at Brent on the retreat because he gave her flowers addressed to ‘Mrs Vitiello’.

“[That scene was] so ridiculous and so far from the truth, I got those flowers weeks before we even went on the couple's retreat,” she shares.

“Our arguments had nothing to do with the flowers and we had multiple arguments throughout that week, and I think it comes down to editing. It’s no fault of Brent’s, but he was shown in the best light and they definitely didn't want to show any parts of him that portrayed him in anything but that perfect light.”

MAFS' Tamara Djordjevic.
Tamara says she’d love to appear on reality TV again in the future. Photo: Channel Nine

‘I love the career path I’m on’

Despite gaining a large following on social media after her time on MAFS, Tamara insists that she never planned on changing her career post-show.

“I'm still working the same,” she says. “I guess a lot of people [that go on MAFS] have a prior agenda of wanting to be an influencer and take that path, whereas I just did this for an experience, to be honest. I've always been happy working, I love the career path that I'm on.”

However, she acknowledges that the show has “opened up a lot of doors” for her, and she’s keen to appear on reality TV again in the future.

“I definitely don't think I’d do another dating reality show, but like, I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! would be so fun. Like you eat all of the pig's testicles and all of that gross stuff,” she laughs.

“So I just think it'd be so fun to challenge yourself doing that. So something a little bit more fun I think, rather than doing something so serious like being married.”

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