BABY ON BOARD Gogglebox’s Matty and Sarah Marie are starting a family
The expectant mum and dad get real about family life, tackling stereotypes, online trolls and enjoying the spotlight
Sarah Marie and Matty Fahd take a break from watching the small screen on Gogglebox alongside their buddy Jad Nehmetallah to pose for our photoshoot. The newlyweds, who have been loved-up for almost six years, are expecting their first baby, and while they’re still deciding on a bigger place to call home and packing for a babymoon, they sit down with WHO to talk about gearing up for parenthood.
Congratulations on the pregnancy. Was it planned?
SARAH MARIE It was planned – we wanted to have a baby! We decided that after a big honeymoon trip we’d try to fall pregnant. MATTY I think it happened quicker than we expected!
How did your families react to the pregnancy?
SARAH MARIE It’s the first grandchild in my family, so [they] are really excited. My dad’s been wanting us to have a baby for a while now and he cried when we told him – he jumped up and down. He’s really excited and keeps telling me that he wants to look after the baby, [and that] I can
leave the baby with him!
MATTY On my side it will be the seventh grandchild! I’m the youngest of four and each of my siblings have two kids, so my parents are very experienced. We haven’t had a new baby in a while. My mum was overseas recently and has bought our baby boy so many gifts she had to buy another suitcase!
Have you picked a name?
SARAH MARIE We have! MATTY I would say that it’s a somewhat unique name. It’s definitely very masculine. SARAH MARIE Our parents don’t even know.
So, is Jad going to be a godparent?
MATTY He’s campaigning hard for it. I’m going to say no at this point – there are a couple of people and a few animals in front of him.
Will your baby be joining you on the show?
SARAH MARIE I think I’m going to have to [include him]. I’ll probably be close to feeding. I’ll probably be one of those people breastfeeding on TV.
What qualities would you most like to instil in your son?
SARAH MARIE I just hope my boy grows up to be a good man. There are not enough good men. I think there are a lot of guys with an immature boyish attitude, but it’s important to have respectful men ‒ and women. So, I want to raise a quality, driven person who wants to do the right thing.
MATTY For me, bringing up a boy who has got confidence and a strong belief in himself – not arrogant or anything like that, but someone who goes through life feeling that he wants something and has confidence to get it – that’s so important now, especially with social media and everything. It’s very, very unsafe. With suicide, depression and anxiety on the rise, I want my son to have the strength to get through that and feel comfortable regardless of what he experiences.
Why was it so important for you to join Gogglebox?
MATTY A big reason why we got involved in the show is to give Australians an insight into what an AussieArab house looks like. Lebanese-Australians have had a really bad reputation – whether it’s based on terrorism, or the stereotypical Arabs from Sydney and Melbourne. We don’t all have sports cars, or drugs and [we] aren’t bikies either. One of the more refreshing things that we hear from fans of the show is, “Oh my God, you guys are just like every other family, but with Lebanese nuances.” Others say, “It’s so nice and refreshing to see a different culture and how proud you are of your culture.” Whenever there has been a Lebanese person on television, it has some kind of stereotype attached to it. It’s the Keeping Up With the Habibs and Fat Pizza [stereotype] – don’t get me wrong, we love that and they’re really funny. But it was good that we could show another side of what a Lebanese-Australian looks like.
You’ve received a lot of love, but have you had any hate mail?
MATTY I would say that 99 per cent is really, really positive. But we have had a little bit of online hate – probably two people emailed me something racist. Something like “Get out of our country.”
SARAH MARIE It doesn’t affect us – we’ve grown up in big families and it takes a lot more than a negative email to upset us.
MATTY People would just say, “If you love Lebanon so much, why don’t you go back?” or something like that. I guess when you agree to sign on to an Australian reality television program, it’s in your contract that you’re going to get trolls. That’s really unfortunate. But we are so lucky on that show that 99 per cent [of responses] are positive, so we don’t pay attention to the negativity.
Do you guys have any exciting plans coming up?
SARAH MARIE: We’ve got a babymoon at Elements of Byron [resort and spa] in October. So, we’re looking forward to getting away for five days, and having some peace and quiet and sun before the bub arrives.
“I hope my boy grows up to be a good man” — Sarah Marie