Married At First Sight bride Gia Fleur has broken her silence after co-star Danny Hewitt attempted to expose her ‘real name’ during a tense appearance on Stan‘s MAFS: After The Dinner Party.

X

Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail, the 35-year-old mother-of-one said she was left ‘deeply hurt’ after her castmates revealed her birth name, Gianna Fleur Symonds, on the spin-off series in what she believes was an attempt to shame her.

‘It’s a very sensitive topic,’ Gia said.

‘I actually changed my name because of a domestic violence situation I was in,’ she continued.

‘It was a very dangerous situation and things have happened to me in my past. So people bringing that up as something to laugh about and joke about is not okay.’

Gia explained that her decision to change her name was rooted in safety and privacy, not image.

Married At First Sight bride Gia Fleur (pictured) has broken her silence after co-star Danny Hewitt attempted to expose her ‘real name’ during a tense appearance on Stan’s MAFS: After The Dinner Party

Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail, the mother-of-one, 35, said she was left ‘deeply hurt’ after her castmates revealed her birth name, Gianna Fleur Symonds, on the spin-off series in what she believes was an attempt to shame her. (Gia pictured arriving in Sydney)

‘I never tried to hide that Gia wasn’t my birth name,’ she said.

‘I didn’t change it to be cool and have a stage name.

‘My brother’s also changed his name to maintain his privacy. It’s something to do with my family and it’s really insensitive that people are going around and doing this sort of stuff.’

The outspoken bride, who has previously admitted to engaging in bullying behaviour during the experiment, said she is now focused on accountability and growth rather than retaliation.

While she is aware that Danny and fellow bride Bec Zacharia have been speaking about her in the media, Gia insists she will not respond in kind.

‘I’m not stooping to that level,’ she said.

‘I’m trying to move away from bullying. And I think when you’re bullying on the show, which is what I was doing, which was not okay, I’m not gonna now in life months later, bully somebody else.’