Sam Ball, Lizzie Sobinoff: Twist in Married At First Sight ‘fat-shaming’ saga

A wedding celebrant from Married At First Sight has broken his silence on the ‘fat-shaming’ saga surrounding Elizabeth Sobinoff and Sam Ball’s nuptials two years ago.

Sam, 28, faced backlash for saying his wife was ‘bigger’ than the women he usually dates – but what fans didn’t know until recently was that Elizabeth, 29, also made hurtful comments about her husband’s size.

A previously unseen video resurfaced this week of the snappy bride saying: ‘I’m ready to meet my man. Does he look porky? He looks tubby.’

‘I’ve put all that trust into those experts so they better have, like, looked after me,’ she added – with the implication being she’d asked for someone not overweight.

Now, in an unexpected twist, the couple’s celebrant Glenn Millanta has taken aim at Elizabeth after her questionable comments made headlines.

‘I’m glad you said something as it’s been bothering me too,’ he wrote in response to Sam’s Instagram post about Lizzie’s comments on their wedding day.

Mr Millanta then claimed he ‘wasn’t impressed with her comments’ and suggested that someone from Elizabeth’s bridal party had called him ‘tubby’.

He went on to say that Sam was actually kind to him during the shoot.

‘Everybody needs to just remember to be kind. I love your positivity, mate. You were really kind to me on the day we filmed and I’m glad we’ve remained friends,’ he said. 

The video of Lizzie saying Sam looks ‘tubby’ has been viewed 65,000 times as of Thursday, with many fans left shocked by the double standards.

That’s because she has portrayed herself as a body-positivity warrior for two years since Sam’s comments about her weight – which admittedly were hurtful.

‘This has just completely shattered her credibility. This whole victim mode she’s been portraying for the last two years has just been one giant act,’ one viewer wrote. 

‘And at the expense of someone else’s reputation. Just shows her true character and her integrity as an individual, or lack thereof.’ 

Other comments were more succinct, labelling her remarks as ‘fat-shaming’.

‘Pretty sure she just fat shamed you there!’ one wrote. 

Another added: ‘She made a massive speech [about] fat-shaming yet she’s done it herself? MAFS have a lot of explaining to do…’

Many fans tagged Elizabeth in the viral video and demanded she ‘explain’ herself. She is yet to respond.   

At Monday night’s Grand Reunion, Lizzie said she was still reeling from Sam’s comments about her being ‘big’ and would never forgive him. 

‘His comments, the weight comments, have still trickled over. I never escaped that, and I don’t think I ever will be able to escape that,’ she said. 

‘Every day, every day walking down the street – not a day goes by my weight is not questioned thanks to this person.’

She added: ‘I will never forgive that person. For not apologising, and acting like, “Oh, it’s not a big deal.” It is. Every day, I can never escape that – being the former fat girl.’

Sam had sparked outrage during season six of Married At First Sight, which first aired in Australia in 2019 and is now screening in Britain on E4, when he remarked on Elizabeth’s weight after meeting her at the altar.

‘I’ve never really dated girls as big as Elizabeth to be honest. It’s obviously a topic that’s troubled her in the past,’ he told producers. 

‘She’s got a beautiful face… Maybe I’ll get her running in the mornings… but she’ll be right. We’ll get her going,’ he added.

Sam later claimed he had been coerced by producers into making the comments.