With the second part of the Married At First Sight reunion done and dusted, the chaos of yet another dramatic walkout and rather impressive redemption arcs aren’t the only dramatic souvenirs from Channel Nine’s two-part special.
As the nation eagerly awaits the hit reality TV show’s eighth season—and to meet the new sexologist expert—all heads have turned to Nasser Sultan, the villainous and self-appointed “voice of the people” who was booted out from the dinner party after refusing to apologise for past false accusations he’s made.
Now, Sultan has come forward to admit that he has been playing the character of ‘Nasser Sultan’ since his time on season five of the hit show.
Appearing on The Wash‘s Not Another Reality TV Podcast podcast, Nasser admitted that he chose to play the character of a “deluded reality star” in order to remain in the public eye, following his stint on the show in 2018.
Confessing that the ‘parody’ he created completely consumed him, the 53-year-old went on to acknowledge that he’ became “obsessed” with tearing others down “just for a headline” and confessed that the few real friends he has left are “embarrassed” to be seen with him.
When explaining his decision to become a public character of himself, Nasser revealed that it can occasionally feel like he has a “split personality”, saying:
“Sometimes it’s like there’s a split personality. There’s the, ‘Can I get a photo with you? You’re amazing’—and then there’s this other character, where it’s like, I’m not that big [of a celebrity].”
The ‘social commentator’ continued, “The whole thing is a front. I’ve put on this front, and I think I’ve done it extremely well, nobody has done this character [before]. I’m realising now that you can’t play this character forever, there has to be a limit where [I say], ‘Enough now, I have to change direction’.”
And while Nasser admits that his time in the spotlight needs to come to a close, he also explains how his character came to be after his on-screen stint, thanks to ego and media attention.
“It’s hard, when you get off a show like this, you’re on a high and you’re getting all this attention,” he explained. “When you’re walking down the street and people want photos. I even remember the police once pulling me over for RBT and letting me go because it was Nasser. They let me off because they’d just seen me on this show.”
“You get a big head, you’re in this bubble saying to yourself, ‘I’m untouchable, I can do whatever I want’. I wanted to continue to be noticed and recognised. I never wanted it to end—I wanted my name to be known by everyone across Australia… It all went wrong because I started to embed myself in the lives of everybody else. I am obsessed.”
And it’s safe to say that Nasser‘s personality change came at a cost. Ahead of the MAFS reunion special, each former bride and groom firmly stated that he was the last person they wanted to see.
“He has burned a lot of bridges,” said MAFS expert Mel Schilling prior to his arrival. “It goes to show that social media plays a huge role in their lives,” fellow expert, John Aiken, added.
“I say what I feel,” Nasser later told producers. “Do I make funny comments about them all the time, yes, that’s what people want. Humour.”
However, when confronted by the group at the table, he refused to apologise for making excessive false accusations against his co-stars—including past contestants he had never met before—and following backlash from others, stormed out of the dinner party in typical MAFS fashion.
Since Nasser’s admissions of self have come post-reunion, Australia can only wait and see if he stays true to his word.
