They may say a dog is man’s best friend, but for long-time mates Matt and Luke, that’s certainly not the case.
The lovable lads from Newcastle are best mates, having met as teenagers playing cricket.
Over the years, the pair formed a firm friendship, and after their time together on MKR, Matt, 27, and Luke, 29, tell New Idea during their exclusive and adorable puppy shoot that they’re closer than ever these days.
WATCH MKR’s Matt and Luke play with puppies and talk about love!
“We’ve got a very strong friendship,” Matt says.
As the close pals play around with two gorgeous Labrador puppies, it’s clear their bond is special. But there’s one point of contention between the duo, and that’s father-of-one Luke’s wingman abilities when it comes to finding single Matt a girlfriend.
What’s Luke like as a wingman?
Matt: God love him, he tries really hard, he does. I don’t think he’s giving himself enough credit. He’s probably better than he thinks he is.
I think it’s just the dorky dad vibe he gives off that doesn’t help. But he has a crack, God bless him.
I’ll introduce Luke to someone and they’ll just end up talking for hours and it’s like, “What about Matt?” He’s just a genuinely friendly person and Luke’s the kind of person that if someone he’s never met before tells him a story, he’s genuinely interested in it and wants to know about it.
Luke, would you agree with what Matt said?
Luke: Yeah, it’s true, I’m actually the worst possible wingman. When we were away filming the show, we were in Melbourne and we caught up with my mate who was my best man. That night I was trying to wingman my mate Tom and afterwards he said, “Mate, never try to wingman me again. You are the worst wingman.” I don’t just introduce and walk away, I end up getting in a real intellectual conversation with someone and then my mate’s standing there going, “This is meant to be about me, and not about something you’re talking about like politics.” I’ve been out of the game too long.
Matt, have you had much attention from the ladies since the show started?
Matt: Not heaps if I’m honest, but there’s a couple here and there.
Is that weird?
Matt: Yeah, just because I’ve never met these people before. It’s been a unique experience.
How do you deal with the attention?
Matt: I try and be really polite. It’s really important to me to be nice because I don’t want people to then get a bad impression of me. But a lot of the time, they’re not even close to where I live. I’m in Newcastle and I get people messaging me from Melbourne and Perth.
They’re pretty forward!
How did you two meet?
Matt: We met in the Hunter Academy of Sport. Luke’s a year older than me and so he was one of the older boys. I was one of the small boys at that age, I took a while to develop and Luke was like over-developed. He had back hair and chest hair by like 14. We were pretty close straight away because Luke’s such an approachable, likeable guy.
Has the show made you guys closer?
Matt: Yeah. Luke and I, we were really, really good mates. We’d hang out every week, especially in cricket season, two or three times a week. But actually living with Luke and sharing this once in a lifetime experience, it really has made us even closer.
What are your plans for when the show has finished? Would you do something together?
Luke: Matt and I, we’re currently trying to work together on a few ideas we’ve had. There are a few little things in the pipeline. We are keen to stick with our passions and see if we can integrate food into the things that we love to do already. Matt works in social work and I’m a teacher, so we’re hoping to integrate food and education in a way that can benefit young people.
Luke, you’re married with a 1-year-old daughter, Harriet. How did you go being away from them?
Luke: It was really hard. Luckily, when we finished the Instant Restaurants, because we were in Newcastle and my wife Alexandra was on maternity leave, they would come down and visit for a few days. That was really good.
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