‘OUR 9-YEAR BATTLE’
THE REALITY STAR SHARES HIS FAMILY’S TOUGHEST MOMENT
His mother Fatima’s extreme disapproval of his fiancée Jessica Jones has shocked Bride & Prejudice viewers, and now Seyat Abazovski reveals how another family trauma has affected him deeply. “The toughest thing in my life I would say would be seeing my brother go from being a normal kid to having schizophrenia,” Seyat says. “He used to be a normal kid and now he doesn’t have a normal life.” Seyat’s older brother was first diagnosed with the mental illness – which can cause sufferers to experience episodes of psychosis involving delusions and hallucinations – when he was just 13 years old. “Slowly he started to get sick,” the 19-year-old shares. Now 22, Seyat’s brother’s condition is treated with medication. “He just chills at home and does nothing,” explains the reality star. Seyat’s partner Jess – who was offered $10,000 by Seyat’s mother Fatima to leave her son, and branded as “dirty” and accused of “dressing like a prostitute” by her future mother-in-law – has met Seyat’s brother and gets on well with him. She explains he’s nothing like the often scary stereotypes of schizophrenia sufferers.
“I was never frightened. I think he’s the most genuine person and I just think he’s really sweet,” says Jess, 21.
“I always tried to make an effort to have a conversation with him.”
Despite the way she’s been treated by Fatima – who insists she will never accept Jess marrying Seyat and has even said there’s “nothing good” about her son’s choice of future wife – Jess has sympathy for what the family have been through. She also explains how important it is to normalise mental health issues.
“I thought it was really sad and I felt sorry for Seyat and his mum and his family, but I didn’t treat anybody any differently because of that,” she explains.
“You don’t want to make someone feel worse about something they can’t control.”