"I've got feelings:" Married at First Sight UK star Leisha Lightbody opened up about her heartbreaking split from Reiss Boyce

Married at First Sight UK saw Leisha Lightbody and Reiss being one of the couples genuinely rooted for during this year.

From their wedding day, the pairing seemed hopeful as Leisha, who was looking for an athletic man with bright blue eyes, was matched with Reiss, a 33-year-old painter from Essex, by the experts Mel Schilling, Charlene Douglas, and Paul C Brunson.

As the series progressed, their cracks began to form. However, they both chose to stay together at the final vows ceremony of Married at First Sight UK. 

Just weeks after the ceremony, the couple parted their ways and appeared as singles on the reunion special, where Leisha expressed that she still loves Reiss and is devastated that her marriage ended.

Now, Leisha Lightbody has spoken candidly for the first time about the painful end of her marriage to Reiss Boyce in an exclusive interview with The Mirror, where she opened up about the shocking split, her reaction, and how hurt she was behind the scenes, admitting:

I'm not a body, I'm a human being, I've got feelings, I've got emotions, and I feel like there was just a lot of mixed emotions, and I think looking back, he probably just wasn't emotionally available.

Here's what Leisha said about what led to her breakup with Reiss after Married at First Sight UK

Speaking honestly about the end of her marriage, Married at First Sight UK star Leisha revealed just how blindsided and vulnerable she felt when things broke down, describing the moment, admitting,

I went into it bit naive and it was quite hard watching it back but it's actually made me heal a little bit quicker......but actually he didn't like me as much as I thought.

Reflecting on the end of their relationship, Leisha said she genuinely believed she and Reiss were solid when they walked away from the experiment.

I honestly thought that he really did like me, and I'm not saying he didn't, but obviously, they picked up things that he said on camera that he didn't necessarily say too much to me.

Leisha described being completely open with Reiss from day one, revealing personal stories and trusting him with her deepest vulnerabilities, as she further noted she could not figure him out, as Reiss stayed in the experiment despite seeming emotionally distant at times.

Revealing much deeper details about their relationship, Leisha shared that she and Reiss had been intimate every single night, which gave her a sense of security but also created mixed messages, as she explained:

He was then saying, 'Oh, I'm happy to be intimate with you, but when you ask me for reassurance or to hold my hand, you're too much'.

The 31-year-old went on to share how different their on-screen portrayal was from her experience, as she said that they were always in the apartments together when everyone else went out. She cooked for him every night and genuinely believed they were building something real.

Honestly, we were so smitten — well, I definitely was smitten.

After they left the experiment, Leisha noticed Reiss’s ex suddenly liking her photos online, even though the public had no information about the cast for the new season.

When she brought it up, Reiss reassured her that nothing was happening, but her friends were not convinced.

“Everybody else could see it,” she said. “My friends and family were like, ‘Do you really think this is it though?’ But I was so delusional, I was so blinded.”

Reiss later travelled to Scotland to meet her family, and they all believed he genuinely liked her. But then that night he split up with her, leaving her shocked, as she reflects,

I just wish he’d made it clearer earlier so I could protect myself. I was vulnerable and probably a bit naïve.

Just weeks after the breakup, Leisha had to face Reiss again during the Married at First Sight UK reunion filming, which she described as overwhelming. Although she knew logically they were finished, part of her still hoped something might rekindle. 

“It was a bit of a disaster because I was so emotional,” she admitted.

Leisha says she is now “completely over Reiss,” but the way things ended still leaves a lingering sadness, especially as things have come out of the woodwork with him and his ex. Ultimately, she concluded by the simple truth, expressing:

I think he was probably just done before he finished it. I don’t think he was ever really in it.

Stay tuned for more updates.