MAFS’ Alissa Has Addressed Backlash After Making David Get On One Knee At Their Wedding

Married At First Sight (MAFS) 2026 bride Alissa Fay has finally addressed her controversial decision to make her partner David Momoh get down on one knee at their wedding. 

ICYMI, the couple’s love story began with the nurse-slash-influencer dramatically telling her soon-to-be-husband that she couldn’t marry him — unless he knelt to propose to her. After a tense back-and-forth between the pair, David relented and did as he was told, which left many fans uncomfortable.

While the request would’ve been awkward regardless of who was involved — and was also pointless considering they were literally about to get married at first sight — viewers took issue with a white woman demanding a Black man kneel to her. 

Social media users pointed out that a Black man “taking the knee” is typically a symbolic gesture against racism, and said Alissa should’ve realised that the racial dynamics immediately changed the balance of power between herself and David.

“Demanding a Black man to kneel down and submit to your power play is very not cool,” one person posted on Reddit, while another said, “I found it to have highly uncomfortable racial undertones”.

“It did feel a bit gross to watch a white woman, egged on by her white guests, demand a Black man take a knee for her,” someone else agreed.

Alissa apologises for her controversial request

Alissa has now spoken out about the incident during a tell-all chat on Abbie Chatfield’s podcast, It’s A Lot, admitting that she came up with the proposal idea on the way to the wedding and was going to do it regardless of her partner’s race.

“So it was pre-planned in the limo, very short notice,” she shared. “I got there and obviously met David at the end of the aisle, and it didn’t even cross my mind at that time.”

The Adelaide-born bride said that she wanted her partner to propose as a sign of commitment but acknowledged it didn’t go as planned — both in terms of David’s response and the reaction online — and she “definitely could have handled that situation a little bit better”.

“I didn’t know that I was going to get the backlash that I did, because obviously, I did ask him to get on his knees and, you know, different cultures,” she continued.

“Looking back, it was meant to be something a bit lighthearted. It was something I needed, but maybe now I might not have got him to do that because of how people have taken it. But that’s just me; that’s just Alissa.”

She added that she was “never trying to ever talk down to David”, and she’s definitely learned from the online commentary to be more racially sensitive.

David reveals why he didn’t want to kneel

David previously spoke to PEDESTRIAN.TV about the controversial moment and explained that the reason why he hesitated to kneel down to Alissa was simply because he wasn’t sure of her intentions.

“Well, the thing was, I needed to figure out whether that was a prank, or she was just trying to emasculate me, or it was genuinely something she needed. So that’s why I took my time,” he said.

“I was assessing the crowd and assessing her family. Her family and friends were lovely, by the way, and so I sort of picked that energy from them. I was like, okay, she needs this reassurance, and that’s when I decided to get down on the knee.”

He added that his decision to propose “didn’t make [him] less of a man”, and was instead an example of him putting his ego aside and honouring “what [he] thought would be a good relationship”.

“I went down on one knee because I chose reassurance. I don’t know what she went through in the past, but if anyone was in my shoes in the moment and saw the raw emotion from her family and her friends, it honestly felt to me like she went through some hard stuff,” he continued. 

“For me, it was just all about reassurance and not a power dynamic. I wouldn’t change anything.”

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