So I think we’ve all reached national consensus, that in terms of people we would pick as optimal role models for our daughters, Married At First Sight’s (MAFS) Davina Rankin wouldn’t rank super high.
So he’s what we know. She tried to disrupt the holy sanctimony of reality television romance by trying to steal Dean right from under Tracey’s veil, wasn’t the nicest TV wife to poor Ryan, may currently be on Tinder and MAFS isn’t the only reality TV title on her resume.
However, when certain publications started covering the fact that bikini model / Instagram influencer / fitness instructor once appeared on lad’s mags like Zoo, bikini calendars and more curiously Swedish publication Slitz in 2013, this was underwhelming information.
These deep dives dredged up a handful of revealing-ish covers which looked pretty similar to the photos Davina now publicly puts on her social media feeds, because you know what... the girl is a bikini model.
You see, before Instagram, aspiring bikini-models went on these things called lad's mags to gain coverage.
They were a weird cross between a Victoria's Secret's catalogue and the Facebook group chat conversation of a group of 14 year old boys. They generally occupied the lower shelf of the magazine stand and if anything, they just made the news agency shopping experience a tad awkward.
LISTEN: Davina is the most unlikeable MAFS contestant yet, if you don't mind us saying so. Clare and Jessie Stephens discuss. Post continues after audio.
But now, we have Instagram where women can post bikini photos of their own bodies, of their own accord, and for their own (often financial) benefit. And while sometimes problematic in their own way, it also means that hopefully the headline 'London 2012 Perving Guide,' will never, ever be circulated in mainstream media ever again.
And I think we can call that something of a win for feminism?
Because love to hate her, or just plainly dislike her, there's one thing you have to admit... the girls a go-getter and she's probably making the head honchos at Channel 9 pretty damn chuffed.
LISTEN: Catch up on the latest episode of MAFS Chat - where The Twins, Jessie and Clare Stephens recap on all things Married At First Sight.
Top Comments
There's a Swedish magazine called 'Slitz'? Oh, someone pleeeease tell me it means something else in Swedish!!!
That's some Ian Fleming level of "lazy double entendre" if it's implying what we think it's implying.
More of a single entendre, really!
Checking Wikipedia, it seems the name was created when two other magazines merged - the other mags were called Schlager and Ritz. So it's just a portmanteau and not actually as gross as it sounds in English! It was once a music magazine and didn't become a men's magazine until some time later.
Haha, yeah, that's closer to the Pierce Brosnan Bond era entendre isn't it.
Some of the original Fleming ones were so crazy obvious they could sail by without you realizing they were SUPER fucked. I mean, Silvia Trench doesn't seem bad, then you realise it's possibly as bad as Pussy Galore...