'The discourse is violent, hurtful and lacking compassion': Vicky from 'MMA' responds to criticism

Trouble has begun to appear in the “marriage paradise” of Vicky Chalmi and Omer Bar from “Wedding at First Sight,” and it refuses to go away. After a particularly difficult series of events in the show’s last episode, the bride is now taking plenty of heat on social media. Now she responds: “The need to talk about it burned in me.”

Lilah Markovich, mako, published: 10.06.26, 15:38 | updated: 10.06.26, 20:50 Photo: from “Wedding at First Sight,” Keshet 12

Vicky Chalmi, the bride on “Wedding at First Sight,” has been taking plenty of heat since the show’s last episode aired, the next episode is on Thursday on Keshet 12. After a dream honeymoon alongside the groom matched with her, Omer Bar, the two returned to Israel to a string of difficult events that led the bride to request an emergency meeting with psychologist Dr. Kalanit Ben Ari.

It all began with the couple’s meeting with Omer’s brother and his partner, where the reason the bride chose to take part in the show was called into question. “His brother threw at me, ‘Basically, you came for publicity, right? You’re a dancer, a singer, you came to promote yourself, you want to get famous, to have followers,’” Vicky told the expert. “If I wanted to get famous, I probably would have chosen any other reality show, I’m not interested in that,” she explained.

But more than anything, what her groom Omer added hurt her the most, she said: “Omer told me, ‘You’re super hot, it’s not a problem for you to find someone.’”

Today, Wednesday, Vicky shared on her Instagram account the responses flooding her since then, and decided to respond. “I was exposed to hard and violent reactions online, instead of letting it move me, I chose to take it in another direction and talk about it with my students. I showed them how words written behind a screen reach a real person, someone they know, love and appreciate, and how much power our words have. Unfortunately, as a teacher I witness hurtful behavior toward one another, so the need to talk about it burned in me. If I managed to convey even one small message that will stay with them moving forward, in my eyes I did my part,” she shared.

“I came to ‘MMA’ not because I am perfect, and not to present a perfect life,” she added. “In the end, a situation happened and there are no culprits here, it is not Team Vicky and Team Omer, but two people who are at the beginning of a complicated path and are dealing with a situation that can happen to a couple. You can love, you can criticize, you can disagree. But there is a limit. The violent, hurtful and compassionless discourse taking place online is terrible. After the episode I also received many supportive, moving and loving messages, and for that I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

The difficult sequence of events on Vicky and Omer’s first shared evening did not end with that conversation alone, since afterward the groom accidentally locked the bride out of her home and fell asleep. Vicky found herself locked outside the house and spent the night at a friend’s place.