Exclusive Interview
‘Perfect Match’s Marissa George Breaks Down ‘Triggering’ Demari Davis Fight
What To Know
- In an interview with Swooon, Marissa George discussed her argument with Demari Davis on Perfect Match.
- She expresses frustration that men often focus on how she makes them feel rather than appreciating her as a person.
- She explains how the situation relates to her ADHD and rejection sensitivity dysphoria.
Perfect Match star Marissa George already knows how she makes you feel — she’s looking for more.
Ahead of the release of Perfect Match Season 4, Marissa George sat down with Swooon to break down one of the most shocking moments of Part 1: Her argument with her Day 1 match, Demari Davis. During Episode 5, “Ex’s and Woe’s,” Demari told Marissa, “You really make me feel like I can be myself, and I really enjoy how you make me feel.” In response, Marissa “hesitated hella hard,” which completely caught Demari off guard.
While Demari thought it was “a really good thing” that Marissa was making him comfortable, she would have loved to hear something that he liked about her. “Another guy where, of course, he likes me because I make him feel good,” she explained.
Looking back at their first major argument, Marissa told Swooon, “I’ve dated a lot, and guys love to tell me, ‘You make me feel amazing and all this other stuff.'” She revealed, “I know how I make guys feel. I know that I make them feel energized, and loved, and happy, and respected because that’s how I express my love to them. But I always felt like that’s never really enough.”
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“Relationships are hard,” Marissa confessed. “I wanted him to like me personally, not just how I make him feel, because I’m not always going to make him feel that way. There are going to be times when I’m probably going to make him feel awful, and he’ll have to like me for me. Not just because of his feelings of how I make him feel.”
She explained, “That was triggering for me. On Love Is Blind, I dealt with that with Ramses [Prashad]. I made him feel all these things. And then, look what happened.”
That night, she told Demari that hearing he liked how she made him feel — centering himself in what he values about seeing her — reminded her of past relationships, like what she had with Ramses, that didn’t end well. She explained that in the past, people didn’t like her; they liked what she could give them.
“I have ADHD and rejection sensitivity dysphoria,” she told Demari. “It’s very common to feel rejection on a more sensitive level that’s not even there… You’re not rejecting me, but in that moment, it felt like that, even if it’s not true. That’s why I went to where I went.”
For some, this may be the first time hearing about rejection sensitivity dysphoria. Marissa revealed, “It’s something that I didn’t realize was a thing until I got deeper into therapy. I have ADHD, and rejection sensitivity dysphoria is a big symptom of ADHD.
“We see rejection in places, and in words, and in actions that [neurotypical] people maybe wouldn’t. When we feel that rejection, it hurts physically, almost,” the Love Is Blind star explained. “For me specifically, because I’m sure it impacts people differently, when I feel like I’m being rejected, I go from zero to 100, and I stop listening. I feel like I’m about to be abandoned, and I start acting in ways I normally wouldn’t if I were in a calmer or steadier state.”
When it comes to how rejection sensitivity dysphoria has impacted her dating life so far, Marissa shared, “It’s something that I’m definitely working on, and my partners have to know about it, so that they know that sometimes I just need reassurance. I don’t need them to meet my energy. I need them to be like, ‘All right, hold up. I’m not rejecting you. I’m not saying something negative to you.'”
Tune in to Perfect Match Season 4 on Wednesdays to find out where Marissa and Demari go from here!
Perfect Match, Season 4, Episodes 1-5, Streaming Now, Netflix
Perfect Match, Season 4, Episodes 6-7, Wednesday, May 20, Netflix
Perfect Match, Season 4, Episode 8, Wednesday, May 27, Netflix
