Their university-aged daughters Millie and Holly love taking their spots on the clan’s famous couch. And for long-time Goggleboxers Matt and Kate Dalton, time in front of the TV for the hit reality show is very much family time.
For as far as Matt and Kate, both 50, are concerned, life has always been happiest when shared with loved ones.
“We’ve had a blessed life with our family and friends – and we’re really compatible, too,” says Kate. “We’ve always been on the same page and have always known that we’re pretty much soulmates.
“Having fun together and a sense of humour in a relationship is so important, but respecting each other is vital.”
WATCH: Gogglebox couple Kate and Matt have trouble recalling their wedding
Introduced at a mutual friend’s wedding in 1991, Kate certainly left a lasting impression on Matt.
“Kate had one of those croquembouche-type hairstyles with layer upon layer,” says Matt, adding, “I thought she had a turban on!”
Says Kate: “After the wedding, Matt sent a message through a friend – knowing it would get back to me – that he thought I was a bit of alright.
“I had just finished a relationship with my previous boyfriend the night before the wedding, and so the last thing I was thinking about was starting another relationship. It was very unexpected.”
As for the couple’s first date, it was “quite bizarre”, admits Matt now. “At the time,
I was a secondary school teacher and each term I would take the Year 9 boys out to McDonald’s and to the cinema,” he says.
“I thought that a non-threatening first date for Kate would be to bring her along to one of those evenings. So, Kate joined me, along with 30 Year 9 boys, at McDonald’s and to watch City Slickers.”
“And the rest,” exclaims Kate with a smile, “is history! We’ve been together ever since.”
Three years later, Matt asked Kate to be his wife in equally memorable style.
“I got a T-shirt printed that said, ‘Will you become Mrs Kate Dalton?’” he says. “We were walking in the Dandenong Ranges and I took my flannel shirt off for Kate to see the white T-shirt underneath with the proposal on it.”
“And I said ‘Yes’ straight away,” says Kate.
On March 18, 1995, the couple tied the knot, celebrating their nuptials at Melbourne’s Botanical Hotel.
“We had so many friends there, it was more like a party than a wedding reception,” says Kate. “I wore a full-on white taffeta meringue-style dress.”
These days, the hard-working couple share their inner-Melbourne home with Millie, now 21, Holly, 19, and 4-year-old cavoodle Ace.
And there’s no doubt that Matt and Kate are continuing to enjoy their time in the Gogglebox spotlight.
“We were stopped in the street and asked to be on the show, which made for a very spontaneous decision,” says Kate. “Doing the show together has brought us even closer as a family.”
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