POPPY ‘I DID IT FOR MY BOYS'
MAFS BRIDE POPPY REVEALS THE TRUTH BEHIND HER PAINFUL DIVORCE
Married at First Sight bride Poppy Marie doesn’t want Australia to think of her as another reality TV sob story.
The fearless mother of twins from Wollongong, NSW, isn’t shy about telling the world her ex-husband walked out while she was still breastfeeding – but it certainly doesn’t define her.
Speaking with New Idea, firecracker Poppy, 38, opened up about her decision to apply for MAFS in the hope her twin boys, Jett and Isaiah, now 2, wouldn’t live in a fractured family.
“I felt like I was ripping my kids off, not giving them a mum and dad in the same house,” Poppy admits.
“All my friends are still with their husbands, and I see them going to the park together and I feel like, am
I ripping my kids off, that they don’t have that male figure in their life?”
Poppy – who is paired with single dad Luke – struggled with leaving her boys to participate in the controversial TV experiment.
Her twins were only six weeks old when her now ex-husband decided to leave her for his co-worker.
Along with her own whip-smart sense of humour, Poppy says her babies were a beacon of hope during one of the toughest times of her life.
“They gave me a reason to smile and laugh every single day, even on the days when I shouldn’t have had a reason,” Poppy says tearfully.
“When you break up with someone, and you never have to see them again, it’s hard enough to move forward. But when you co-parent and have to see them every week, it’s even more difficult.”
Poppy’s wedding in episode one was a mess of tears and ‘mum guilt’ – and the photographer reveals that the feeling lasted well into filming the show.
But Luke’s warmth and empathy helped Poppy calm down and she soon started being herself.
“I was incredibly worried because my mum was looking after my boys, and two toddlers at the best of times … it’s like having two velociraptors,” Poppy laughs. “That was weighing heavily on my mind and I felt so guilty about leaving them to go on a show.”
Raising twins meant that Poppy never had a moment spare to go on dates or meet someone special.
Her ‘husband’, Melbournebased
FIFO worker Luke, is a father to two teenage girls himself. And despite Poppy’s breakdown during her TV wedding, Luke was understanding.
“If I’d been matched to someone who didn’t have kids, I would have been happy with that, but mainly I just wanted a family man,” Poppy explains.
“I didn’t want someone that wanted to go out on the weekends and party. I’ve done all that, I want the park life!
“But I made it pretty clear that my boys and I were really happy on our own, and that if somebody didn’t see them as amazing as I do, then I wouldn’t want to be with them.”
Telling friends and family she was signing up to marry a stranger on MAFS was a hard task for Poppy. Her group of friends rallied around the single mum when her husband unexpectedly left, and they are understandably protective.
“They’re so overprotective of my boys because they were the ones coming over to my house when I was going through that time. They were the ones watching me with those tiny little babies,” Poppy says. “So they were very, very scared for me.”
Poppy instantly became a fan favourite when the show promos revealed her heartbreaking backstory.
Nine Network aired her hilarious audition tape where she revealed the shocking reason behind her divorce.
“My husband, he had a terrible accident,” Poppy
“I FELT LIKE I WAS RIPPING MY KIDS OFF, NOT GIVING THEM A MUM AND DAD IN THE SAME HOUSE”
announced solemnly.
“He tripped and fell and landed in his co-worker’s vagina, and he’s still stuck there.”
But thankfully – despite her heartache – MAFS has allowed Poppy to finally move on from her first marriage.
“It’s really helped me … It was that last push I needed to just really move forward,” Poppy explains.
“I think everyone deserves to find happiness, and now that I’m so far out of the divorce,
I’m moving on. I really am.”
Here’s hoping supermum Poppy gets the happilyever-after she truly deserves.