Wendy Kop from Almere participated in season 2 of Married at First Sight (MAFS). In this TV program she was paired with a man whom she saw and spoke to for the first time when she married him. Although it ultimately turned out not to be a match, she did learn a lot about herself. “I stand up for myself more”
Wendy says she really wanted to participate. “I had been single for about five years, never married and had no luck finding anyone. So I wanted to let science do its work for once.”
She explains that she found it very scary to participate. “You really look forward to the moment when you walk into the wedding hall and you think about what your match will look like, but it remains to be seen who will be there in the end.”
Tests and conversations
Ultimately there was Jeroen, who was linked to Wendy by experts. She explains how that works. “There are all kinds of test days and discussions with experts. A profile is then created and it is then checked whether there is someone among the men who can be linked to you.”
‘Not my type’
The moment she saw Jeroen, she remembers exactly what happened in her head. “It was quite disappointing at first. I thought he looked a little older and I love hair, but he was bald. So it wasn’t really my type in terms of appearance.”
Still, she wanted to go into it with an open attitude. “I wanted to get to know him, I was open to that. I really had the intention of: ‘This is it and this is him’, because I expected my husband to be there.”
Three weeks of experiment followed after the wedding, but Wendy and Jeroen left three days before the three weeks were over. “We immediately decided to leave at the first possible moment. Ultimately, it was his inner self that made the decision to stop.”
Comments
People on television were able to experience Wendy and Jeroen’s entire adventure. All those people had an opinion about them. “People are really mean online. I don’t read everything, but I read, for example, that people felt very sorry for Jeroen and that I had not given him a chance.”
According to her, that was a very quick decision. “Look, you don’t see everything as a viewer. There are 24 hours in a day and a lot happens in them. The cameramen only come for a few hours and they get a few minutes out of that that are broadcast on television.”
Wendy explains that she does not have a mask and that you can see that clearly on the image. “You can immediately see from my face what I’m thinking. But my match wasn’t the sweetheart he seemed either.” She also tries to explain this to her followers on Instagram.
Because of all those online reactions, Wendy had a period when she did not dare to go outside. “I regularly read ‘Bitch’ and ‘Kutwijf’ online, so I was afraid that they would also say that on the street. Fortunately that was not the case at all. The people I spoke to were only positive.”
No regrets
Wendy has no regrets about participating in MAFS. “Getting married was really a girl’s dream for me. I was allowed to choose the make-up and dress myself. That was amazing. Although I wouldn’t do the experiment again if I knew the same man would be there, I still enjoyed it. I made new friends and experienced everything positively.”
She also learned a lot about herself. “I have learned to stand up for myself. I didn’t do that before. I always did what others told me to do. An expert from MAFS said to me: ‘No is also an answer. If you don’t feel well, please let us know.’
According to Wendy, that did come in. “As a result, I have learned to stay close to myself and that change is reflected. I stood up for myself much more after that.”
Next marriage?
Now Wendy is single again, but it doesn’t have to stay that way for long. “A small scoop; I’m dating!” Whether that ultimately is the perfect match remains to be seen.
