First-day nerves are to be expected when you’re competing on My Kitchen Rules. But Defence Force foodies Matt and Aly had a whole other reason to be on edge.
“We actually found out Aly was pregnant on the first day of filming,” Matt, 26, reveals to TV WEEK.
“We’re having a boy – it’s so exciting. It’s our first child.”
The pair kept their exciting news a secret.
While most people might be overwhelmed by the big news coinciding with filming a reality show, Aly admits it worked in her favour.
“They balanced each other out,” Aly, 25, says. “In the first two months, you can’t say much [about the pregnancy], so MKR was a distraction.”
Aly explains that, while the competition was tough, her mind was on something much bigger than the show – a baby.
“So it stopped me from stressing too much,” she says.
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the pair. They had to battle the early stages of pregnancy while keeping their secret from the producers.
“Aly didn’t want to tell them,” Matt explains. “We knew it’d become a big thing, so we kept it under wraps. I was concerned. But even when Aly wasn’t feeling great, she took it in her stride.”
If they think MKR is hard, wait till they see the nappies!
But Aly is the first to admit how hard it actually was.
“There were times I really struggled with morning sickness,” Aly recalls. “I had to run out of a couple of the interviews to be sick!”
What’s worse, the instant restaurant round featured dishes the mum-to-be found hard to stomach.
“When Davide and Marco made their main course, the smell of it made me nauseous,” she laughs. “I had to leave the room.”
Meanwhile, when Valeria and Olga put alcohol in a dish, Aly couldn’t eat it.
“Doing MKR pregnant was an experience!” she says.
