NEED TO KNOW
- The Floor grand prize winner Alex Palmer took home $200,000 — but also found something far more valuable.
- Fellow contestant Antonia, a mother of five, offered to be the surrogate for Alex and his partner Brett’s future child.
- The pair have been navigating the lengthy surrogacy process for around eight months, with an embryo transfer scheduled imminently.
- Alex is now passionate about raising awareness around surrogacy, encouraging others to explore whether it could be right for them.
Going on The Floor changed the life of grand prize winner Alex Palmer.
Little did he know that he’d not only take home $200,000 but also meet the surrogate for his future child.
Since going on the show, the composer exclusively tells New Idea about the unlikely journey, revealing he is keen to educate others on surrogacy and how it can be considered for many different situations.
Alex revealed on the show that if he won, he’d put the cash prize towards trying for a baby with his partner Brett through IVF and surrogacy.
But little did he know that those words would lead to his co-star Antonia, 43, offering to be their surrogate after filming.
Accepting her offer, Alex reveals that they started getting the ball rolling “basically straight after we met, as soon as we came back from filming the show, which was in September”.
“We started this whole process and personal stuff as well, deciding whether this is right for us and how we can make it work,” he says.
“It’s been basically non-stop – we’re about eight months in now of just trying to make it happen.
“There’s so much medical staff, admin staff, legal staff, financial stuff that goes into this.”
Who is The Floor winner Alex’s partner?
Alex tells us he and his partner started the process of creating embryos long before he met Antonia.
“We started that almost a year before I met Antonia. So it’s a long road… definitely not for the faint of heart because you’ve got to keep dedicated, and going through all those hurdles tests your resolve to be a parent and we’re not even nearly there yet,” he confesses.
Both originally from NSW, Alex and Antonia live abroad in the UK, and Alex reveals he is so grateful for the mum-of-five.
“I figured like a thought for her that she’d be the right type of person to help us with this because she’s always had healthy, happy pregnancies,” he says.
“She loves being a mom and she’s just the most amazing type of person who wants that so much for other people as well. And she’s willing to do so much to help us have that same experience.”
Antonia and four of her children – who live just outside of London – are currently staying with Alex and Brett at their home in London.
“They’ve come in for the weekend to watch all the episodes and to celebrate, but also to go to the clinic,” he says.
And in a strange sense of good timing, the embryo transfer is scheduled for next Thursday, just two weeks after The Floor‘s finale aired.
“It’s all super new and it’s super crazy how it has ended up timing up,” he tells us with a smile.
The importance of education around surrogacy
Alex reveals to New Idea that he, his partner Brett, Antonia and her husband James, are hoping that their situation helps raise awareness about surrogacy.
They’ve been working together as a group to make decisions together “as much as possible”.
Alex tells us that he wants to encourage people to look into surrogacy as it “might be right for them”.
“We’re keen to be advocates for all surrogacy. It’s a process that a lot of people don’t know a lot about and don’t understand, so we’re trying our best to improve people’s understanding of the process,” he says.
“There’s also a lot of people out there who, might want to go through the process to help create, start or enlarge their own families.
“We just say to all those people that they should go for it if it’s right for them, and learn more about it to find out whether it is right for them because for us, it’s already been, really amazing, really powerful.
“We’re not even that close to the end yet, but we’re going to do our best to get there and we’ll hopefully have some exciting updates for you in the future.”
