An Accrington woman says she has been overwhelmed by the love and support from Married At First Sight fans, when the show aired on Monday (September 18).

Samantha Howard, better known as Jay, married a man called Luke on the first episode of the Channel 4 show.

Throughout the rest of the series viewers will see if their partnership, which has been determined by scientific and sociological factors, will stand the test of time.

Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph Jay said she signed up to the show to find the love of her life.

The 31-year-old said: “I wanted to find the potential love of my life. At first I just thought I would do it for the craic [sic] they won’t have me anyway but obviously they found me a match. I was buzzing.

“The wedding day was amazing and the best day of my life. I had such a good day but I was very nervous.

“I started to overthink it as there was so much going on, with hair, makeup and everything else.

“As soon as I got to the end of the aisle that is when it hit home.”

The proud Lancashire lass said she watched the first episode at the Tiger Lounge in her hometown.

She said: “I am proud to put Accrington on the map. I want to give a shout out to Tiger Lounge. They were amazing on Monday night, we had a watch party and watched the show there.

“The bar is fantastic and the owners are good people.

“I was so nervous to watch it I felt sick. I was going to go to the other side of the bar.”

On the show Jay, who was born without part of her left arm, opened up about her disability. She said she was often bullied at school and said the arm has impacted her love life.

She said: “I was born without my left arm. They just plonked me on my mum and said ‘she’s lost her arm along the way’.

“There were hard times at school. There were times when I was chucked in bins and tied to a fence. I felt humiliated and it stripped me away from my personality a bit.

“My arm has had an impact with dating sometimes. Some people get a bit cringed out by it but it’s hard because you think ‘why do you not want to know who I am?’ it really took a toll on me.”

After the episode aired, Jay said she has been flooded with messages of support from people who are also missing a limb.

Jay, who attended Rhyddings High School in Oswaldtwistle, said: “I received so much love after the episode aired last night. People were telling me they couldn’t believe how confident I was with a missing limb.

“I told those people to embrace it and to be proud of who they are.

“I found it hard growing up and that was without social media so I can’t imagine what it’s like for kids these days.

“I have learned to love myself and I am so happy in myself now and I want other people to be the same.”

Jay has also given viewers a hint of what to expect from later episodes and she says it will be “a bumpy ride”.

The sales manager said: “I am so grateful for the experience – it means so much.

“I am so happy that I did this. I have met friends for life. The cast and crew were friendly and I couldn’t have asked for anything better.

“Watch the series as you are in for a bumpy ride. It is a very wild and emotional rollercoaster that we all go on, but it is a good one.”

Married at First Sight returns tonight (September 20) on E4 at 9pm. Catch up on the Channel 4 website.