Known for their hilarious antics on Travel Guides, there is a lot to love about the Fren family.
And with talks of a potential family spin-off in the works, there is much to know about the foursome.
Read all about them below.
How many children do the Frens have?
Mark and Cath have been married for 36 years and are the proud parents of Victoria and Jonathon .
For their 35th anniversary, Cath wrote a touching tribute on Instagram, which was accompanied by a photo from their wedding day.
“This photo never gets old and each year we look back and we think how fortunate we are,” she wrote.
“We share the best life together with our amazing kids and their partners. I’m looking forward to celebrating tomorrow,” she added.
While they mainly post about their travels, Mark also celebrates his wife online. In a touching tribute on Instagram in 2024, he shared his adoration for her.
“Feeling very thankful to my wife Cathy for being such a wonderful mother,” he wrote for Mother’s Day.
All four of the Frens live in Newcastle and are a tight-knit family.
When did the Fren family sit for the Archibald Prize?
While they have gone on many adventures over the years as a family, they were also subjects of an Archibald Prize painting in 2024.
Painted by Newcastle-based artist Belinda Street, it captures the essence of the family’s dynamic that we are used to seeing on our screens.
“We are just in awe of how fantastic this looks,” Mark told NBN News, which is a regional extension of Nine News.
The two-metre painting was not chosen as a finalist that year.
Is Jonathon Fren still married?
Jonathon married the love of his life, Dani, in 2021.
Their romance began two years prior when they matched on Tinder, and Jonathon then proposed seven months later.
They then tied the knot in the Hunter Valley.
Speaking exclusively told our sister publication Woman’s Day shortly after, Jonathon said the best moment on the day was seeing his wife for the first time.
“It’s the best feeling marrying my best friend and someone I want to spend forever with. I am extremely lucky to have made my first-ever girlfriend my wife,” he said.
Although she is away from the spotlight, Dani is very much part of the Fren family.
“They’re a great match,” Cath said to the publication when they got married.
“They really complement each other. They’re madly in love and they’re really caring towards each other.”
“She brings out really good qualities in him,” Jonathon’s father, Mark, added. “We’re so proud of him, we’re so proud of her.”
Is Victoria Fren from Travel Guides married?
Victoria has also found love with her long-time friend Nathan, with whom she has been since she was 18.
The couple tied the knot on April 6, 2023, at Kangaroo Valley’s Bush Retreat, and the Travel Guides star took his surname, Moran.
“Victoria, I’ll give you this ring as a symbol of my vow and love, remembering once it’s on, I’m off the Manshakes,” Nathan vowed and joked in a wedding special that was broadcast by A Current Affair.
Speaking to Woman’s Day about their special day, Victoria also spoke about the couple’s desire for a family.
“I think we’d like one or two kids,” she said. Victoria added that she would “love” if Jonathon and his wife Dani also started a family, so their children could grow up together.
Do the Fren family still have their restaurant?
Along with being recognised locally for their humour and attitude on Travel Guides, the Fren family also ran a successful restaurant called Oma.
In fact, it was the restaurant that caught Channel Nine’s eye, but at the time, they had them in mind for the show Hotplate.
“A producer rang me from Channel 9 and had read all our restaurant reviews on the internet and asked [if] we would audition for a restaurant competition,” Cathy told InTouch Magazine.
But instead, they were asked to audition for their newest show at the time, which was Travel Guides. Now, the rest is history.
Named after Cath’s late-grandmother and the affectionate nickname she was given by the family, Oma’s was a popular spot.
“We started our business selling German shortbreads, slices of Bavarian apple cake, and baked German cheesecake, and German sausages on a roll at the local farmer’s market,” Mark explained to Woman’s Day about their food evolution before the restaurant opened.
“When we had the restaurant, it was very humbling that we would get emails every day from people who watched the show,” he continued.
“We would have people coming from all around Australia to visit us. We’re still getting messages from people saying Travel Guides brings families together, because some families get so much enjoyment out of the show.”
However, balancing the business with the show became too much, and they closed it in 2020.
Away from the Channel Nine show, both Fren siblings also work in hospitality, and Mark and Cath are both primary school teachers.
