MAFS bride Alyssa Barmonde reveals toll of bulling, harassment after show

MAFS bride and unlikely season villain Alyssa Barmonde has hit out at producers for encouraging online bullying, revealing fans found her phone number, and she lost her job after the show.

Married At First Sight (MAFS) bride Alyssa Barmonde, wants to break mental health “taboo” despite it being the focal point of her online bullying. Picture: Sam Ruttyn.

Alyssa Barmonde, 35, has hit out at the “bullying culture” that Channel 9’s Married At First Sight (MAFS) producers encourage from fans of the reality show.

The single mother from the Northern Beaches has been the target of fierce online harassment since the reality series concluded two weeks ago, and has also “coincidentally” been made redundant from her executive assistant job of seven years.

Barmonde’s issues with TV ‘husband’ Duncan James came to a head when she suffered a panic attack while filming, which she tells Confidential was one of many.

“It was really dark for a couple of months,” she said, admitting she stopped watching the current season after the couples retreat episode “because I could see what the edit was”.

“It’s unreal, some of the messages people send to me on my personal phone number and business accounts. You can chat about your opinion of me in this highly edited show in person and on social media, but if you find my number, and write up the most vile message I’ve ever seen and hit send, that’s intent to hurt. It’s not on.”

MAFS contestant Alyssa Barmonde says there is no shame in discussing therapy and metal health. “It’s the gym for your brain,” she said at the Bondi Active store launch. .Picture: Sam Ruttyn.

MAFS producers have refused multiple posts Barmonde has requested to make to her public Instagram account, which she won’t regain access to until the series has finished airing in the UK.

“They’re protecting the show and the narrative they’ve created, rather than letting me have my own voice.”

She added producers removed “all context” from the problems she encountered with James, including not hearing from him all weekend when they weren’t filming.

“He didn’t want to spend time with me,” but on camera, “said my availability around parenting my son wasn’t enough time for him. So which is it?”

“Everyone who’s a single parent knows the time is going to be limited, until you evolve the relationship enough to introduce your partner.”

Yet on TV, all the faults in their dynamic seemingly boiled down to her single parent status.

“It’s interesting how they spun that,” she said.

Dunca was a groom on MAFS 2023, partnered with Barmonde. Picture: Channel 9

During filming, Channel 9 provides the cast with onsite psychologists. “But something could’ve been done better about mitigating bullying,” Barmonde said.

She now sees her therapist (who she’s been with for 20 years) three times a week, and has upped her anxiety medication.

Multiple cast members have publicly spoken out in her defence, and she continues close relationships with “all of the girls”, and Ollie Skelton and Josh White.

While she doesn’t “regret” participating in MAFS, because she’s now “at a new crossroads in life...What terrifies me is that somebody might go on who doesn’t have the support and years of therapy to fall back on.”

James and fellow MAFS bride Evelyn Ellis (paired with Rupert Budgen) have denied romance rumours, since a video of them dirty dancing at a Sydney nightclub was leaked several weeks ago.

Barmonde says she hasn’t had any contact with James, who Confidential has spotted at numerous influencer parties enjoying his newfound fame.

Adding that, at least for now, she’s off the dating scene.

“You’re more likely to see me at a play centre or Kmart,” she said. “I wish Duncan well in his new relationships.”