MAFS UK’s Ella Morgan and JJ Slater call out transphobic abuse after returning as new couple
“To go onto a national television show with a transgender woman knowing the hate he would get from narrow-minded people takes guts"
MAFS UK contestants Ella Morgan and JJ Slater have addressed the transphobic and homophobic abuse they’ve both received after returning to the experiment together last night (25 October).
JJ was introduced as one of MAFS UK’s latecomer grooms, having been paired with wife Bianca Petronzi, 29.
However, he then went onto form a bond with Ella, who was coupled up with Nathanial Valentino, 36, and the duo went on a secret date.
JJ and Bianca ultimately left after a very tense Commitment Ceremony last week, also resulting in Ella’s husband bowing out.
“Everyone in the experiment saw Ella as a woman and a girl because that’s what she is” – JJ Slater
But in scenes that aired last night, Ella, who is the show’s first trans bride, and JJ made a surprise return to the experiment as a new couple.
This followed a similar situation that happened in last year’s season, where Whitney Hughes and Matt Murray both re-entered the process together after failing to form connections with their initial partners.
However, the pair have received a very mixed reception to their comeback, with both being the targets of trolls online.
JJ took to TikTok to address some of the bizarre questions he’d been sent off the back of the new pairing.
He said in response to one viewer who probed, “Are you bi now?” with: “No! I see Ella as a girl. I don’t know how many times I have to say that.
“The thing is, everyone in the experiment saw Ella as a woman and a girl because that’s what she is.”
“Being seen and treated as Ella, the girl I am, rather than a label is not something I’ve come across” – Ella Morgan
Ella addressed the slurs directed at JJ in a follow-up Instagram story, writing: “For everyone who said transphobic and homophobic slurs towards @johnjoeslater for being with me, having a guy who just sees me and accepts me for the woman I am, without caring what others say or think, is something I’ve never experienced.
“Being seen and treated as Ella, the girl I am, rather than a label is not something I’ve come across.
“I wasn’t a dirty secret to JJ, or a festish, and the fact he was not ashamed to walk back in with me, and proud to be with me so openly, shows how incredible he is as a cisgendered straight guy.”
She went on to add: “JJ and the rest of the male cast hadn’t met a trans person before.
“To go onto a national television show with a transgender woman knowing the hate he would get from narrow-minded people takes guts.”
It comes after Ella said she would take a temporary break from social media after the hate directed at her last week as the MAFS drama unravelled.
After explaining what happened on the E4 programme, she went on to add a poignant message: “I don’t feel I deserve to have transphobic abuse written to me.
“My transition has nothing to do with what happened tonight, it is entirely irrelevant.”
MAFS UK airs Mon-Thurs at 9pm on E4 and All 4.