Ella Morgan discusses relationship with old name: ‘If I acknowledge it, no one can hurt me’
Morgan reflected on her life pre-transition, saying if it wasn't for that time "I wouldn't be who I am and where I am now"
By Gary Grimes
Married At First Sight star Ella Morgan has spoken out about her relationship with her old, pre-transition name.
In a recent appearance on the We Need To Talk podcast, Morgan was asked by host Paul C. Brunson to explain the term ‘dead naming’. The Celebs Go Dating personality began by outlining that “dead naming is essentially where somebody refers to you as your old name that you were born with.”
“For example, my name was Evan,” she went on. “For me, it was part of my healing because everything I do in life, I’m like if it wasn’t for Evan I wouldn’t be who I am and where I am now. So I actually talk about Evan as a third person.”
“Evan was always a girl in my eyes and Ella is that person inside and out,” she explained to Brunson. “I feel more comfortable being in a space where, if I acknowledge it and I talk about it, no one can then hurt me or upset me with their words.
“The one thing someone would want to do if they didn’t like me, is come up to me and call me a he, call me a man and call me my old name thinking that that would upset me or offend me but actually where I’m so at at peace with that it won’t hurt me.”
“I wanted to be the voice for the community”
Later in the podcast Morgan discusses why she sought to appear on MAFS in the first place, admitting: “I’d say 60% of me did MAFS because I wanted a platform. I wanted to be the voice for the community, but then when it actually happened I got scared of being that voice.”
A lifelong desire for fame drove her to apply for the show, with Morgan recalling that when she was asked as a child what she wanted to be when she grew up: “My answer was always I’m gonna be a girl and I am gonna be a star.”
Elsewhere on the episode the reality star also discussed her struggles with body image and her experience with bulimia.