Martha Kalifatidis: 'Dinner parties lasted 15 hours - it was a pressure cooker'
The climax of each week on MAFS was undoubtedly the explosive dinner parties – filled with arguments, confrontations and flirty interactions. And now Martha tells Closer just what went on behind the scenes during the boozy gatherings.
Martha, 32, says, “The dinner parties go on for 15 hours – and you’re dressed up and ready for it at 10am in the morning. They take you to set, and you’re kept in different holding cells while they’re getting everything set up. You can’t speak to the other couples. It’s just part of the reality of TV – you’re waiting around, and you become really irritated and uncomfortable and hungry and tired. So then when you go into the dinner party, you’re ready to kick off. It’s like a pressure cooker.”
She adds, “And some of the commitment ceremonies went on until 4am – sometimes we even came back the next day, in the same clothes and make-up, to finish filming. You’re all so tired that it’s no wonder people are all in really bad moods.”
Heidi Latcham: ‘It’s such an intense process – from casting to the very end’
Like Love Island here in the UK, it seems that MAFS Australia’s casting process is a combination of producers approaching potential contestants and applications. And Heidi tells Closer that after years of dating the wrong guys, she decided to apply to the show – but was not prepared for the intensity of both the application process, and the show itself.
Heidi, 40, says, “I applied for the show on the very last day they were accepting applications – I was at a point in my life where I’d resigned from my job, I’d moved to a new town and I really wanted to meet someone. So I thought, ‘Stuff it!’ and applied.
“It was such an intense process! You have to fill out millions of forms and questionnaires, and send videos and more photos. And then you do that again and again. They test you so much – it was relentless! Three months later, I was walking down the aisle, and I had only been told two weeks before that I’d be on the show.”
Heidi – who was paired up with groom Mike – continues, “I really thought that the experiment itself would be a light, fun thing to do and, if I also met the person of my dreams, that would be amazing, but if I didn’t, I’d still learn a lot. How wrong I was! It was full-on and definitely the most intense thing I’ve ever done, from start to finish. It wasn’t fun, it was deep. You’re filming so much, you’re with your partner 24/7 and it’s so confrontational. You learn a lot about yourself, whether you want to or not. There’s nowhere to hide.”
Check out: Love Island - which couples from all the series are still together?
all love island couples CLOSER slider updated
1 of 42Hannah Elizabeth and Jonathan Clark (2015): SPLIT
Remember when they, like, got engaged on the show? That one didn't quite last...
2 of 42Luis Morrison and Cally Jane Beech (2015): SPLIT
They had the first ever Love Island baby but in September 2018 they confirmed they'd split.
3 of 42Jordan Ring and Zoe Brown (2015): SPLIT
Absolutely DID NOT work IRL. Neeext.
4 of 42Jessica Hayes and Max Morley (2015): SPLIT
Still fancy Max in a huge way, not gonna lie.
5 of 42Katie Salmon and Adam Maxwell (2016): SPLIT
Adam claimed he was '100 percent single' shortly after leaving the villa and, um, that was that. #Kadam; gone but never forgotten.
6 of 42Rykard Jenkins and Rachel Fenton (2016): SPLIT
At least they lasted 18 months. Not bad going...
7 of 42Scott Thomas and Kady McDermott (2016): SPLIT
Scott and Kady managed a year before splitting in 2017.
8 of 42Nathan Massey and Cara de da Hoyde (2016): STILL TOGETHER
They've got their little Love Island baby and everything and are very much happily married.
9 of 42Malin Andersson and Terry Walsh (2016): SPLIT
He did date fellow Love Island-er Emma-Jane Woodhams eight months in actual real life before calling it a day. AH WELL.
10 of 42Gabby Allen and Marcel Somerville (2017): SPLIT
Gabby dumped Marcel after he was apparently caught cheating as they holidayed TOGETHER. Blimey.
11 of 42Jamie Jewitt and Camilla Thurlow (2017): STILL TOGETHER
An absolute success story of Love Island 2017, Jamie and Camilla and Jamie are still the CUTEST of couples.
12 of 42Sam Gowland and Georgia Harrison (2017): SPLIT
Sam seems to be doing alright for himself on Geordie Shore, so we don't think he's too gutted.
13 of 42Olivia Attwood and Chris Hughes (2017): SPLIT
The couple were plagued with cheating rumours throughout their relationship (who can forget that whole Chris Hughes and Katie Price debacle?). Since their ITVBe show Crackin' On ended, Olivia's confirmed she's back with ex-boyfriend Bradley Dack.
14 of 42Alex Bowen and Olivia Buckland (2016): STILL TOGETHER
Alex and Olivia are married and literally as strong as ever. We like to live vicariously through them, to be honest.
15 of 42Tyla Carr and Jonny Mitchell (2017): SPLIT
Oh it was never gonna last, was it?
16 of 42Kem Cetinay and Amber Davies (2017): SPLIT
TheLove Island2017 winners split in December 2017; five months after the finale.
17 of 42Montana Brown and Alex Beattie (2017): SPLIT
These two split just weeks after returning to the UK. Sad times.
18 of 42Dom Lever and Jess Shears (2017): STILL TOGETHER
Jess and Dom are SO together, in fact, they got 'married' on Good Morning Britain on Valentine's Day 2017. They then got, y'know, properly married.
19 of 42Sam Bird and Georgia Steel: SPLIT
You know how this one went. Sam accused Georgia of cheating on him with her ex, which she denied. It's safe to say they didn't split on the best of terms.
20 of 42Zara McDermott and Adam Collard: SPLIT (apparently)
Zara and Adam called it quits at the beginning of 2019. WAH.
21 of 42Megan Barton-Hanson and Wes Nelson: SPLIT
Megan and Wesdidmove in together, but announced their split in January 2019 following rumours Wes was getting close toDancing on Icepartner Vanessa Bauer. Uh oh.
22 of 42Josh Denzel and Kaz Crossley: SPLIT
Josh and Kaz announced their split in February 2019, with Kaz saying: "Sometimes things don't go the way you planned, but you have to be grateful for the journey. Thank you for everything especially showing me how to love myself again."
23 of 42Samira Mighty and Frankie Foster: SPLIT
Frankie reportedly cheated on Samira and that was that. Done. Over. thank u, next.
24 of 42Laura Anderson and Paul Knops: SPLIT
There's no bad blood betweenLaura and Paul, but they split months after making it to the final of the show.
25 of 42Jack Fincham and Dani Dyer: SPLIT
Dani released a statement via Instagram Stories (how very 2018) announcing thewinning 2018 couple had SPLIT, before they got back together just days later. Hmm.However fast forward to April 2019 and Jack announced they'd split.
26 of 42Amber Gill and Greg O'Shea
Amber and Greg were together for less than two weeks but managed to win over the nation and Love Island 2019. But before they could even make things official they split, with Greg reportedly dumping Amber by text.
27 of 42Tommy Fury and Molly-Mae Hague
They faced an obstacle when Maura entered the villa and turned Tommy's head but he decided to stick with Molly-Mae and the rest is history... They surprisingly came runner up during the Love Island 2019 final but they're happy in a relationship.
28 of 42Maura Higgins and Curtis Pritchard
Probably one of the most shocking Love Island recouplings was definitely Maura and Curtis. Against all odds the pair made it to the final and weeks after leaving the villa they became an official couple. They lasted eight months before splitting, with Maura linked to her Dancing on Ice co star and reports they'd been keeping up a 'showmance' for months.
29 of 42India Reynolds and Ovie Soko
Ovie and India have definitely been the most successful bombshells of all time. The basketball player entered the villa during Casa Amor and India joined the show just weeks before the final. Needless to say, we were obsessed with them but they've since called it quits.
30 of 42Belle Hassan and Anton Danyluk
Belle and Anton just missed out on the Love Island final and didn't seem to be spending a whole lot of time together back in the UK. Sure enough they split after five weeks, with Belle reportedly freaked out by his Craig David obsession. There's since been speculation that they'll reunite but the reality stars are yet to confirm anything.
31 of 42Harley Brash and Chris Taylor
Despite being latecomers to the Love Island villa, Harley and Chris won the public over - even after their drama following the Sidebar of Shame challenge. Two weeks after leaving the villa they called it quits.
32 of 42Jourdan Riane and Danny Williams
Jourdan and Danny left the villa shortly after the Casa Amor stint and after confirming they were in a relationship they moved in together. However in October, Jourdan ended their relationship following reports Danny was partying with random women.
33 of 42Joanna Chimonides and Michael Griffiths
Michael left us - and the villa - shook when he decided to recouple with Joanna, leaving Amber single. Despite the awkwardness, Michael and Joanna seemed to kind of be working - until she was dumped from the island and then he said he still has feelings for Amber. He was then dumped from the villa and Joanna was then spotted 'kissing' Michael at a festival. Michael has since sparked rumours that he's recoupled with another Casa Amor star.
34 of 42Lucie Donlan and Joe Garratt
Lucie and Joe had a rough time in the Love Island villa, especially after thesandwich maker was accused of "gaslighting" his other half. Post villa they revisited their relationship back in the UK but split in late 2019.
35 of 42Paige Turley and Finn Tapp (2020): TOGETHER
Paige and Finn coupled up as soon as Finn entered the house as the one of the first boy bombshells and stayed thick as thieves throughout the whole series without even a hint of head turn. They've made things work on the outside, spending coronavirus lockdown at Paige's family home in Scotland, and have recently moved to Manchester.
36 of 42Siânnise Fudge and Luke Trotman (2020): TOGETHER
Despite Siânnise struggling at the start thanks to her love rival Rebecca Gormley, Luke did eventually couple up with Siânnise and they've been together the whole time. They spent coronavirus lockdown in Luton with Luke's fam and have recently moved into a flat in the capital.
37 of 42Demi Jones and Luke Mabbot
Luke and Demi were the shock last minute couple who made it to the final after their respective rollercoaster rides in the villa.They lasted a valiant four months but spending lockdown apart meant they were the first to split in June.
38 of 42Ched Uzor and Jess Gale
Jess was left heartbroken when her twin, Eve, was the first to be dumped from the villa and struggled to form a connection with any of the lads - until Ched showed up during Casa Amor. They made it to fourth place but split due to being separated during lockdown.
39 of 42Mike Boateng and Priscilla Anyabu
Another Casa Amor success story, Mike was single when he went into the villa next door and met Priscilla. They spent lockdown together and are still going strong.
40 of 42Callum Jones and Molly Smith
Callum broke the heart of fan favourite Shaugna Phillips when he returned to the main villa from Casa Amor with Molly. But the new couple turned out to be super sweet. Back in the UK, they both live nearby to one another in Manchester and are still together.
41 of 42Nas Masood and Eva Zapico
The nation WASN'T pleased when Nas returned from Casa Amor with Eva, leaving Demi single, and the couple were the next to be booted. Despite spending lockdown apart, they've been meeting up (at a safe distance!) throughout the pandemic and recently insisted that they're still together.
42 of 42Connor Durman and Sophie Piper
Connor and Sophie were an original couple but when Connor was dumped from the villa and Sophie didn't follow, the future became uncertain. They did hook up again after arriving back in the UK but never went official and last featured on each others' social media back in February.
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Melissa Lucarelli: ‘I couldn’t speak about the show for two years!’
She was known for her bubbly and talkative personality, in contrast to her quiet and spiritual husband Dino – and now Melissa isn’t holding back about her experience on MAFS and reveals the contestants all had to sign contracts to keep the show’s secrets from being leaked.
Melissa, 38, tells Closer, “There are really extreme contracts – you had to sign them before you were on the show. The contracts prevented you from speaking about the show or what went on behind the scenes – and also from doing any other TV shows with any other networks for two years. It was fine keeping quiet – but it was annoying not being able to defend myself at times. I’m glad the two-year time limit is up.
“You’re also not allowed to use any social media during filming or to post about the show before it’s aired. It’s so funny – before the show aired, I’d just got Instagram and when the show finished airing, I had built up around 10,000 followers. I had to learn how to live the Instagram influencer life quickly!”
Get the best celeb interviews in Closer magazine each week.