Reality TV World

'Married at First Sight' stars Derek and Mindy defend Katie against cyberbullying, and Katie fires back at haters

By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 04/24/2020

Married at First Sight stars Derek Sherman and Mindy Shiben are defending Katie Conrad against cyberbullies, who have apparently been lashing out at Katie for allegedly cheating on Derek and going on a date with Mindy's husband Zach Justice after filming ended.

Katie and Derek dropped a bombshell on viewers during Married at First Sight's tenth-season reunion special on Wednesday night when they revealed their marriage had ended two weeks after "Decision Day" because Katie felt they lacked a physical and emotional connection.

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But Katie didn't come across as a shining example of a spouse.

Not only did she allegedly go out on a date with Zach -- who was married to her friend Mindy on the show -- before the season premiered, but Derek also accused Katie of cheating on him once after their honeymoon and then again at some point after "Decision Day" when cameras were no longer around.

Derek and Katie didn't seem to end on the greatest of terms, but Derek still took to Instagram on Thursday to thank everyone for their support and voice the following: "Please try to go easy on Katie."

"This was a hard situation for the both of us. I may not believe she was ready to get married, but it's still no reason for cyber bullying."

Derek continued, "She has an absolutely amazing family, and I can only imagine how hard it's been for them. So please, try to go easy on her."

Mindy also rushed to her friend's defense, writing Thursday on Instagram, "Today I am torn. While I am beyond grateful for the love and support, my heart hurts to see a close friend suffer from #cyberbullying."

Alongside a photo of Katie and Mindy together smiling, Mindy elaborated, "We've all done things we aren't proud of. Imagine those things being broadcasted on national television and criticized by millions of people. From the bottom of my heart, I beg everyone to #STOPCYBERBULLYING."

RELATED LINK: 'MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT' STAR MICHAEL SEEKING ANNULMENT FROM MEKA CLAIMING SHOW DEFRAUDED HIM INTO MARRIAGE (EXCLUSIVE)

Katie addressed all the criticism and cruelty she's been subjected to over breaking up with and hurting Derek around the same time on her own Instagram account.

"Like we said at the reunion - it was not a date," Katie began of her outing with Zach, who treated Mindy poorly throughout the Married at First Sight experiment because he claimed he wasn't attracted to her.

"We got drinks AS FRIENDS to talk about the experiences we had on the show. I also told Mindy about it, didn't keep it from her or do anything to be shady."

Katie continued, "Like I said during my conversation with Derek - we had already split up when the 'cheating' happened. If you still consider that cheating because we were technically still married - please remember we were matched by the experts and did not pick each other to commit to nor did we fall in love nor could we file for divorce yet."

"Thank you and goodnight," she concluded.

But negative comments probably kept pouring in considering Katie felt the need to release another statement Friday on Instagram.

"To those of you who think you know me based on 2 hours a week of TV - you do not. This was one of the hardest experiences I've ever had not only because of the difficulty of trying to make a marriage to a stranger work but because of how difficult it has been to present my true self," Katie explained.

RELATED LINK: 'MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT' STAR BRANDON CLAIMS TAYLOR COMMITTED ADULTERY DURING MARRIAGE, ONLY DID SHOW FOR PUBLICITY (EXCLUSIVE)

"I don't defend all of my actions or things I've said - I'm not perfect. I've acknowledged mistakes and maybe that wasn't shown, but I have. That being said, some things are kept private, some things are twisted by others to benefit them, (three sides to every story) and some things can't be understood unless you were there."

Katie insisted, "I am not the person I look like on the show. And I continue to acknowledge and appreciate those of you who know and understand that and show me support for WHO I AM and not who I look like on a TV show."

But it appears even the most likeable cast members still receive hate.

One person apparently wrote to Derek in a direct-message exchange he shared on Instagram Stories, "You're a piece of sh-t wannabe. Enjoy your Lifetime channel fame f-ggot. Better hope you don't accidentally run into me someday."

Derek replied to the troll, "Jesus dude. I literally did nothing. I'm sorry everything came out the way it did. Katie doesn't deserve all the sh-t she's getting. But I've done nothing to make things worse for her. And seriously? If you want to fight, go ahead. I'll keep walking the streets.

Derek joked of the whole exchange, "People are f-cking crazy," adding, "If anyone else wants to fight, just let me know." Derek also posted a crying-laughing emoticon.

On the reunion special, Derek said Katie had made it really easy for him not to fall in love with her, and Katie slammed Derek for being "fake" the whole time.

RELATED LINK: '90 DAY FIANCE' COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS SPLIT? WHERE ARE THEY KNOW? (PHOTOS)

Derek's jaw dropped when he heard Katie and Zach had gone out for drinks together before Married at First Sight premiered in January, but Katie insisted at the reunion she would not want to date Zach after watching how he behaved with Mindy on Season 10.

(Mindy felt the need to end her marriage to Zach nearly two weeks before "Decision Day" due to his lack of effort).

Katie and Derek both shared they're both looking forward to meeting the right person one day but are in no rush to date again.

Season 10 stars Taylor Dunklin and Brandon Reid also chose to divorce at the end of the Married at First Sight experiment, as did Meka Jones and Michael Watson.