Former Married At First Sight star Martha Kalifatidis weighs in on this year’s participants

A year after her memorable appearance on Married At First Sight, Martha Kalifatidis is still popping up on Australian TV screens.  

The 31-year-old former reality star’s latest venture saw her teaming up with her mum, Mary Kalifatidis, to promote ShopBack’s $20,000 cashback competition.

And working with her mother in the TV commercial was an experience she described as a ‘nightmare’ in an interview with Daily Mail Australia this week.

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‘Let’s just say she couldn’t get into character… I was expecting Meryl Streep and I got Mary Kala,’ she said.  

Unlike Mary, Martha has had plenty of experience in front of the camera, emerging as one of the standout personalities from last year’s MAFS.

But she admitted she’s having a hard time connecting with this year’s participants.

‘I don’t know if it’s the plot or what it is, I just don’t feel like I’m really understanding these girls. I can’t relate to them. I don’t know if they’re genuine,’ she confessed. 

‘I look at some of the couples and I just think, “That is so fake! They do not like each other!” Like, Stacey and Michael do not like each other.’

One participant Martha does have faith in is her fellow ‘bride’ from last year’s season, Elizabeth Sobinoff, who returned to the series this year.

‘She seems happy. I think her and Seb [Guilhaus], when I look at them, I actually get a genuine interaction from them. I see them, they’re having a little laugh, they’re being goofy, they’re not too worried about what everyone else is doing,’ she said.

‘And she looks great! She did go through a really rough time, and she’s come out on the other side better for it. She looks amazing. Even her personality, she seems a lot happier. She’s had the ultimate glow-up!’ 

But Martha insisted she has faith in the show’s controversial ‘love experts’, especially given the fact she and boyfriend Michael Brunelli are still going strong more than a year later.

After being matched on last year’s series, Martha and Michael, 28, recently moved from Melbourne to Sydney together, renting an apartment off Bondi Beach. 

‘Me and Michael, when you take us at face value, we are at opposite ends of the spectrum,’ she explained. 

‘I’m loud and crass, he’s conservative and quiet. He’s a teacher. I’m a makeup artist, extra and like drag queen, all this s**t, and he’s like, a footy player. 

‘We lived three kilometres away from each other and our worlds never crossed.’

Martha said it’s ultimately up to the show’s participants to ‘peel back the layers’ of their assigned partners to find the similarities. 

‘[Michael and I] have strong family upbringings, we are family-oriented, our values, principles and morals are the same, and I think that’s what it comes down to,’ she added, 

‘Who has the ability to peel back the layers to see people for who they really are, not face value.’

Speaking about her own experience on the hit show, Martha claimed she had ‘an onscreen persona’ that wasn’t completely accurate of who she is in real life.

‘You’re making a TV show… It’s a production. It’s very clever the way it’s done. The psychology behind it and how it works is very smart,’ she said. 

And she admitted appearing as a participant on the hit Channel Nine series is not for the faint-hearted. 

‘You have to be a very strong and resilient person to do it, otherwise you’ll get crushed,’ she added. 

‘The whole country watches the show! And then the whole country has made an opinion based on, I don’t want to say a bulls**t show, but it’s not always the most authentic portrayal. You cannot prepare for it! Nothing can prepare you.’