why is $first_name variable different in echo, mysql, fwrite

  $cols = array(
"first_name",
"email1",
"description"
);

 
// FROM THE POST AT EE
function emailregex($str)
{
    // A REGULAR EXPRESSION TO FIND THE FROM-EMAIL ADDRESS
    $regex
    = '#'         // REGEX DELIMITER
    . '.*?'       // ANYTHING OR NOTHING
    . '\<'        // ESCAPED WICKET
    . '(.*?)'     // GROUP OF CHARACTERS WITH EMAIL ADDRESS
    . '\>'        // ESCAPED WICKET
    . '#'         // REGEX DELIMITER
    ;


    // ISOLATE THE FROM EMAIL ADDRESS
    preg_match($regex, $str, $matches);
    return $matches;
} 




$from = emailregex(" Ray <ray.paseur@gmail.com>");
  
$email1=$from[1];  
$first_name=$from[0];

           $q = 'INSERT INTO '.$tablename.' (';
        foreach ($cols as &$columnname) {
          $q.=$columnname.',';
          }        
        $q=rtrim($q, ",");
        $q.=') VALUES (';
        foreach ($cols as &$columnname) {
        $q.='\''.mysql_real_escape_string($$columnname).'\',';        
        }
        $q=substr_replace($q, "", -1);
        $q.=')';
        echo '<br>'.$q;
        echo fwrite($fwritefile,$q);
        mysql_query ($q);
?>

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