Michelle Bridges brings truckie Rob Jofre to tears in TBL Families

KEEPING her pregnancy a secret while filming TBL wasn’t easy for Michelle Bridges, especially when she had to share baby news with one of her team members.

KEEPING her pregnancy a secret during filming of the latest series of Channel 10s TBL Families wasn’t easy for trainer Michelle Bridges, but especially when she had to share baby news with one of her team members.

As an incentive for the red team’s Rob Jofre to push on during a “last chance” coaching session, Bridges surprised the husband and father with a letter from his wife and even more emotionally, a 3D ultrasound of his second unborn child.

In Sunday night’s touching episode, the 42-year-old truck company owner was reduced to tears when his trainer handed over a precious message from home.

For Bridges, it was also “pretty emotional”, given she was then in the early stages of her first pregnancy to TBL co-star and partner, Steve “Commando” Willis.

Michelle got emotional over Rob’s good news.

Bridges told The Sunday Telegraph: “Being so close to my family this year and having my own little personal secret going on, sharing this moment with Rob was actually pretty emotional for me. I had a much deeper appreciation of how hard it must have been for him to have been missing out on a time that you never get back again (supporting his wife through her pregnancy) ... but knowing that he was doing it for their greater good.”

She has previously confirmed her first baby (Willis has three children from two previous relationships) was conceived during filming of this current series: “So as you watch the show progress you see me never get out of my puffa jacket. They were like “Michelle it’s really hot, why are you still wearing your puffa vest?’”

In the episode, Bridges pulled Jofre’s wife’s scan from under her red puffa vest, with the tough guy — who had thus far shed an impressive 34.5kg — reduced to a blubbering mess.

Bridges, 44, said “being of a similar age, Rob and I have a great and trusting relationship and I knew he looked to me, leaned on me at times.”

“As the head of the family, like many men feel, he felt he had to keep it together, show no emotion, but he was struggling. This was a very real moment where he was able to see one of the first ultrasounds of his baby. He’s missed almost all of those moments, but was making the sacrifice in order to be a better husband, a better dad and a better version of himself.”