Gogglebox family reveal pregnancy struggle

Couch critics on Gogglebox Australia Sarah Marie and Matty Fahd have opened up about a miscarriage last year in an emotional interview, as they prepare to welcome their second child in May.

Ever witty and enthusiastically engaging, Sarah Marie and Matty Fahd have become mainstay couch critics on Gogglebox Australia. But the couple, popular for offering their opinions – and personal lives – to a national audience, have also had their share of private pain. In an emotional interview with Stellar, the couple open up about their miscarriage last year as they prepare to welcome their second child, due in May: “You know that things like this happen, but you don’t think it will happen to you. And when it does, it changes things”

When Sydney couple Sarah Marie and Matty Fahd (along with their friend Jad Nehmetallah) joined the cast of reality series Gogglebox Australia in 2017, they did so with the intention of celebrating their lives as everyday Aussies while dispelling stereotypes about Lebanese Australians along the way.

In turn, viewers have become loyal fans, cheering them on as they evolved from newly engaged couple to married parents of a growing family – featuring plenty of cameo appearances by their son, three-year-old Malik.

Sarah Marie Fahd: ‘growing up in Australia for us was a bit tricky; it’s why we don’t have Arabic names’ Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar.

Now awaiting the birth of their second son in May, the Fahds are trying to come up with a suitably symbolic moniker to match Malik, which means “king” in Arabic.

“In Matt’s family, his nickname as the youngest of five siblings was also ‘king’, so naming our son Malik really tied that all together,” Sarah Marie says. “Having an Arabic name nowadays is also quite nice because growing up in Australia for us was a bit tricky; it’s why we don’t have Arabic names.”

Referring to the alleged tension between Prince William, heir to the British throne, and his brother Harry, Matty tells Stellar with a laugh: “The name we really liked for [our next baby] – Amir – means ‘prince’ in Arabic. It’s such a beautiful name, but I couldn’t do that to a second-born after all of that.”

Happily, there is no sign of future sibling rivalry brewing on Malik’s part.

“He keeps doing the cutest things,” Sarah Marie gushes about the doting big brother-in-waiting. “He’ll kiss my belly and say, ‘Good night, little brother.’ He’s got big plans to play with his brother. But I don’t think he realises yet that a baby can’t play straight away.”

Sharing happy baby news may be expected for a couple in the public eye, but the Fahds, both 35, say they are also conscious that it could be triggering for those struggling with infertility, or who have experienced a miscarriage or stillbirth.

For that reason, they have decided to open up to Stellar about Sarah Marie’s miscarriage last year.

“I feel like there are so many feel-good [celebrity pregnancy] stories out there, and that can be really hard to read if you have just gone through a miscarriage,” she reveals.

Matty Fahd: ‘There needs to be more awareness about what people say. Maybe it would be better to ask people, ‘Do you want to have another baby?’ rather than, ‘When is the kid coming?’ Like it’s something you go and buy from the shop’ Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar.

Last May, the beauty entrepreneur discovered she was bleeding about six weeks into her second pregnancy.

Although Matty, a marketing and communications director, was out of town, his mum, whom Sarah Marie was visiting at the time, was able to get her to hospital and support her until Matty could be by her side.

But as Sarah Marie was grieving her loss, she struggled with some of the well-meaning comments from fans on social media asking when she would be adding to her family.

“I actually just started telling people [online], ‘I just had a miscarriage.’ And that would shut them up,” she explains. “I thought, maybe if I said something, it might mean they’ll avoid saying something similar to someone else [going through the same thing] – because those comments are not what you want to hear when you are losing a baby.”

Matty adds: “We got so many comments, from fans of Gogglebox and from friends and family, saying, ‘Hurry up and have a second kid! You need to give Malik a sibling.’ [But] we had just lost our baby. We had months of that.”

Since those reaching out may not realise they are saying potentially hurtful things, Matty says he tries to be understanding. “I don’t get angry about it,” he explains.

“I just think there needs to be more awareness about what people say. Maybe it would be better to ask people, ‘Do you want to have another baby?’ rather than, ‘When is the kid coming?’ Like it’s something you go and buy from the shop.”

Sarah Marie Fahd: ‘You are glad that your body is working like it should be, but it’s still painful and it’s a process [of grief] that takes months’ Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar.

Sarah Marie says that because many people don’t know how to engage with those who have experienced a pregnancy loss, she hopes that being open with Stellar about her experience will prompt more awareness of the sensitivities involved.

“When you mention you have a miscarriage, a lot of people sweep it aside. They say, ‘Oh, it’s very common,’” she explains. “But that doesn’t make it any better.”

Another thing that isn’t part of the discourse, she adds, is how to deal with menstruation following a miscarriage.

“You are thinking, I should be pregnant right now, not having my period,” Sarah Marie reveals. “Yes, you are glad that your body is working like it should be, but it’s still painful and it’s a process [of grief] that takes months.”

The miscarriage, Sarah Marie says, also added an extra layer of anxiety and protectiveness to this pregnancy. As such, the couple put off sharing with friends and family that they were expecting until much later than the first two times.

“When you see a positive pregnancy test, you get so excited,” Sarah Marie reflects. “You begin making all these plans.”

Then, fighting back tears, she adds: “The miscarriage kind of ruins the pregnancy a little bit because ignorance is bliss. You know that things like this happen, but you don’t think it will happen to you. And when it does, it changes things.

“You are on alert for everything. You want to get all the scans and the tests done [as reassurance]. Because the placenta is at the front, I don’t feel this baby move around as much as I [felt] with Malik. It all makes you a bit more wary.”

Sarah Marie and Matty Fahd feature in this Sunday’s Stellar. Picture: Hugh Stewart for Stellar.

As they near the end of Sarah Marie’s pregnancy, the couple are looking forward to having their son safely in their arms. And then they will get down to the business of how to fit their bulldog Bane, best friend Jad, a toddler and a newborn onto their couch for future Gogglebox television-viewing duties.

“It’s already a military operation in this household most weeks,” Matty reveals. “I don’t know how we’re going to do it.”

The new season of Gogglebox Australia airs Wednesdays at 7.30pm on Foxtel and Thursdays at 8.30pm on Network 10 and 10 Play.

Originally published as Gogglebox family reveal pregnancy struggle