‘Why I’d love to talk to my mum again’: Former Bachelor Sam Wood

Ahead of Mother’s Day, the fitness professional and ex-Bachelor reveals what he would give to spend time with his mother, who died when he was a teenager.

Fitness pro, podcaster and former Bachelor Sam Wood would give anything to spend just an hour with his late mother and introduce her to his amazing family of women.

The father of four said goodbye to Wendy, as a 15-year-old, after she lost her long-running battle with lymphoma.

Mother’s Day brings memories of her commitment to raising Wood and his younger brother and sister, including giving up work.

“I miss her every day, but it was especially hard when I met the love of my life (wife Snezana) – I would give anything to spend just an hour with (mum) and introduce her to my girls,” he said.

One of his four girls – five-year-old Willow – bears his mother’s name as her middle name. His three-year-old Charlie was born on Wendy’s birthday.

“There is a really big part of me that is so determined to make her proud and show her that she raised me in a way that she would like what she sees,” Wood said.

Sam Wood with his wife Snezana Markoski and their kids Eve, 17, Charlie, 3, Willow, 5, and Harper, 1. Picture: Jason Edwards

Away from home, Wood’s podcast – The Wood Life – has an 83 per cent female listenership. His exercise program — 28 by Sam Wood — also largely caters to females.

Every which way the 42-year-old turns, he’s encircled by feminine energy.

“It’s just funny how losing my mum at such a young age has seen me, without any conscious thought whatsoever, I seem to have surrounded myself with amazing women ever since,” he said.

And while Wood loves his “very pretty, nice-smelling, crazy, noisy house full of girls – it’s just me and the dog representing the boys”. There are times when he and 13-year-old chocolate labrador Hendrix take off for a walk.

“I mean, it’s 99 per cent just so full of love and laughter but every now and then, our little circuit breaker, when perhaps the womanhood of the house gets to boiling point, we escape for a little walk,” he says.

Fitness pro and podcaster Sam Wood with his 13-year-old chocolate labrador Hendrix represent the boys in his female-filled house. Picture: Supplied

For Mother’s Day on Sunday, Wood will emulate his mother by encouraging his younger children, no matter how limited their handwriting ability, to write their own message in a card for Snezana.

“Mums are very much taken for granted – particularly when you got four kids, life is so hectic, it’s quite rare to stop and smell the roses or stop and appreciate things,” he said.

“I just think it’s important to get the kids to (appreciate her).”

The Wood Life, iHeart app, or wherever you get your podcast.

Originally published as ‘Why I’d love to talk to my mum again’: Former Bachelor Sam Wood