Dawn Porter: Mail Order Bride

Dawn Porter

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Following last night's episode of Extreme Wife on Channel 4, presenter Dawn Porter recounts her experiences in Russia, steeped in the world of mail order brides.

[Scroll down to view a trailer for the series]

It is hard to blend into a foreign country, when you rock up looking like Jordan and Peter's wedding.

I have two massive fuchsia pink suitcases; a pink laptop case with a pink Mac inside; pink hand luggage; a pink coffee mug; usually pink shoes; and possibly a pink passport holder in my hand. All this is for a fear of getting anything lost. On top of that, when I get off a plane, I usually have massive hair and an even bigger attitude problem.

Upon arriving in Russia, I left the crew while they trawled through the equipment carne. It is such a gruelling process that when I can, I sneak off to find a spot where I can sit in a pink haze and do some blogging, shopping, or posing in the hope that a hotty might pick me up on his way to the first class lounge.

On this occasion, I didn't have any local currency, so I schlepped to the exchange desk. As I handed over $400, an outwardly despondent woman that definitely mooed at me, refused every note with the line: "The face ist too tired".

That attitude problem that I mentioned earlier didn't take kindly to her refusal to accept my money. It took over half an hour of convincing her that Benjamin Franklin was wide-awake and perfectly valid, before she gave in.

I came through arrivals and was panicked to see that our next flight was from another airport, 20 minutes away. Rather than the opportunity to relax, I was faced with a busy airport and lecherous taxi drivers who hounded me like wild dogs.

I wanted to give them a lesson or two in how to approach a woman, and I couldn't help but wonder if this aggressive interference was behind why so many women here are willing to marry strangers from the west, rather than a local Russian man.

Eventually I managed to find myself a non-assuming, possibly mute dweeb to take me. As I left, the others hailed abuse for not riding with them. Nice intro to Russia guys, thanks!

Whilst looking into the world of mail order brides, I have had my eyes opened to the lengths people are willing to go to, in the quest to not be alone.

Some would say the idea of trying to find love in a week, and agreeing to marry someone who doesn't even speak your language is a sign of desperation, and in many cases I think that is true.

But is there really anything wrong with being desperate? I mean, aren't we all a bit desperate for something?

Sure, I have been made to feel very uncomfortable by the attitudes of some of the men here, but for those few guys who are here because they feel they deserve more than a life of sexless solitude, I respect them completely for taking the need for intimacy seriously, and being pro-active about improving their quality of life.

Dawn Porter: Mail Order Bride aired on C4 last night. The next instalment, Dawn Porter: Geisha Girl, will air next Tuesday (14 October) at 10pm.

This blog was originally uploaded on 20 May

Click here to browse Dawn's series of blogs for Broadcastnow