MAFS star: ‘If it was just about love, I’d probably just have gone on Tinder’

Former Married At First Sight star Lucinda Light takes aim at dating apps and explains why going on the reality series ‘felt like a giant slap’ – as she opens up about her relationship status.

For Lucinda Light, the breakout bride on this year’s series of Married At First Sight, “authenticity is the new sexy”. It’s a particularly bold declaration from the star of a show that hasn’t exactly been shy about churning out a production line of cosmetically enhanced contestants.

“I’m over here representing the natural wild woman who loves fashion,” the Byron Bay-based events host tells Stellar of her style cred.

“Look, my hair probably was a bit wild, but I live in Byron, so I am a ‘Glamazon Amazon’. I haven’t had any plastic surgery or fillers or Botox. I just don’t subscribe to that sort of stuff.”

Feeling sorry for the haters who have criticised her appearance while she was on the show, Light now hopes to use her new-found popularity to champion more realistic beauty standards. “Let’s make ourselves shiny from the inside out,” she says.

“Let’s know ourselves and love ourselves and be authentic and self-aware, and be kind and show compassion with each other and be clear communicators. That, to me, is far more appealing than spending thousands of dollars on fillers and Botox.”

Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar

Although she failed to find love in her onscreen marriage to Timothy Smith, 44-year-old Light did gain a global following thanks to her plain-spoken manner. She’s particularly popular in the UK, where MAFS contestants now attract the kind of frenzied interest once reserved for the stars of Neighbours and Home And Away.

“While Australians are pretty blasé about it, reality television is stupendously popular over there,” she says with a smile.

“I mean, I don’t really watch prime-time television, but the show has been sold to 100 different [territories], even Iceland and Dubai. I have had invitations from all these wonderful countries.”

Thanks to her TV fame, Light has also amassed more than 640,000 followers online, inked a book deal, and undertaken a sold-out UK tour. “The love and energy were palpable everywhere I went – in England, Scotland and Wales,” she says. “And in October we’ll be adding Ireland to the mix.

“Transitioning to [being] a storyteller and producing such an immersive show has been both a joy and a lot of hard work. The experience weaves together stories from my life and MAFS, insights on emotional intelligence, theatre therapy, cabaret, dance, comedy, and a Q&A session that’s raw, real, and wonderfully wild.”

Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar

As a wedding celebrant, Light may have seemed a casting coup for the show – but she insists she didn’t go on it to fulfil any long-held dreams of saying ‘I do’. “I don’t think I’ve been one of those young girls where all I can dream of is my wedding or my baby,” she explains.

“I’ve definitely been more of someone who is thinking about, ‘How do I squeeze more out of this life?’”

It was this attitude that led her to audition, after she saw an online ad for the show while she was experiencing a bit of a personal and professional slump in the wake of the Covid pandemic. “To be honest, it was a very spontaneous decision,” she recalls.

“It felt like a giant slap from the cosmos to do something wild. I was living a very quiet life and was very underwhelmed by my dating prospects.”

Even though she had never seen a single episode of the controversial matchmaking show – “my truth is I haven’t really watched television or plugged into that world for a few years” – Light decided to take the plunge.

“And once she did, she quips that it became the greatest crash course in human behaviour she’s ever taken, adding that many viewers – some of them as young as teenagers – have told her they also learnt plenty from watching the series.

“It’s a great educational show because it showcases how to do relationships – and how not to do relationships,” she says. “It also showcases terminology that maybe people wouldn’t be aware of: everything from gaslighting to breadcrumbing. So I think it’s fantastic, because it brings awareness: social awareness, relationship awareness, self-awareness.”

Fortuitously, Light had enrolled in an anger management course before filming started, not because the self-described polymath needed help to contain her fury but rather to understand it. “I didn’t feel like I could access mine as easily as I should,” she explains.

Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar

“Because when you get angry, you get to a place of clarity really quickly, whereas if you let it stew inside, it ends up with some murky waters.”

Understanding more about the upsides of anger and why people get hot-headed helped Light navigate a few explosive TV dinner parties.

“It was so interesting to see such diversity in humans and relationships,” she says.

“Being a fly on the wall in those commitment ceremonies, I mean … People just see a few minutes of each person’s relationship, but we all sit there and watch each relationship get analysed for 45 minutes to an hour. It’s fascinating. You just get the highlights, but for me, hearing from the psychologist, a relationship expert and a sexologist was incredible.”

Light will take those learnings with her when she fronts a new British reality series, tentatively titled The Honesty Box, with Geordie Shore’s Vicky Pattison.

“I’m getting opportunities that are beyond my wildest imaginings at the moment,” she tells Stellar.

But to those who claim they want to be on MAFS to find a soulmate, Light offers more insight. “Anyone who says that is probably fibbing, because it comes with a myriad of opportunities,” she says.

“If it was just about love, I’d probably have just gone on Tinder. Something like this can go really well or really badly, and I’ve been blessed that people have resonated with my energy and who I am as a person.”

Nonetheless, Light coyly admits she has been wooed by a crop of new international suitors. “I’ve had date offers from both men and women, which has been lovely,” she reveals. “But I’ve truly been married to my computer since MAFS. I’m keen to change that and start dating, because I really do want to find my life partner.”

See the full shoot with Lucinda Light in the latest issue of Stellar. For more from Stellar and the podcast, Something To Talk About, click here.

Originally published as MAFS star: ‘If it was just about love, I’d probably just have gone on Tinder’