MAFS bride Mishel Karen claims show ’failed her’ after drink spike
MAFS bride Mishel Karen has revealed how she could have been murdered or raped after having her drink spiked at a Sydney bar. The 48-year-old lashed out at the show and its production company, whom she claims owed her a “duty of care”. WATCH THE VIDEO
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Married At First Sight contestant Mishel Karen says she had her drink spiked during filming and has accused production house Endemol Shine of failing her.
A urine test after the alleged spiking showed Ms Karen had opiates and tranquillisers — benzodiazepines — in her system.
Following a heated stoush with her on-screen husband Steve Burley, Ms Karen went out for a drink at a Sydney bar to let off some steam.
“I said that I wanted to have a drink … and there’s a bar close to where we were staying so I said to the production ‘babysitter’ that I’m going to have one drink, and then I’m going to come back,” Ms Karen said.
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“I moved to the bar and I sat next to this guy and we just started to talk. I had a shot of tequila and a cocktail and that was fine, that was it. Then we were just talking and all of a sudden they (waitstaff) came around and he said this was a free drink.
“The guy picked one up for me and then he gave it to me. The guy was a little bit suss, but he was OK.
“I had the drink, and all of a sudden I could see the phone ringing. I could see myself trying to answer, trying to do something, but I can’t. And that’s all I can remember. I don’t remember anything after that drink.”
Not long later, Ms Karen found herself sitting “paralysed” on the street, where she was found by fellow MAFS castmate Natasha Spencer.
“She was sitting on the stairs outside of our apartment building near the bar she was at,” Spencer said.
“She couldn’t stand up, she was acting super strange, she could barely move. She was all floppy. I thought something was wrong, but I thought maybe she had taken something. I didn’t understand it was a drink spiking.”
Ms Karen was taken to the producers’ hotel room where her condition took a turn for the worse.
“They got me to the elevator. I actually … slithered almost. I couldn’t move my arms or legs and I lost all bodily functions … which was very humiliating,” she said. “I’m vomiting, urinating, everything that could happen was happening. I am paralysed.”
No ambulance was called.
The following morning Ms Karen requested a urine sample and blood test after her on-screen husband Burley suggested her drink may have been spiked.
Ms Karen says she had to demand a urine test and Endemol Shine insisted she use their preferred doctor instead of her Sydney GP.
“Once the test results came back the doctor rang me and said, “Look, you did test positive for opiates,” she said.
“I said, ‘Can you test this further, because I am actually allergic to morphine’. He said, “Look, it is probably a wig-out, there is no point in doing anything’.”
She says Burley’s attempt to return to the bar to request CCTV footage of his wife’s night there was also thwarted by the show.
“Steve really wanted to go to the bar … he was stopped blankly (and told), ‘You are not to go ask for that’.”
Ms Karen is unhappy with both Endemol Shine and Channel 9.
“There is a duty of care,” she said. “I actually could have ended up murdered. What if I did get raped?
“I’ve been violated by ingesting something that I did not want to take.”
Detailed questions were sent to both Channel 9 and Endemol, neither of which chose to respond.
Originally published as MAFS bride Mishel Karen claims show ’failed her’ after drink spike