TV fave Sarah Marie Fahd says her ‘family is like a reality show’ as she returns to Gogglebox after two-year break

Award-winning series Gogglebox Australia is back for a hilarious new season with a fan favourite returning after a two-year break.

Australia’s leading armchair critics are back for another entertaining season of Gogglebox Australia, with a familiar face returning to her rightful place on the couch.

Sarah Marie Fahd became a fan favourite when she first joined the award-winning series in 2017 along with her husband, Matty Fahd, and his best friend, Jad Nehmetallah.

But the juggle is real when you have two young children, so she took a step back in 2023 once their second son, Lyon, was born. In an adorable move, her eldest Malik, then 3 years old, took her place on the couch with his dad and Uncle Jad.

Fast forward, to 2025 and Season 21 of Gogglebox and Sarah is back.

Sarah Marie Fahd returns to Gogglebox after a two-year break with her little ones in tow.

Sarah sits back on the couch alongside her husband Matty and his best friend Jad. Picture: Damian Shaw

“I’m so happy to be back with my boys this year,” she tells news.com.au ahead of the show’s premiere on Thursday, February 20 on 10, 10 Play and streaming on Paramount+.

“I said to my husband, I’ve had my maternity leave time. I’ve been able to focus on the little guy and be a mum to two kids and adjust, and I’m just ready this year to get back into everything and focus. And Lyon is at a different age now where I can actually be on the show.”

The reality star took time off after the birth of their second baby, Lyon, in 2023. Picture: Instagram

In her two-year absence, Sarah said she really missed the set family time they had while filming. And although she was watching from the wings with little Lyon on her hip during her break, it was not the same as being on the couch with Matty, Jad and Malik – especially since she wanted to get her two cents in.

“Doing something where it was a set time together as a family is probably what I missed the most – being involved and included in the commentary together,” she reveals.

“I might be walking past carrying Leon on the sidelines and I see or hear something and I’m like, ‘Oh, I want to say something so bad, but I can’t right now.’”

Full of charm and commentary, Sarah would undeniably be great if given her own reality TV show. With her husband, his best friend, two kids, a dog and a house brimming with chaos and characters, it would make for our viewing pleasure.

When little Malik was 3 years old, he replaced his mum on the couch with dad Matty and Uncle Jad.

“We joke around about it, actually. Something like Meet the Fahds or something, we were joking about because our family, no joke, is like a reality show,” she laughs.

“The amount of people who have said, ‘Would you guys ever do that? Because you guys don’t realise you’re like a reality show in itself.’ Then you’ve got my brother-in-law [Kris Fade] who’s on Dubai Bling with his radio show. And then when our families are together as well, it’s just insane the way we are. We have so many family group chats, everyone is opinionated, there’s always something going on. It’s really our norm.”

“There’s just so many angles where we joke around being like, ‘This is a whole episode guys. Meet the Fans is a series.’”

Matty is not the only star in the family with his brother Kris Fade (left) starring on Netflix’s Dubai Bling. The Brothers are seen here with their mum. Picture: Instagram

Her own family is just as camera-ready. Many fans believe Sarah is only of Lebanese descent. While her father is from Lebanon, she is actually part Filipino on her mother’s side – and this past year she has made a conscious effort to fly that Philippines flag high.

“I was like, you know what? I want to make a note. I’m not just Lebanese. I’ve got my mum who I’m so close to. I want them to know I’m also Filipino and represent a different community,” she says proudly.

“The Filipino community in Australia is massive. A lot of my upbringing was more Filipino. Obviously mum’s the one back then usually looking after you, dad’s working. So my upbringing was actually very typical Filipino to the point where I learned a lot of Australian things later on in my life. I just thought everyone did things how we did it. I didn’t know people didn’t always have rice with food.”

“A few weeks ago, my husband saw me, and he’s like, ‘What are you eating?’ I’m like, ‘Oh, rice and eggs.’ That’s a meal,” she laughs.

Sarah, seen here in a childhood pic with her mum and sister, wants to showcase more of her Filipino roots on social media.

All grown up with her younger sister Fatimah, who is Malik’s godmother. Picture: Instagram

Who knows if a reality show is on the horizon for the Fahds – anything can happen. After all, the Gogglebox trio – who have known each other for more than 10 years before appearing on the show – joined the program thinking it would be for just one season.

“We’re like, ‘OK, great. Let’s do this together and do a season, see how it goes.’ Hopefully we can juggle this with work and everything, and as long as that’s OK, we’ll continue on. I’ve forgotten how many seasons we’ve been on, but it’s been a great show to be on,” she says.

“I think the fact we hadn’t watched the show was probably a good thing. We were just being ourselves and just talking and talking over each other and watching things. Being overly opinionated is just second nature to the three of us, so it worked out great.”

Jad, Sarah Marie and Matty first joined Gogglebox in 2017.

Reality TV aside, in the past year Sarah has been spreading her wings, scoring hosting gigs on two Mamamia podcasts, You Beauty and This Glorious Mess, on which discusses all things parenting.

The TV star not only talks about her beauty and parenting wins and fails on social media, but she also bravely opens up about other aspects of her life such as her mental health because, for her, it’s cathartic to document the good, the bad and the not-so-pretty.

“For me personally, I found it a really good way to deal with my depression and anxiety,” she tells us. “It helped me not feel alone because it helps other people not feel alone.”

“Once I started just being myself, sharing things naturally and sharing things organically, I might have my make-up on, I might not have my make-up on, or little things like that – it really helped. It was like writing a diary. It just got things off my chest.”

Sarah posts freely on social media and is unbothered by trolls. Picture: Instagram

Sarah posts about her life freely on her social media. And while she doesn’t typically get trolled for her posts unlike other reality TV stars, she says that even if she did, she would block out all the noise.

“If you were to try and troll me, that would be the most you could do,” she says. “You could troll, you could say a hate comment, whatever. I genuinely don’t care. I don’t care because I know that’s not a personal hit on me. It actually says more about the person writing it than it does about me.”

“I personally would never go onto someone’s social and some of the things that people from MAFS experience. I’m like, I would never write that to someone. You don’t know that person. And even if you did, why would you go out and be so hateful?”

The new season of Gogglebox Australia premieres on Thursday, February 20 only on 10, 10 Play and Paramount+

Originally published as TV fave Sarah Marie Fahd says her ‘family is like a reality show’ as she returns to Gogglebox after two-year break