I said, Sam, before you showed me, I need to tell you I'm going to ask Sarah to marry me. And he was in the middle of kind of showing me his stuff and he just went, you're okay, have baby while you're there.
Anyway, the titles, we're talking about these deaths.
And I was like, Sam, you heard what I said. He's like yeah, yeah, yeah, oh good or good and that was a hell an Arab title.
Hello and welcome to separate bathrooms.
We would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eura nation, the traditional custodians of this land, and pay our respects to the elders, both passed and present.
I'm Cam Daddo.
I'm his wife Ali.
Yes, and we were late to a phenomenon. The hit TV series began March seven. That's a fine date, fine date, twenty thirteen. Yes, I was. Well, let's not say how old I turned on that day because I can't do the math right.
You were in your forties, I was, yes, in my forties.
Anyway, the show started in the UK.
Australia waited a couple of seasons. We got it in twenty fifteen. Goggle Box goggle Box. Goggle Box one of our favorite shows.
It has become one of our favorite shows, and of course we'll talk about it with the couple were bringing in.
But man, it's a funny show.
I remember hearing about goggle Box while we were living overseas and just thinking, this is the dumbest idea.
Who cares?
Who's going to care about watching people watching TV when you I didn't really know what the show was. I was being very highly judgmental.
They choose the people well though, don't say.
The casting of it.
Yeah, who's watching?
Yeah, you've got the family of four, You've got a couple of fellas old.
You know that, there's one guy who's a teacher.
The Surfy dudes. You've got.
You've got the Indigenous Indigenous.
Crew, the Indian family, Yes in family, different cultures, the Whye Dozzi family didn't go.
Of course, You've got the Leavanese fellas with the humping dog, Maddie.
And Sarah Fad they're coming in. I can't wait to see these two.
Now. Sarah is not on the show currently. She's of course taken time off to raise her two boys. She's got Malik and Leon Leon. Yeah, beautiful names. Look let's just get them into the bathroom. We're ready for a chat. Please welcome Maddie and Sarah into the bathroom.
Welcome Maddie and Sarah to the bathroom. We're really excited to have you both, really excited. We're big fans.
Thank you so much for having us.
We're very excited to be here.
And we're missing you.
Oh, thank you. I know I've been off screen. I'm usually just walking past them, getting in their way.
Now get you delivering food.
Normally I'm looking after a baby now at the background. I'm usually like, there's a baby crying. Then I need to get a bottle. So I'm like back and forth and fourth enough to sit down?
Would you go back?
Look?
Could be on. It's so great. It just hasn't quite worked out. Yes, one kid was fine, but doing two on top of everything else, I just can't right now.
When Sarah and I started the show, we were living in an apartment that were renting. We were dating. We've been dating for about eighteen months. Since being on the show, We've bought a house, gotten engaged, gotten a dog, gotten married, had two kids. Yeah, life has changed rapidly.
Got another started renovating.
Renovated house. We're living in a rental again now while our house is being ready. All the life things have happened while we've been on the show for the last fourteen seasons. So it's been fourteen seasons, yes, because.
We've only caught up since we moved back from America. So yeah, you guys were already on it. Yeah.
Yeah, the show's been going for twenty seasons and we've done fourteen of them. Were members, No, we joined I think it was season six. Yeah, I always get my numbers wrong. I'm pretty sure we joined season six.
What's seventeen or something like that.
Having never watched the show, mind you or know what it was. Yeah, you didn't know what I didn't really know what it was.
You when you read the brief.
I remember when we first moved here from back from America and it was like we saw that Adams, Like that is the most stupid pros.
I wish I was a fly on the wall when they did that. Read in the in the room, like I've got a great idea for sure, picture of this. Yeah, families, a mix of families sitting down just shitting on TV.
Sitting on the TV.
They're gonna laugh, they're gonna cry, they're gonna bag it out, Like can you imagine They'll be like, what do you mean you're watching people watch TV.
It took a brave executive somewhere who said, that's an amazing idea.
Let's go and look.
It's been one of the most successful television shows in Australia.
It's one of our shows that we don't get a lot of shows that we still get to watch without eighteen year old that last year at home and she's like, it's goggle Box, Mama.
Yeah, let's go on the TV.
For even a picture being in that situation an emotion. I haven't been really emotional this week. I watched I read The Giving Tree.
We were just talking about that book the other day. I know it's one of the saddest books.
Oh my god.
Yeah, because I picture it like the trees a mum, whereas Malick's just like, ah, that's really mean to the tree. I'm like, yeah, you know what, I'm probably looking into this a little bit more. But even you're saying, oh, I just sitting down it's like one of the last shows you watch with your eighteen year old, I'm like, I'm not ready we get.
That feedback a lot that it's kind of one of the only shows that families and everyone's as interested as one another.
Yeah, so everyone's represented. That's the thing.
You've got young people, older people, middle of the range, ethnicities.
Culture, cultural differences between. For us, when we came on the show, that's one thing we heard about from a lot of like the Arab community was Oh, it's so nice to see a representation of.
Us how we really are.
Absolutely, like you know, because you know, it's funny to have the stereotype and you know, like the fully sig, the heaviva. You know, it's funny even for us. It's a stereotype that's actually it is actually there and it's funny. But like that's not all we're about. You know. Lebanese people are known for being really educated and really like warm and like really loving and kind, and we feed the whole street and like there's so much they don't see. It's like nice to be that representation.
Isn't it feel like?
Yeah, I didn't grow up with anyone looking like be on TV's like no one Jasmine from Aladdin with unrealistic hair.
Yeah, it was quite opening for us, you know, as born Australians getting messages early on when we first started from from families saying that were somewhat it could have been quite insulting sort of messages, but they meant it in a nice way. But it was kind of changing perceptions of what they thought of an Aussi Arab household.
Where the intent is right.
What what did what did you think happened at our house? You know, what did you think we were like? And you know, just really changing that perception of what the Lebanese Australian was. And I think prior to that again, like Sarah said, like we love ethnic humor. It's it's funny, but it was like doggies and all the you know, footy show stereotypes and all those sorts of things, which is yeah, very much not like that.
You know you do have a great doggie do Yeah? Bulldogs?
That's the irony.
House.
But we have a bulldog.
So thank God for our beautiful children. But they're restored respect to our name after that dog because that is an absolute abomination.
Family.
Yes, we're just so glad that those bits get left in there.
When he gets excited, Bain is best described as your mate that comes over and then sleeps on the couch and never leaves and then drinks the milk straight from the cart and then tries to sleep with one of your relatives. And yeah, that's that's Bain's an absolute menace and you try.
And tell them what they've didn't done wrong. I don't know what you're talking about. Like that's Bain.
I love it because when you when you both get so excited about about something that Lebanese that comes on, like usually it's usually Lebanese food.
Genuine and we're excited.
At home, and then the dog comes into.
Yeah it doesn't make it that you see, like when we get so excited over stuff. Yeah, there's a lot that doesn't, like, you know, make it because it's going on for so long. We genuinely get so excited to see something Lebanese on TV, and then yeah, Baine just goes for it. And then sometimes I'm like, all right, no, no, no, no, we gotta you're gonna calmb it down. Like you're gonna calm it down.
The dog is not stopping to get the bucket of water. Now.
Now, as soon as we see a cooking show of any sort, we often will grab bait and put him in another room because someone will get hurt. He's just such a wrecking ball that he will be losing our mind and out of nowhere. He's either come and you know, head butted me, or he's started to hump jad and he's just you know, he does damage. I've actually still got like from maybe six months ago, he jumped up
while we'll filming, clawed me with his claw. Oh yeah, and I've still got a white line down my leg from where he's scratched with so he doesn't muck around. He's a good twenty six kilo worth of dogs.
He's he's a chucks. I have to like freshly clip his nails and keep him a bas and be like, okay, yeah, you have to like kind of prep him up so.
He's not smell a vision so you can't smell him, so you probably just clip his.
Leaving white lines. Beaver on your legs.
Man, We've got it.
We've got to slight connection with you, Maddie, because our eldest daughter did a fine arts degree at a university here and her favorite teaching with your sister favorite, and she would talk about about the both of you and when you were pregnant with Malik, and she just my daughter, loved, loves your sister.
My elder sister, Serene. She's yeah, she's an artist by trader now and now an academic in the arts. But she paved the way for the rest of us kids. I'm one of four. I'm the youngest of four. And she was the oldest daughter of a Lebanese family who had her when my parents were twenty two. When they had her, and she did all the things the eldest child of a Lebanese family should never do. They wanted
her to become a lawyer. She became an artist. She got tattooed all over, she shaved her head, she you know, did drugs, She moved out of home when she was eighteen. She did all the you know then or all our siblings comparative to her have been angels. But she's she's incredible.
She's like your second mom.
I feel she yeah, well, she's fourteen years older than me. Both her and my other sister who's twelve years older than me, they raised me just as much as my mum. You know. I spent my holidays in pots Point in King's Cross on school holidays because that's where my parents that's where my sisters lived, so they opened my mind to a lot of things. I feel like I've got such a for a young Arab KEI growing up in Australia.
I feel like I was a lot more progressive to my mates because of the upbringing I had growing up around like different types of people that my sister's hung out with. So, yeah, my sister's also her art's incredible, and yeah, her house is actually filled with her stuff.
Yeah.
She was in the delivery room for both the delivery Yeah, she's seen all of me, mate, so with the first and you know, Malik is part of you know, one of her exhibits in the Arts museum, you know, more parts.
Of the photos very the photo of him being born was featured at the Museum of New South Wales Gallery.
Of the Paint Photograph.
So she was there for both.
You're not squeamish, I'm not say yeah, well yeah.
But I had two cesareans and she was there for both of them. Almost didn't make the second one because I went into labor unexpectedly, but she was there for both of them, took photos for both. It was just she's she's the best person to have around and I get along with my sister and law was like amazingly and so it's just really nice because she's just someone who like laughs in the room, nothing's ever serious, and it's.
Just so cool. She's a great photographer.
Yeah, yeah, she really needed one.
She loves what she does.
Yeah, now that we're connected, yeah, lotus flowers tattooed on us.
So yeah.
Yeah.
So my other sister was a graphic designer by trade. She's now a naturopath. She had a career change in her kind of later years. She designed our wedding invite and you know, obviously lotuses grow through anything, and so it was the invite was quite simple. It was just a piece of people with a lotus on.
It was hand drawn by her, so.
She hand drew it. So post our wedding we weren't both got it tattooed on our honeymoon.
Yeah. Yeah, we've got a call last.
Minute in Amsterdam.
In Amsterdam were elaborate last minute and we looked at each other like are we doing this now? And he's like, yeah, yeah, let's go.
How did you guys meet? Were you running in the same circles?
Is it in the community, you know.
What separate circles. So I'm the eldest daughter in Elevenese like Elebanese Fillow family, so it was I wasn't like really going to nightclubs and stuff. So it was really like later we had bumped into each other like outside by chance, and Maddie was it was King's Cross.
Were in King's Cross when I first met her, completely different circles. We didn't grow up in the same area. I grew up in the Saint George or she grew out west in Fairfield area, and we just happened to run into each other at a nightclub. We had a brief conversation. We're both smokers at the time, in our mid twenties. Haven't touched a cigarette since then. Really bad, don't do that, don't do any of it. So boring, but yeah, so I think we're both outside having a cigarette.
We had a brief conversation. And then this was before I think Instagram. That was so we had Facebook, and by a chance, maybe four weeks later, she popped up on my Facebook feed. I had known someone else tagged in a photo. She popped up and I was like, that was that girl that I met, And so I did the right thing and added her on Facebook. She accepted.
I said, Hi, do you remember me my DM and she said.
No I don't. So I was like, great, I'm off to a bad start. And it did obviously leave much of.
An impression high like man in many words, Yeah, that's exactly you just right, And I'm just like who just was high in my head? I'm like who guy?
And then yeah, it was a long road of courtship before I got the first date.
Yeah. See, that's my advice. Whenever someone's like I can't find a nice guy, I'm like, you can't make it easy. The good ones will hang around if they really like you.
The sure, exactly how long were you dating before you popped the question?
Two and a bit years?
I think.
I think we're about two and a half years.
And what was that?
Like?
Did you do something special?
It was magical. It was magical. We were in Bali and he disguised it as my birthday because every year I had had like a dud birthday and I just got over birthdays, Like every time my birthday came around, I was like, oh, I don't want to do anything. So when I started with Maddie, his thing was to make my birthday really nice. So he would always do something really cool for my birthday. And then in Bali,
like it was around the time of my birthday. So in my head, he's organized this beautiful dinner for us, and we've got this lovely place there and this beautiful resort, and so like he had me blindfolded and I went down and they took my blindfold off and there was like candles everywhere. There's like these what do you call the pools the infinity pool.
We're in u Wood, so like in the jungle at the hanging gardens of Uwood, and we had the double infinity pool and.
Yeah, it was it was so much. And then had they had the dinner over the pool, and so he wanted a photographer to take a photo of the moment, and all he needed was just the moment. That's it, and then that's nice. But then the photographer just wouldn't leave and kept trying to like make us do weird things like like stand where the flower love hearts were holding our hands really far apart. I'm like, I don't want to do this too. I just trt to hug.
So the thing that caught me off guard with the proposal was that I didn't expect myself to feel nervous. You know, we've been together for a while. I knew it was the right decision. There was no nerves leading into it, but for some reason, once I knew that it was imminent. When we're in the hotel room getting ready to go out for dinner that night, which was her birthday dinner, she was in the shower. I was so nervous that I had to keep myself busy, so I cleaned the hotel room from top to.
Box and.
Not my sort of style, especially while on holiday. She gets out of the shower, the place is spotless, and I'm doing push ups and she's like, what are you doing? And I couldn't even say push ups. I was so nervous that I just said fitness, fitness, and she was like,
right over. So then I blindfolded and we got this kind of cart that took us down the mountainside into where the place was, and there was kind of flower pedals leading to then a giant flower pedal of hearts, and they'd arranged the dinner in the middle of the infinity pool, so they'd put like wood over it and made it really beautiful. And then we had the photographer there, and so then she undoes the bin and fold seas
all this still thinks it's for her birthday dinner. And I've since stuck snuck behind her and dropped down to one knee. Sarah being Sarah just was chatterbox. Just this is the most beautiful thing. Oh my god, hello to the photographer, like just and I'm clean. While just waiting, I'm just like shaking nervously for her to turn around.
Like taking it all in, like, w oh my god, look at this. This is amazing.
She's never going to turn around, She's still going and.
If she did turn she's gonna fall.
And then so she finally turns around. I propose by that point I had what I'd planned to say just didn't come out. It was complete cotton, yeah, I thought. And so the money shot from the photographer is me like this because my arm had gotten so.
Sore from holding it up that I looked out that photo, I'm like, oh my god, were tired fitness.
I could see he wanted to say something, and he just goes, marry me.
I think I got out of it.
I love you, plan like this whole thing to say, so well, remised so well spoke and he always has like things planned for what he wants to say, And I'm just like, yes, that's.
The best birthday.
Were you guys on TV at that point or.
You have just started with goggle Box? No, no, no, we weren't. It was after I think we were engaged around the time we had started, so I think he had gotten engaged and then like maybe six months later or five months later. Yeah, we ended up getting on the show.
Yeah, so it's in your culture, and forgive me for not understanding away. I love it.
Did you did you have to get approval? Get hilarious?
This is the best question you could have asked.
Ye, it is.
I think it is a cultural thing to yes, get to get the farthest position. I don't know if that's necessarily Arab culture. I think it's a lot of culture in j all right, Like I think it's.
Very bad respect. So it's not just really about oh you have to ask the dad so much so as it's showing respect to the family. So like that's a big thing you'll always hear like from an ethnic family, whether it be Arab or Italian or Greek in my experience, so it's like they want the families to be respectful. You've got to be respectful and like I would never talk back to Matt's mum, and you know he was very polite and stuff like that.
Yeah, respect for your elders, especially your elders.
Basically, I mean him, asked him my dad.
So we'd gone to her dad's house for dinner and are.
You already you don't clearly already popped the ground?
No, okay, So there it was a couple of things I needed to get her dad away from her, cycled ask because she was also with me at the dinner, and so I'd said to him, Hey, he just built, like every old Lebanese man, a granny flat at the back of his house that he did himself.
Yeah. So I was like with stuff he's kept for like twenty five thirty years that we kept telling him to throw, and he's like, see everyone told me throw throw Now look look I'm.
Like the light bulb that he's kept in the box for the last fifteen years.
Finally hold on, let me look. And he's got like a jar, like you have a.
Jar, that's true.
So he sucked stuff away.
So he's built these whole thing. So I've said, Sam, why don't you take me out and show me what you've done. So we went out there and Sarah was in the main house while and so as soon as we got in there, I said, Sam, before he showed me, I need to tell you I'm going to ask Sarah to marry me. And he was in the middle of kind of showing me his stuff, and he just went, you, Okay, have baby while you're there. And I said, I'm going to ask her to marry me, and Bali he goes, yeah, okay,
may have a baby while you're there. Anyway, the tiles, we're talking about this death and I was like, Sam, you heard what I said. He's like yeah, yeah, yeah, good or good that was it.
I remember he walked into Scharene's house and it's like all this beautifully architecture home, right, two artists, a sculptor and an artist, and it's concreted flaw AND's like hard on, you're not if they want they should tire.
He asked my sister if she needed some tiles to finish off her renovation. Means poor thing, like they ran out of money, they couldn't finish the renovation.
So like he's happy to help.
So was your you think your dad then, Sarah, is he not a talkative fella? Are you, like, you know, sort of like men traditionally in Australia, we don't do a lot of talking to each other about matters of the heart, you know, so it's difficult to connect that way.
So do you think it was easier for him just.
To go yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, they don't They don't, especially that generation. They don't talk about like feelings and stuff. They just either get angry or get quiet. It's just like you know, like, yeah, they don't talk. So I think he didn't know what to say to Matt.
Yeah.
And I also think her, like especially now and my dad's the same. As they get older, they get more emotional, and I think he just wanted to not get emotional, right, so he was like okay, yeah, good change the subjects.
Yeah, and first one to be married in your family.
Yeah, it's like unintentionally stereotypical, like what Arab kind of wants is like the first born daughter marrying a Lebanese boy and it's not even like intentionally, it's just just by chance, you know. And then had two boys, and they had two boys. My dad cried when he found out I was having boys. He's got like girls. Yeah, and even the dogs are female, he says. So he remember him saying to me, I hope you have sons. And I was like, why I was wrong with the girls.
He's like everyone in this house is a female, even the dog, Like I felt, he just needs some male energy. Yeah, so yeah, like he just like they hold it in.
We realized we both went through life thinking that we're going to have two girls because of just you know, Sarah's one of two girls. My older brother had two girls. My parents had two girls before they had two boys. All my uncles had two girls.
So yeah, my mom's like five girls one boy.
Wow, so we just the prince yeah.
He was her dad the whole time, is like and my dad as well, you having a boy? You're having a boy. Yeah, And then we did and then we had two boys. Were like, what is going on with we weren't expecting that.
My dad was well wishes, but you were talking to your dad about contraception conception. I was like, what are you talking about? My dad was just hoping we have sons because he needs boys. Your dad's like, oh, you know by that I'm praying, I reckon it's boys.
So, my.
Have have you ever heard of doctor Chettle's method?
No? I haven't, Okay, So, okay, this.
Is a stir.
My parents had two girls. They wanted to have a boy. So at that time, whenever it was, it would have been I don't know what years were we talking now long time. I was eighty seven, but my brother was eighty. So nineteen eighty there was a thing in the Woman's Weekly or whatever it was it was called, and it was Doctor Cheddele's Dolly magazine, Doll Maybe Maybe, and it was how to choose the gender that you want through the way you conceive your child, and it's meant to
be ninety something percent effective. So my parents decided to give it a go. They had a boy. Then they did it again for the second they had a boy, which is what they wanted. So they got two girls and two boys. So that after my parents experience, my dad would then impart his knowledge onto all his friends who were in the same boat. The most recent one is his barber. This was only five years ago. He's
barber who had had five five girl, five girls. Yeah, and he was going and his wife had said to him, if you don't get your boy on this one, then that's it. We're done. My dad said, I'll google doctor Scheddle's method, and finally enough he had a boy on the six. Dad got three haircuts for three months. So Dad, you come home days with just My dad doesn't drink, but he will come home in days with just bottles of alcohols. Like you told someone about that scotch.
Someone will give him and yeah, he doesn't drink, so it's just collect. They've just got a beautiful cabinet tree and it's just just alcohol.
You guys, did.
I have it?
I don't know the size behind him, but there's a part of like sexual position, the time of month that you can see. The big one is the temperature of the women's parts before you have sex and I think after. And then the difference between girl and boy I believe is baking soda or two differentemicals that you need to bathe in.
That right, like your dad guess because for me, I can't. You know, people will use the app and stuff. I can never say when I'm ovulating nuts hats, we had to use like ovulation tests and stuff, and so your chances of a boy I would say using that more high because it's always really close to your relations whereas with a girl it has to be like further before.
That's that's a theory though that's not basically that's.
Part of doctor Shurtles. Yeah, from what I've been told by Gilder and George Bart, that's part.
Of doctor Why why don't you use it for the second to get a girl? And we're like, I'm going to take the fun out of it when we're trying to do a science experiment.
While whatever I have, I mean, if you mix baking soda and apple, I don't think.
It's what they used to get stains out of carpet.
And that stuffs amazing.
That the biggest explosion we've ever had in the bedroom. Sentah. So there's a really funny scene because my brother, I don't know, if you know, Chris, he's on radio over in Dubai. Yeah, and he's on he's on a TV show, was on a TV show on Netflix over there called The Bio Bling, of which my parents were also on because they were over there staying with him for a few months while they filmed.
Is this a reality show?
Reality show? And there's this great scene from Dubai bling where my mom is telling a doctor how to conceive for a boy or a girl and it just crosses to the doctor's face just like I don't quite medically recommend this. I'll look into it.
Thank you you Australian.
Yeah, and I'm like, how.
Did they find you too?
For goggle Box? Yeah?
So it was funny. It was kind of through a friend of a friend who was casting for the show, and we just I just got a call from a friend one day saying, Hey, do you want to do this thing? And I was like, what is it. She's like, don't worry, I'll take care of everything. You just you just need an audition and the audition's happening next week, and so okay, why not. But we had no preconceived idea around what the show should be, or what we
should say or how we should act. And I think that probably helped with, you know, getting on the show in the end, because we just were ourselves.
Yeah, And was entertainment part of what you guys were doing prior to it? Or were you what we what we're both doing before goggle Bosh?
Not necessarily like entertainment in that area, Like I was a freelance makeup artist, and then I also had a hair and makeup agency, and I did a lot of like social media stuff anyway, like videos and stuff, and so naturally I'm around a lot of that, you know, with filming and things like that, so it's not necessarily like I was in front of the camera for that stuff.
It was usually behind the camera. And you know a lot of you know, there's companies going to hire you for different you know, talent and stuff like that.
So Sarah had had a follow I didn't at all doing I love social media and I was quite active on social media. I love photography, would post. But I always worked in the media industry and I worked in corporate in both Yeah Media agency and media publisher lens and I still do Yeah we Yeah, still do our day jobs.
I also do a podcast for Mama Mea This Glorious Mess. Hard launched it yesterday. Yes, I've got a segment there where like if someone has a question or like a situation, basically they're you know, doing a voice message, give me the situation and I can give them my thoughts, share my thoughts and see if I can help them out, whether it helps or not. I don't know, but I try.
Oh good for you.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's really really fun. It's been really fun.
So that's all you right, and matter you're still doing your still in my corporate role. Yeah, so I've had a fifteen year career and yeah, something I still enjoy And.
What is that like then going into corporate land because it's a hugely popular show, goggle Box, and so they've got to be people in there that walk past you in the in the office and go double take you on TV.
It's really funny, and you know it's I don't assume anyone watches it, but then you know, I'll interview someone for a job and then you hear through other channels that the person got off the interview, and it was like, I was the guy from goggle Box just interview me. And I think most people assume we are on TV full time, and maybe that's right for some people, but yeah, I'm reluctant to give up my my long career and I love what I do, so I stuck to it.
And so people were like, wait a minute, what's the guy from goggle Box to it?
You've got to work event and they think you're the talent that's been booked for the.
Yeah, yeah, you don't know, you're not eating with those people.
You're special.
Yeah, you get for all the keynotes and all the public speaking, and it's like, yeah, it's it's funny. Oh you got your the key speaker today. It's like, no, actually, just work for the company and I'm not getting paid to be here. This is part of my day job.
Has it changed the way you watch TV being on the show, Like can you just watch it normally and not feel like you have to be watching it intensely to comment?
I have to like try not to talk. Yeah, I got into this like, oh, you know, they love your opinion, so you talk, and you get doing it for so many years you're like so opinionated. So I'm talking still, like I'm on the show when we're watching stuff, and Matt's just like I'm trying to listen. Stop talking. Yes, I've gotta rewind it now.
I can't Like, yeah, I don't mind when someone's talking over mats because it's like there's no plot line and I can just jump in at any moment. But often for our personal watching, we'd be watching like a drama of subsort or game of Thrones last night at our launch and Seriens in the background. Oh my god, oh, oh my god. Can we just watch this scene out I'm trying to listen.
So yeah, like, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry.
Has been on the show strengthened your relationship?
Do you feel a relationship with a strong prior? And I don't think it's changed, ye.
Yeah, yeah, I don't see any change, if anything, is just.
Like just part of your life.
Yeah.
They're literally just part of the furniture for us now doing that.
And it's like, I think our life circumstance changes your relationship more than anything. I think when we think about the last few years, it's been a whirl wind. We have hardly any time of when it's just her and I and we used to be me staring at Sarah and Sarah staring at me. And now we've got a five way kind of pentagon happening at home with the dog and the two kids and working multiple jobs and
doing so many things. I come home from work and we film the show, and our life is at a different pace, and I think that makes it harder for us to make sure we find time for one another.
What do you do we do what works right now. It's like survival mode because you've got like two young kids. I'm looking after the kids and trying to work a bit while I'm doing that, like juggling that, and then his work is so full on that sometimes he doesn't finish until the kids going to bed or he might be away or something like that. So like we're really just rather than thinking too much into things, sometimes we just go, this is what we need to do to
survive right now. And then when we find each other like sitting down and it's just us like, oh my gosh, just ask for a bit. We just give each other a hug and we're like, oh, this is nice, and then like the baby will crab, but like that was lovely. I'll see you later, you know. It's really just survived. Yeah, we don't we don't think too much into it. So for us, it's like if we're not spending quality time with each other too much. For me, a big thing
is family time. I like, even if it's just coffee in the morning on a Sunday, like shall we walk to the cafe? Like that's enough for me. Like I'm like I just need that, just that family time once in a while when we can fit it in like that's all it is, because I know, look that's temporary.
You know.
Eventually he keeps getting bit older and you can then.
And then you'll be going, oh remember when we used we're in that phase now off I was going.
Oh, there was so little.
Yeah, look, hey, you know what I've been going through our bucket of photographs and literally there's two buckets just full of pictures. And of course the first one there's a million photographs. Of the second one there's maybe two hundred thousand. The third one there's about a thousand pictures, which I hear that a lot.
Yeah, you also don't have as much time you're juggling.
Part of what happened with us was when Lotus was born, I was twenty eight years ago. We were using film cameras, so all the film got developed, so there's hard copies
of that. For Bodes who came in two thousand and six, it's all digital, and so if that phone is gone, then often we don't know where those pictures are, you know, but in looking back at those pictures, it goes so fast, and there are moments where you want to go God, you know, when you're in the trenches like you're talking about, and you're changing diper at three am or or doing stuff like that, and.
You go, oh my god, how's this going to get?
You know, it goes so quick and then blink of an eye, and it literally feels like a blink of an eye.
I remember people trying to tell me about sleep training the kids in the beginning first time parent. I'm trying to do the right thing and like trying to listen and try and do this, and they go, should time, this is your time that and I was like, I do bloody want to do any of this? Why am I doing this? It's not in my instinct to want to be separated from my child, And they go, but what about you and your husband? You're going to sleep
in the same bed. I'm like, I don't care when my husband's sleeping.
Are you kid?
I don't care right now? Are you joking? I'm going to care about a fully grown adult. I have barely slept, whereas I can get extra sleep. If the baby's next to me, like my toddlers sleeping next to me, it's fine, I'll see him in the morning. I'm just gonna like I stopped listening to people and like up to now, you know, I've got my kids in the bed with me and put Maddie in the other room. Sometimes he doesn't even have the heater. I'm going off to the tundra.
The rental we're in right now is just freezing.
Like this works, you know, And you know what's amazing is like when people ask him, like wow, but like what does my husband think of it? I'm like, he's happy because he sleeps as well.
He works exactly right.
I don't have a husband that's against that. It's working for both of us right. Also, like we're just like on par I think we're we're equally on par with what we want.
Guess it's the main thing too in a relationship. If you're on the same page, yes, it's it works and whatever the page is, whatever you guys want to write on that page.
You have to be comfortable with your page, right, and one's page is different. As long as you're on par you're on the same page with each other, you both understand it. You both trust each other. Is such a big thing. Like I don't think I'm not sleeping in the same bed as my husband is going to go elsewhere Where's he going to go?
He's so.
Places electric, she barely has time, he can barely shower up by around Where's he going.
Ted to go?
Anywhere?
I think the if I think about what's helped throughout this period has been a that neither of us hold a grudge. I think we have times where we get angry at one another or whatever, but within an hour we've both calm down and we're completely over it. We never really go to bed angry with each other or
calld this long term grudge, which I think helps. And then the other thing, particularly in our life, we've felt that's really helped us is having a partnership where we're both really comfortable with your primary responsible over here and I'm primary responsible over here, and then we're secondary responsible to both those things for each other, and being really clear and not trying to put too much guilt on
one another about the other part. So because otherwise it becomes a you know, you're doing this and you're doing that, and I'm not doing this and I'm not doing that, and we could spend all that time fighting about all the things. So we've got, you know, the roles that we set for each other that we both know. I'm
leading this and you're leading that. You know, and they're not necessarily always the traditional things that you think of between husband and wife and the primary mother and the and the secondary.
But Sarah's a woman, he's a man. It's literally just how this works. Like Sarah and we know someone who's switched around.
Yeah, Sarah does all the di y. You will not see me putting anything together. Sarah rocked walls and partied.
Up asking something. I'm like, I'll take over. It's fine.
We had one of our neighbors come knock on the door and Sarah answered and they were like, is your husband home? We need help with like the plumbing, and I was like, she was like, he's home, but I'm not sure he's the one you want to.
I wanted to say he's home, but you're asking for the wrong person.
Whereas I planned our wedding, I help. I desired her wedding.
You know, did you really so?
Yeah?
What did I say? Designer? We had a designer.
Designer.
I had to say how it was designed and helped get.
Did you design the wedding ring or did you go out and buy them together?
No?
I did the wedding ring so like, you know, Sarah is the primary care and I'm the secondary care for sure, sometimes away for work for three days four days at a time, and you know, Sarah's has the primary emotional responsibility of taking care of our children.
And yeah, yeah, I.
Think that's I think that's great because sometimes you need to know when to follow, you know, you need when to pick it up and when you're the leader. We're in the home the other day and Ali and Boats were having a conversation.
I was like, this is I do not need to be in that conversation. I can sit back and kind of listen, but not but in ski Yeah, but you know, two other kids to figure that out.
Yeah, well this is the thing. People think you know that and oh you have this conversation and you know that straight away, right, But that's not the case. That takes arguments. Sometimes we've had blowouts, Like we've had like arguments where we both in some level thought that one wasn't appreciating the other, but it wasn't the case. And then that argument allowed us to communicate and then we were able to like, oh okay, and we've got into
a really good place after that argument. Yeah, like everyone thinks it's like, oh, you have this chart and you communicate and that's how it works. It's like no, no, Sometimes you argue because you might be overtired and like stretched out thin, and then that leads to a nice conversation and you're in a good place.
Yeah.
Absolutely, What values or lessons from your Lebanese upbringing do you really prioritize in your life?
For me, you know, my dad was the primary bread winner growing up. My mom worked as well, but my dad was the primary bread winner, so you know, my mom played a more vital role in terms of, you know, our upbringing and how we were at home. And I think what I've learnt from my mom, I've probably learnt my dad's work ethic, and from my mom, I've learnt
to instill confidence in your kids. I think, if if there's any one thing I want Malik to learn from me, is that that he's good and he's got he's full of confidence, and that he goes into the world knowing his worth. Getting emotional thinking about that.
It's really important for boys and for girls and for boys to be kind.
Yeah, I think, yeah, when I think of, you know the world in which kids are growing up in now, especially young boys. So I heard about that story about this kid recently with the I think he might have seen it. But you know, just a suicide rate in general for young kids. It's just I think the most important thing. And I think when I think of my upbringing with my mom, she she gave me a lot of confidence. Yeah yeah, well done.
Yeah she did an amaze She does an amazing job with her even with my kids, she's amazing when it comes to stuff like that. See, my mom's Asian and my mom's Filipino, and then my dad's a many so like dad's well, growing up, I didn't know it was an Asian thing because you know, you have fellow friends and it's like, you know, you don't really hear like I long year. You know, it's very like a stereotypic like you laugh on it later kind of stuff. But
they're tough, it's tough, it's tough luck. It's tough luck with Asians, but they they get stuff done. So what I got from my mum, which I think is really good, was it was never like complaining about stuff she had to do.
She just did it.
So for me, even as an adult, I don't get when people have to complain about things, and I'm like they're having a full conversation before something gets done, like just do it, Like, just do it, man, Like stop us, Maddie, I get so impatient with it. I'm like, just pick it up and go. Like I got that from my mum, so we work. It was really good because my get it done. If the kids are crying at nighttime and they need an abby change, in my head, I'm like, get it done. Like it's just get it done. My
mum was like that as a parent with us. I never remember her complaining about all the stuff, the hardships she had to do. And only as an adult and I had kids did I realized she had no family here and it was literally her with kids who were like twelve months apart, and she did so much stuff with just that mentality that like, you know, that go get it thing. And my dad, obviously is my dad was like a panel beater growing up and stuff, and
so like I became really handy and thrifty. I got that work ethic from my dad and like that's what I got. And I feel like culturally around me, I feel like a lot of the girls who are close with their dad tend to do the same thing, and a lot of like the Asians who grew up with like you know, they pillow moms. It's the same thing. We're all like, just good work, ethic, just get it done, let's do this, let's do that. It's not really like
excuses not to do it. It's more an excuse to do it sort of thing.
You guys are amazing.
I feel like I was meant to have two boys.
Oh clearly you did.
Yeah.
I have friends who are like, I can't see you with girls. I'm like, I feel like I was meant to be a boy mum, because like I was talking to my friend's daughter and he goes you talk to her like she's an adult, Like come on, like all right, yeah right, let's do it. Come on, let's go like I can't meet me like, oh, princess, Like it's really nice. But it's just like the way I am, the way I was brought up, Like I think it suits boys.
So unclogged his first toilet, Yeah, on the door.
He's peeing on the floor a lot at the moment, which is the problem. So you walk into the bathroom and it stinks a.
Tissue on the floor because Matt's like, when you go to the toilet, if it gets on the floor, you got to clean it. So he puts a tissue there because he's tired, and it's like it's absorbed it. I'll come back from.
Smart.
Yeah he's a cookie. Yeah yeah, he scooter broke. I taught him how to fix his scooter. Applies in my handbag. I should do the whole. You know what's in your bag and people now.
Now we're talking like a gerber tool or.
Like it's a proper you know, it's like pointed. It's probably like this long right pointed so I can get in.
You got the needle.
Was one of those you know, like a Swiss Army Knights sort of.
Thing with all no, no, no, it's needlenose pier alone. I need to get a Swiss.
Take him on the airplane.
But in my head, I'm like, you've got kids, You're always at the park. What if something breaks? You need a flyer.
Well, we were talking about the bathroom with Malleck ping on a tissue. Let's stay in there and hop in the shower.
Quick answers, two minute shower, Here we go.
Question, what about your relationship makes you feel the most.
Grateful that he takes over all the stuff he does. He has an extra spreadsheet for our life, like I don't have to worry about what bills are you, I don't have to worry about organizing anything. I don't have to worry about being on top of anything. I can just focus on what I need to do because he literally takes whatever he takes over he does it perfectly, beautifully, like beautifully. That is a full appreciation, like I love it. One less thing for me to think about.
I've got an organized husband, which apparently isn't too common at all.
Every time someone's like, oh, I needed to put my friend's clothes out, my husband's clothes out, I was like, I don't need to do anything.
You know, when I met Sarah per Warmth, and you know, the love she gave me was very evident, and I think seeing her do that with our children is probably the best. She's relentless in her care for our kids. And yeah, she's often completely I'll be gone for three four days as no complaints. She's up in the middle of the night changing diary and appies and all the stuff, and yeah, she does that day in day out.
If you could relive one day with each other. What would that be?
Oh, what a good question.
Relive one day with each other. It would probably for me be a day on our honeymoon somewhere in Europe.
Oh answer. I'm in the Amalfi Coast with you right now as we.
Speak, sitting by a beach or eating some French bread somewhere. I know the day, which day?
The watermelon place? Yes, yeah, where I sacrificed you in the water because the wave knocked me off the rock. But but that place where they have this watermelon time and like bring this watermelon out and you're like laying there.
One fire beach in in Prayana on the Mouth coast, having a cocktail with watermelon being served on the ocean, just jumping off my god, the little.
Cliff side, just laying next to each other there just we were both just like can you can you believe we're here? This is just and to be together doing that, I could relive that day.
We'll Aside from watermelon beach, what the world needs more of is.
Passion.
M yeah, love and compassion.
Last question, can you choose one word to describe each other?
Harry, No, I'm joking, joking, that's fair King, I'm joking. I mean, I mean, the clippering is a situation, but like that wasn't my way. I'm sure I've got a nice one.
There.
You motivated. His motivation is next to none. Like it motivates me seeing him. I thought I was a motivated and driven person. I'm not compared to him. Like I'll see him do things and he's so like h focused. He can be quite focused. Roll I'm just like the butterfly. Like I can be trying to do something and then like just stop and he's like he even tells me, He's like, you have done like five six things, but you need to just focus on one. I'm like, you're right,
can't even argue that. Like, he's just so focused and driven.
We always say if there was two of me in the relationship would be divorced, if those two of Sarah would be homeless.
So yeah, that's maybe something coconuts.
We balance each other out because I'm one hundred miles an hour and she's really relaxed, and I think that helps in our household. My one word for Sarah would probably be and I've probably mentioned in our wedding speech, would be light. I think like the light of my life. I always think of Sarah.
Just that's nice.
Well we've ever had either of those?
Have it motivated the number of.
Everyone's unique Maddie and Sarah, thanks so much for being with us today. We can't wait to see you back on Google Box in the future, and we'll look forward to seeing the next sea.
Thank you for having so much, so much for having usked and such a lovely chat. It really has and it's nice hearing some things that Maddy thinks about.
Nice to reiterate with.
Love at the bar.
Thank you guys, see you on the Telly. We'll be watching you, watching us, watching you. And off they go, Ah, my gosh, so great.
That's such a fun chocks, such a fun couple.
Talk about balancing each other out. I mean, they already know that about themselves anyway, though. They really balance each other out, and they really appreciate each other's strengths as well. And I think that's super key in relationship to know you've got this, thank you for taking that, I've got this, I'm in control of that, and then we're good, go forward.
It's a really good recipe for a strong, respectful, fun yes time together.
Yeah, That's why I love it when you take the rubbish out, you are so good at that.
And I love it when you buy the bags. Yeah, you do the shop.
I'll well, thanks so much for listening everyone. We hope you enjoyed that.
And of course you can catch up with Maddie anyway on goggle Box when it's on your Telly Maddie and Jade and Bane the Dog.
Bane the dog who's become a star.
In his own right.
He's a hell of a humper, that dog. He's got some big long du claws as well scrapping the legs.
Hey, we'll catch up with you next time on separate bathrooms.
See yeah,