She’s the glamorous fashion industry CEO vying for love on this year’s season of Married At First Sight.
But before Melinda Willis turned heads with her no-nonsense attitude, the 33-year-old blonde from Brisbane competed in beauty pageants around the world.
Unearthed Instagram photos show Melinda posing in dresses on stage while competing for various international pageant titles.
Melinda was awarded ‘International Health and Fitness Champion’ in 2018 at her first beauty pageant.
The same year, she also represented Miss Australia at the Mrs. Global pageant that was held in China.
Melinda Willis, 33, of Married At First Sight, once competed in beauty pageants around the world.
Unfortunately, he was only able to make it to the top 65, top 30, and top 15 and came very close to the final round of the top 5.
She also participated in the Mrs. Globe beauty pageant in 2018.
And it seems that Melinda’s past is not limited to beauty pageants, she also has modeling experience.
Photos unearthed from Instagram show Melinda competing for various international pageant titles, dressed in glamorous gowns and showing off her pearly white.
Melinda was awarded ‘International Health and Fitness Champion’ in 2018 at her first beauty pageant.
A photo of her modeling for a car magazine has been doing the rounds on social media, along with a photo of her as a ring girl for XFC fights.
It comes after Melinda iShe insisted that her controversial comments on her wedding day to businessman Layton Mills were simply sarcasm and a way of “protecting” herself from getting hurt.
Melinda was criticized for her “awful” comments about her boyfriend’s appearance at the wedding, even saying he’s “punching” above his weight.
The same year, she also represented Miss Australia at the Mrs. Global pageant held in China.
Unfortunately, he was only able to make it to the top 65, top 30, and top 15 and came very close to the final round of the top 5.
However, the Brisbane beautician has since insisted her comments were simply sarcasm and a way of “protecting” herself from getting hurt.
She recently told him Fitzy and Wippa: ‘I feel like when you hear these things come out of someone’s mouth…it’s kind of like a protective guard, you know?
‘It’s like I’m going crazy [and] I need to cover this with sarcasm so people don’t see me freaking out right now.
It comes after Melinda insisted that her controversial comments on her wedding day to businessman Layton Mills were simply sarcasm and a way to “protect” herself from getting hurt.
Viewers called Melinda ‘awful’ and ‘pretentious’ after she described herself as ‘9.5 [out of 10] on a bad day’ before saying she would ‘swipe left’ on her husband.
But after their wedding aired, he said he is confident he can redeem himself and hopes his sarcastic personality “grows on people.”
Melinda booked a theater for her family and friends to watch the episode and admitted that some of her comments surprised them.
“Everyone was pretty shocked,” he told Nova FM radio hosts Ryan ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald and Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli.
The couple, who tied the knot in a lavish ceremony on the popular reality show, got off to a rocky start after Melinda made several unflattering comments about Layton in front of her friends and family.
‘But then they did [understand] the sarcastic sense of humor that I have, like people know me, while many of these [viewers are] I’m going to take some time to get to know myself and appreciate my sarcasm which at first feels a bit brutal.
‘But I think I’ll grow into people.’
When asked if her cruel comments about Layton were “a front,” Melinda said yes.
“Yeah, it’s just a little front and, you know, the walls are so high, like, Layton has a lot to climb, but I think he scales pretty well,” he said.
Melinda added that despite the negative feedback she received from viewers about how she treated Layton, she is confident that her editing will improve later in the season.
I’ve been myself from start to finish, and you’ll see that doesn’t change. And even though my trust issues and walls and everything are so heavy in the first episode they continue but you start to see [feelings develop],’ she said.
“So it’s a blessing in disguise, it’s a good thing and it helps me call some people who need to be called and it helps me get to the bottom of it and not be so quick to accept everyone.”
“It’s like my motto was like, ‘Guilty until proven guilty.'”
Married at First Sight continues Sunday at 7pm on Channel Nine
Married at First Sight continues Sunday at 7pm on Channel Nine