If your Instagram feed looks anything like ours have this week, you would have seen photo after photo of celebrities, influencers and wannabes dressed up in their finest garb for Melbourne’s spring racing carnival.
But on Tuesday, a very different image popped into our feeds – a raw, natural shot of Married At First Sight stars Martha Kalifatidis and her boyfriend Michael Brunelli enjoying a relaxing and quiet public holiday at home on the couch.
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“No makeup, no suit, no bets, no tickets to the birdcage… no worries,” Martha posted on Instagram, alongside a raw makeup-free photo of herself and Michael at home.
Martha and Michael enjoying a low-key day at home on Melbourne Cup day.
(Instagram)
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Michael too made it clear that the couple were miles away from the action at Flemington, choosing to caption a photo of himself at home, “Anti Racing Racing Club #melbcup.”
READ NEXT: Martha says ”I didn’t think it was possible for somebody to accept me for who I am”
Michael chose to say at home on Melbourne Cup day.
(Instagram)Martha says reports that the couple were “snubbed” from the glamorous Birdcage marquees are false.
“No, we weren’t snubbed. I was invited to the Cup, the Melbourne Cup day on the Tuesday,” Martha told Now To Love at an event promoting affordable beauty brand Nip and Fab in Sydney on Wednesday morning.
“We were invited to go with some friends but I just wasn’t feeling the Cup this year and it was just nice just to chill out. We’ve both been so busy, I just didn’t think we wanted to go.”
Michael and Martha recently celebrated their one-year anniversary.
(Instagram)Martha said the recent reports about the poor treatment of horses involved in Australia’s racing industry made the couple think twice about accepting the invitation.
“There’s so much that you hear about the treatment of the animals as well. It’s just not something I wanted to do really,” she said.
“Mum was asking for ages ‘Are you going to go?’ And I said, ‘I just don’t know if I want to support it, to be honest’. She’s like ‘Why? Go, wear a nice outfit,’ and I’m like ‘See, that is exactly the reason why I don’t want to go’. Like why? Just so I can wear a nice dress and be photographed? There’s so much more to it.
“I don’t feel like I missed out on anything to be honest.”
WATH BELOW: Martha gets her lip and cheek filler removed. Story continues after video.
Martha recently opened up about her relationship with Michael and revealed that despite not being the easiest person to be with – “I’m a lot,” she says – she is head over heels in love with her primary school teacher boyfriend.
“I didn’t think it was possible for somebody to accept me for who I am. But he does,” Martha told Now To Love last month.
The 31-year-old is now using publicity from her three-month stint on MAFS to fuel her fast rise as a beauty and lifestyle influencer.
Martha says Michael “accepts my crazy”.
(Instagram)Interestingly, since MAFS wrapped and her Instagram took off – she now has almost 300,000 followers – Martha says she has noticed a change in the type of comments she receives online.
Gone are the nasty remarks and in their place are messages from women who say they appreciate her candour
“So many people send me messages saying ‘I hated you on the show, in real life you’re so different’. I’m like yep, that’s usually how TV works,” she said.
“I hate constantly saying ‘It’s just a show, it’s not real’. I hate constantly saying that, because I just feel like it’s a cop out. But reality TV doesn’t really show who you are, even though it’s supposedly reality TV. This has just organically happened and I like that I can just share who I really am, instead of what people think of me.”
