NEED TO KNOW
- MAFS bride Gia Fleur exclusively tells New Idea about her daughter’s illness.
- Willa was just six when she was diagnosed with a life-threatening condition.
- Gia slept on a hospital room floor while her daughter battled Kawasaki disease.
- Three years on, Willa has recovered, but it was a slow process.
- Gia also reveals how her time on MAFS has affected her daughter.
When it comes to drama on Married At First Sight, Gia Fleur has been front and centre of almost all the action.
As a result, her daughter Willa has copped some nasty comments from kids at her previous school, including one, says MAFS bride Gia, who asked the nine-year-old if her mum was “a b—h”.
“That’s been a horrible aspect to being on the show,” Gia tells New Idea, as we catch up at the Melbourne home she shares with Willa.
“Luckily, Willa is just so innocent and pure,” Gia continues.
“She simply said, ‘No! My mum is the nicest mum in the whole world!
Single mum Gia admits her current MAFS notoriety “has hurt my daughter” at times.
But even though that’s been a painful result of her doing the show, it’s by far not the hardest thing she and Willa have been through together.
When Willa was six, she became seriously unwell with Kawasaki disease.
It’s a very rare childhood illness causing inflammation of blood vessels.
If left untreated, it can result in severe heart complications.
“I’d never heard of it,” Gia, 36, explains.
“It was really shocking when I found out that’s what she had.”
The ordeal began when Willa came home from school one day with what seemed like the flu.
Doctors initially diagnosed a respiratory infection. But Willa’s condition worsened and progressed to bacterial pneumonia.
“She was only six, so she couldn’t really tell me what was wrong,” Gia says.
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Trusting her instincts, Gia took Willa to the hospital– a decision she believes saved her little girl’s life.
Doctors quickly realised the situation was serious.
“They rushed her straight in when they found out her heart rate was extremely high – about 192 beats per minute,” Gia recalls.
“Suddenly, there were doctors everywhere.”
After running countless tests, Willa was eventually diagnosed with Kawasaki disease.
She began treatment with immunoglobulin – an IV therapy made from donated plasma – while doctors also feared she might be developing sepsis.
“That was probably the lowest point because I’d heard of sepsis and knew how bad it was,” Gia admits.
For four nights, Gia and her own mother slept on the hospital floor, refusing to leave Willa’s side.
Looking back, Gia is grateful she trusted her gut instincts.
“You’ve got to advocate for your child hard – and I was,” she says.
“I knew it wasn’t just a normal flu.”
For the first two years after diagnosis, Willa required regular check-ups with a cardiologist because the treatment had caused a coronary artery dilation.
“But now she’s great,” says Gia.
“She goes crazy on the trampoline, she runs, plays basketball, does gymnastics and dancing, she’s got so much energy.”
Three years on, Gia felt comfortable enough to leave Willa with her mum for several months while she filmed MAFS.
She was matched with groom Scott McCristal.
They have since split, and Gia is now dating former Love Triangle contestant Alan Wallace.
“It was very hard to be away from her, but I came home regularly during filming, and Willa was excited for me to go on the show,” says Gia.
“She’s too young to watch a lot of it, but she has seen my wedding episode because she and her nonna are in it.
And she really loved the scene where we did face masks together. She thought that was so cool!”
Gia admits that some of her behaviour on the show hasn’t always been her best.
“There’s no way I’d want Willa to act how I’ve acted sometimes,” she says.
“But it is what it is. I’m not blaming alcohol, but I really wish I didn’t drink at dinner parties because alcohol really amplifies emotions.”
Despite the nasty comments, Gia is still grateful to have some of the special moments with Willa included in MAFS.
“I wish MAFS showed more of my mothering side because that’s the thing I care the most about in life,” she says.
“I’m not just this drama queen – I’m also a mum. And Willa is by far the most important thing to me.”
