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Those who watched the popular reality show Married at First Sight this season will know it wasn’t without its controversies. The relationships certainly raised a few eyebrows, including the one Steve Burley found himself in. While opinions are many and discussions are rife about this relationship, dig a little deeper and you’ll soon learn there’s more to Steve than meets the eye. BNy Margaret Mielczarek. Images supplied by: Steve Burley. ot one to shy away from a challenge or opportunity, UK-born Steve Burley migrated to Australia more than 20 years ago “with \[just\] a suitcase and one business suit to my name”. “A friend of mine who was originally from the UK was living in Australia, and I came over and met with her,” the 52-year-old said. “We were close in the UK ... \[but\] she was just a friend of mine, nothing more, nothing less.” “I think within two weeks of me arriving in Australia I was offered a job in recruitment and I thought: wow, happy days!” He adds that the process of getting a “sponsorship ... took longer than expected”, but “nevertheless, it came along and I’ve never looked back”. A lot has happened for Steve since those early days in Australia. The list includes setting up and running a successful barbershop in Melbourne (Kingsman Barbers in Balaclava); health scares, a failed engagement and multiple reality TV appearances, including being on the latest season of Married at First Sight (MAFS), which aired earlier this year not without controversy. “I went into MAFS wanting to purely and simply, 100 per cent hand on my heart, fall in love with somebody,” Steve professed, adding that he’s “an easy-going guy ... pretty relaxed with things”. “I had no other intentions \[going on the show\] apart from falling in love with somebody.” However, love didn’t eventuate for Steve, leaving him disappointed. “We all want that companion, that soul mate,” he said. “And I crave that. I honestly, genuinely say that. But obviously, it didn’t work out.” Ever the optimist, despite the “pressure-cooker environment” of the experiment, Steve says that while “it didn’t work out, it was the best experience I’ve ever had”. It was also “the hardest thing I’ve ever done”, he adds. “I think that when you put all your effort into something like that \[finding “I went into MAFS wanting to purely and simply, 100 per cent hand on my heart, fall in love with somebody.” love on reality TV\] and it doesn’t materialise the way you want, then obviously it has a huge negative \[impact\],” he said. “It’s like coming out of a relationship. You know, it means so much to you and then all of a sudden, it’s over. There’s a massive void in your life. “Coming out of the show, I was sad. I was quite disappointed and I was sad. I came back to my apartment on my own, back to square one.” For most of us, heartbreak and a failed relationship will be hard to deal with at the best of times. But add to this the publicity of reality TV and things become exponentially harder. “To be honest, people cope with things differently, everyone is different,” Steve said. “Speaking for myself, I’ve been used to being self sufficient for a very long time. I think my defence mechanisms or the way I deal with certain things just kicked in \[after MAFS\] and I just went back to what I know, and that was basically to protect myself. “I think, coming out of the show, like I said, it was a sad ending ... sad because I had great expectations of what I was going into the show for.” With most of his family living in the UK, Steve relies, especially when going through hard times, on a close network of friends, whom he describes as being like his family. “My business partner, Rami, he’s just like my brother,” he said. He’s like my family. I love him to pieces, and his wife.” Steve also counts the people he met on MAFS as friends he now holds dear. “Some of the people I’ve met on MAFS, I know that I’ll have relationships with them for the rest of my life ... to have them in my life is awesome.” One who provided Steve immeasurable support during a life- changing health scare was his then partner of five years, Diana Chan, winner of the 2017 season of MasterChef Australia. “We were together for five years, and when I was diagnosed with \[testicular\] cancer, she was just everything,” he said. “If she wasn’t in my life I wouldn’t be here today, and I can honestly say that. “I got through \[the cancer\] with the love and support from Diana, and it’s as simple as that. I used to say to Diana, ‘Will everything be OK?’ And she’d say, ‘Everything will be fine: 100 per cent everything will be fine’. And just her saying that put me at ease. I’ll always hold her dear in my life, there’s no doubt about that.” The cancer diagnosis that was preceded only two months before by C5-C6 fusion surgery in his neck due to “calcium build-up” (the build up was “crushing the nerve endings” to the right side of his upper body) was the self-care wakeup call Steve needed. “For me, I just felt that going to the gym (after I had the operation for the testicular cancer) was super important,” he said. “I got myself back into the gym ... and \[now\] go as regularly as I possibly can – probably three, four or five times a week, some weeks.” While acknowledging the gym sessions are off the agenda during the COVID-19 crisis, he said: “It’s funny ... just before I spoke with you, I was doing some weight training in my apartment just to stimulate the endorphins, which is important.” TO PAGE 14 EXCLUSIVE FEATURE 13 RETAIL PHARMACY ASSISTANTS • MAY 2020