Babiche Martens, Matt Klitscher.
When Woman’s Day chatted to a brunette Matilda Green in Wānaka back in February, ahead of filming the new series of Celebrity Treasure Island, the reality star had just finished breastfeeding her daughter Autumn and was understandably apprehensive about leaving her little girl at home with big brother Milo.
However, she had complete confidence in her husband of eight years, Art, who she met on the very first season of The Bachelor NZ in 2015, and is a “very capable, hands-on dad”.
Matilda’s only complaint was that he was still undecided about having a third child.
“We’ll sway him – he’ll get there,” chuckled the 32-year-old. “I thought I wanted four kids, but having two, I don’t know if I could do that… But I’d love three. I definitely want three!”
A sibling’s on the way for Milo and Autumn (left).
Fast-forward to the present day and it’s clear Art, 35, must have come around because when we catch up with Matilda now, she’s six months pregnant!
“I feel amazing,” tells the star, who’s back to her usual blonde locks. “It was a rough ride for the first 18 to 20 weeks, with quite a lot of nausea and sickness, but I’m about to enter my third trimester and I feel great.
“I’m trying to make the most of it by exercising and looking after myself before it all gets a bit uncomfortable towards the end.”
Asked whether it was easier being on Treasure Island than looking after a two- and a four-year-old while pregnant with a third, Matilda replies, “Yes and no. It was easier in the sense that I only had to look after myself, which was a nice break from managing little people, but it was much harder physically.
“The challenges were tough, and the nights were uncomfortable and quite cold. I’d take being pregnant with two kids over an extended period doing CTI any day!”
With daughter Autumn and son Milo.
However, it’s no surprise Matilda had no hesitation in signing up for Treasure Island. After all, her stints on reality TV have been overwhelmingly positive – she won Art’s heart on The Bachelor and wowed the judges with her singing prowess on The Masked Singer in 2021.
Reflecting on that first time on TV, Matilda grins, “We’re very lucky. I hoped I would meet someone I connected with, but I didn’t expect it!
I thought the chances were pretty low that the one person they would choose as the Bachelor would be the person I would spend the rest of my life with, so I was pleasantly surprised that, actually, it was the person I was going to spend the rest of my life with!”
The secret to their success is a shared sense of humour, she confides. “We laugh every day. Even when we’ve been married for 60 years, that will always be there. We love spending time together because we have fun and we laugh. We just really like each other – that’s the secret for us.”
Sadly, Art’s experience on two seasons of Treasure Island weren’t as helpful to her as her competitors predicted. Matilda explains, “People thought it would give me a big advantage, but it really didn’t! My season is so different from his and Art is much more physically capable than me. But he did give me a couple of great nuggets of advice. He told me to sneak in some stuff that I would need. He also said not to get too caught up in the elimination challenges as they can change in an instant.”
Matilda has been open about struggling with anxiety in the past, but insists she wasn’t fazed about the high- pressure TV competition.
“I’ve done a lot of work on that over the past few years and I really don’t need other people’s validation to feel good in myself any more. Worst-case scenario on a game like this, people don’t like me and I get kicked off. Who cares?! It’s not a big deal. Gaining a bit of perspective on that has been helpful. I just think about the things that really matter, which are my family and the people I love.”
Another thing she loves has been reconnecting with music and singing after her appearance on The Masked Singer, where judge Ladi6 thought her voice was so good, she guessed she was a professional singer. Inspired by the experience, Matilda joined her local Matakantata Choir last year.
“It’s so much fun,” she enthuses. “I love the community choir because you’re connecting with people from all walks of life and you’re purely sharing the love of singing. It wasn’t until I had my babies that I realised how important it is to do things that bring you joy and how to make those things accessible.”
So can we expect an album in the future?
“Honestly, that would be my dream. A Christmas album? How good! Hopefully, one day.”
Celebrity Treasure Island premieres Monday 18 September on TVNZ 2. Matilda’s parenting podcast Untidy is out now on Rova or wherever you get your podcasts.
