Married At First Sight UK star Nelly Patel has revealed that seeing herself on the show confirmed her decision to have a nose job.
The cosmetic dentist, 31, had been considering the decision for nearly 10 years after an accident in her teenage years left her with a deviated septum.
Yet it was her appearance on the E4 dating show that enabled her to take the plunge, with Nelly visiting Professor Raghavan at Pall Mall Medical for the procedure last month.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail, Nelly explained: ‘Seeing myself on TV, I was like, “no, like I’m not being silly”, because obviously the people that love me always turned around and said “you don’t need it, you’re perfect as you are.” It was confirmation for me seeing it on screen.’
She insisted, however, that online comments had no bearing on her decision, saying: ‘I’ve got a pretty thick skin, and respectfully, nothing that a troll will say will ever influence a decision of mine.’
Nelly appeared on season 10 of MAFS UK last year, where she was paired with Steven Springett.
MAFS UK’s Nelly Patel has revealed she got a nose job after seeing herself on the show and has reflected on chaotic marriage to Steven Springett
It was her appearance on the E4 dating show that enabled her to take the plunge, with Nelly visiting Professor Raghavan at Pall Mall Medical for the procedure last month
She quickly became a fan favourite, with viewers left outraged on her behalf when it emerged Steven had been lying about his feelings for her.
While the weddings are not legally binding, couples are encouraged to behave like they are officially married, receiving help from commitment experts each week.
Nelly worked hard on their ‘marriage’, but in turn, Steven signed up to a dating app to meet other women, before striking up a relationship with another bride on the show, Julia-Ruth Smith.
Revealing there’s no love lost between the pair, Nelly said she has since blocked Steven on all forms of social media, and they are no longer in contact.
Reflecting on her turbulent romance with Steven, Nelly mused: ‘What I’ve learned is I’m apparently a very patient person.
‘At the time you don’t feel how tough it is, but you know when you are with somebody who, let’s be honest, wasn’t really being quite genuine, he wasn’t being the kindest either to me…
‘The public [reception] really helped, just how supportive everyone was, especially women, it was so nice.’
Nelly and Steven chose to leave the experiment just before Final Vows, with Nelly sharing: ‘I was happy we were sort of civil after everything had ended.
But his behavior as the show was airing… obviously it must have been hard for him to have that negative feedback from a lot of people, but the way he was on social media, he wasn’t the kindest about me.
‘I was sent a lot of stuff by a lot of people saying “he’s saying this about you, saying that about you,” and at that point I just thought, fine, we clearly can’t even have any form of civil friendship or any sort of relationship. So I was very trigger happy with the block button!
‘I have a better relationship with Julia Ruth than I do with Stephen, so that’s saying a lot!’
Despite her marriage not working out, Nelly has no regrets about appearing on the show, saying: ‘ I didn’t expect that level of personal growth’
Despite her marriage not working out, Nelly has no regrets about appearing on the show, saying: ‘I didn’t expect that level of personal growth.
‘I really thought I was just going to have a bit of time off work, maybe find the love of my life, maybe not, have a bit of fun and have something that I can talk about with my friends and family when I’m older.
‘The personal growth and the confidence I got was something I didn’t expect.’
Nelly, who has been cheated on in the past, said the experience also taught her that she wasn’t as healed or as confident as she thought she was, and that if she were to go through the experience again she would back herself more.
She mused: ‘It’s hard because watching it back, it’s blindingly obvious that he didn’t like me at some points. But those private interviews he’s do, I didn’t see those.
‘So I was being told a different thing and then I’d watch it on television and I looked like an idiot.’
In recent months MAFS has faced calls to be axed after claims aired by BBC Panorama that two women had been raped during filming, while a third woman had said she was the victim of a non-consensual sex act. The claims have been denied by the men concerned.
Currently a series of MAFS UK, filmed from January to March of this year, is yet to be broadcast, with Channel 4 saying they will wait until an external investigation is concluded to determine whether it will be aired or shelved.
The reports came as a shock to Nelly who had no personal problem with the welfare during filming but she was quick to stress that she doesn’t ‘want to take away from what any of these women have experienced’.
‘If someone’s had a completely different experience, I don’t want to comment on that,’ she mused, but expressed that as a fan of the show it has left her conflicted because she would like to see it return.
A tragedy to befall the show this year is the loss of expert Mel Schilling, who joined the UK series in 2021, with Nelly reflecting on how kind and caring she was
Another tragedy to befall the show this year is the loss of expert Mel Schilling, who joined the UK series from the Australian version in 2021.
Mel died in March at the age of 54 following a battle with bowel cancer.
Reflecting on Mel’s kindhearted nature, Nelly shared: ‘She went out of her way to find me in my room to make sure I was OK.
‘I remember thinking, “what an amazing, empathetic, kind woman, she doesn’t need to do that, but she went out of her way to do it”.
‘She was an incredible, incredible woman and I feel like she’s left such an incredible legacy and it’s so sad.
‘It was really hard when we all found out, we were all really quite upset about it, but I just hope that her husband and her daughter are like healing as best as they can.’
For now, Nelly – who is single but open to dating – is focusing on the recovery from her rhinoplasty.
‘I can’t believe it’s been just over two weeks and I’m healed and back at work,’ she exclaimed. ‘I really thought I was going to be like Elephant Man for so long!
‘Some people can be quite judgmental about cosmetic surgery but I’m not one of those. I do work in healthcare, but obviously the main work I do is cosmetic work.
So I’m all for if it’s something that you’ve been thinking about and it’s something that you really want to do.
‘I would advise anyone to do their research, you’ve got to really check who you’re doing it with, check your surgeon, make sure you know about them, make sure you’re comfortable, never get pressured into anything.
‘I had so many offers for free surgery, which I declined. I paid for this…
‘Because I’m Asian I was also looking for doctors and people that were going to be really good with ethnic noses, I think that’s really important. I didn’t want to look like I’m not my race.
‘I wanted a really natural nose, just nice natural tweaks, so I’m really, really pleased with who I chose and where I went.’
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