Kerry and Johnny Balbuziente stole hearts around Australia when they found love on Married At First Sight, and their love story has only continued off-camera.
The fan favourites got married for real in January 2023 and welcomed their daughter Chloe, now two, in June 2024, and now they are adjusting to life as first-time parents.
Speaking exclusively to New Idea about their new roles as ambassadors for the Children’s Hospital Foundation, the couple revealed what aspect of their lives has changed the most since welcoming Chloe.
“Date nights become like impossible,” Johnny quips.
“We keep trying to do it. The other night, we went out for dinner at a local restaurant, and Chloe gets up on her high chair, somehow wiggles her way out, opens her arms out to the whole restaurant and just screams in front of like 50 people.
“It feels like we’re wrangling like herds or like horses, but like it’s just one little miniature human.”
“We have to go in there with a sense of humour, I think,” Kerry adds.
They also revealed the biggest misconception about parenting they had quashed once Chloe was born, admitting their plans to maintain the same lifestyle were quickly sidelined.
We were like, ‘we’re not going to let it change our lives, we’re still going to get out and do stuff,” Kerry confesses.
“And we do, but the nice thing is, it’s the new stuff that you get to do with a kid.”
“Like we wouldn’t go to the playgrounds, we wouldn’t go to the beach, we wouldn’t do the things that we do now.”
They’re still getting used to the “chaos” of parenting, citing the challenges of juggling childcare with full-time work. Since leaving MAFS, Kerry has returned to her job as an occupational therapist, while Johnny has continued working in the theatre.
“It’s just the chaos of parenthood that you hear about,” Kerry says. “You don’t get it till you’re in it.”
So, would they be open to adding to the chaos? Well, they’re not ruling anything out!
When asked if they’d have any more children, Kerry says they are enjoying the “chaos” for now, but would be “very open” to adding to it in the future.
They are trying to soak up every stage of parenting Chloe because they are aware of how quickly time can fly by, and they don’t want to miss anything.
“What do they say? The days are long, but the years are short,” Kerry says.
“When you’re in the thick of it, especially at the start, it’s like, ‘oh, my God, is this my life forever now?’ when they’re not sleeping, or something like that.
“[Then] the next phase comes just as quickly, and you’re into the next, and then you’d do anything to get back in that time when she was tiny.”
“Seeing Chloe grow up is like something that brings me so much joy and so much excitement,” Johnny gushes.
“I think what watching Chloe grow up for me is – I love that [it’s] the most exciting thing in my life right now.”
Kerry and Johnny were speaking to New Idea in their capacity as the newest ambassadors for the Children’s Hospital Foundation in Queensland.
Read more about their partnership here.
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