The Bachelor Australia has had some great love stories over the years, but Sam Wood and Snezana Markoski’s is one of our favourites.
Since starring on the hit dating show in 2015, the pair along with their girls Eve, 14, Willow Wendy, 22 months and one month old Charlie Lane have been the definition of family goals and we can’t get enough!
We caught up the former Bachelor himself to find out how he’s going as a dad-of-three, what he thinks of Dr Matt Agnew and his new, interesting sounding Burnt Sausage Sauce.
Now To Love: So you’ve teamed up with Deliveroo to make a burnt sausage sauce. We take it you’re not exactly Jamie Oliver when it comes to barbecues then?
Sam Wood: Well it was an interesting conversation with the Deliveroo guys because first they asked ‘Do you use Deliveroo?’ and we said ‘With a new baby we use it more than you can imagine at the moment as much as we love cooking,’ and they said ‘We’re doing this great burger thing and would love for you to create a new sauce,’ and so we put our combined thinking hats on and have come up with this really good sauce.
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I’ve given it to the girls for a taste test and it got the thumbs up so I’m going to send some for my dad for Father’s Day and I’ll definitely be getting on the barbie at the next available opportunity, it’s a bit wet down in Melbourne at the moment but as soon as the sun comes out, we’ll be giving it a try.
Aside from your sauce, do you have a signature dish at home?
I’m probably famous for my healthy butter chicken actually which is probably the most highly requested. Both Snez and I love cooking, it’s literally at the moment with little Charlie only being a month old, how many hands free can you have so we’re juggling a bit at the moment!
With a new baby at home, Sam and Snez are struggling to find time to cook.
(Image: Supplied)We can only imagine! Congratulations on the birth of little Charlie.
Thank you, she’s absolutely beautiful. She’s starting to wake up a little bit, bit more awareness and facial expressions. She’s starting to copy you, if you stick your tongue out she sticks her tongue out at you, stuff like that she’s adorable.
Too cute! How much sleep are you and Snez getting these days?
I think the best way to describe it is divide and conquer. If we’re conquering- divide and survive is probably a better way of putting it. Little Willow, she wakes up at about 6am and sort of calls out ‘Mummy, Daddy, cuddles,’ from her room. Snez has been up a fair bit during the night feeding and I can’t do that obviously so I take the early shift and try and give her a bit of a sleep in from 6-8 and then our day begins.
But we’re going ok, Charlie hasn’t been too bad and Willow’s absolutely loving being a big sister, she thinks the whole thing is so cute.
Willow is loving being a big sister to little Charlie.
(Image: Instagram @samjameswood)So Willow isn’t jealous of Charlie at all?
No she’s really not. Of course she still likes the attention herself but she’s really quite doting on her little sister. She goes ‘Aww baby Charlie, so cute!’ She then tries to cuddle her and she’s got to be a bit careful because she squashes her but her intentions are great and you can tell she really understands it’s her little sister and she loves her. Their relationship’s evolving and it’s really quite sweet.
And of course Eve is the ultimate big sister. How’s she going with the new arrival?
She’s been a really big help, I think we need her even more this time because we kind of had two-on-two when it was just Willow and Evie and now that it’s Charlie as well you do find yourself a bit stuck where you’ve got to help with Charlie and Willow walks off, she’s far more mobile now. She’s a beautiful big sister and she’s been a big help.
Big sister Eve has been a real help since her little sister’s birth.
(Image: Instagram @samjameswood)So who picked the name Charlie Lane?
Snez loved Charlie and we knew we wanted something kind of short. I don’t know where Lane came from, we were spitballing ideas and that was in the mix. I think I said it and as soon as I did, Snez was like ‘I think that’s it.’ Then you talk about it for a few weeks and we always knew we wanted Charlie but we only really decided on Lane probably a couple of weeks before the birth but it just felt right and Charlie was born on my mum’s birthday which was just beautiful.
After Willow was born, you talked about how there was no rush for Snez to get back into working out and she can do so when she’s ready but is she keen to get back into the swing of things?
I think that philosophy is definitely the best philosophy for everyone. I don’t think you should rush things or put any extra pressure on yourself and Snez definitely feels the same way. Charlie’s not even six weeks old yet but we’ve got a doctor’s appointment in a few days with the obstetrician to just see how she’s travelling and if she gets the green light she’ll be able to gently start working back into it but at the moment we’re really just walking with the girls. We’ve got the big double pram but we’re just navigating our way around and I think it’ll be a combination of that and some really really gentle postnatal home stuff.
I think she’s keen to get moving a little bit just from an energy perspective but she’s definitely not in any hurry to get back into shape that’s for sure. She’ll work her way back slowly but surely and I think that’s definitely the best way to do it.
WATCH: Sam and Snez workout with daughter Willow. Post continues after video…
What are the Father’s Day plans for this year? Or are you going to be surprised?
Apparently I’m going to be surprised. I’ve been told to keep Sunday free and I also had to give Snez a date in the upcoming weeks where I could take half a day off work when the school holidays hit to do something with her and the girls so she’s locked that in as well.
I have no idea what they’ve got in store for me but it’s nice to have a little surprise even though we’re quite limited to what we can do. I have no idea what it’s going to be but I’m intrigued. And it’s the first one with all the girls.
Hasn’t Willow grown since last Father’s Day?
(Image: Instagram @snezanawood)Of course we’re back in Bachelor season. What are your thoughts on Matt Agnew?
He’s great actually. I had the pleasure of meeting him and he’s exactly like he is on TV in real life. I think he’s doing a brilliant job and he seems like a great guy. I think he’s being himself and being completely authentic and I think the girls can tell that. I think they like that he’s like that so I have no idea who he’s going to end up with because he has serious chemistry with a few of them.
But do you have a favourite you’d like to see win?
Elly would be my favourite I think. She just seems so lovely and genuine. I think she’s there for the right reasons and they have something pretty special.
“I think she’s there for the right reasons and they have something pretty special.”
(Image: Network Ten)The last Bachelor who wasn’t a celebrity or former Bachelorette contestant was yourself. How much has the show changed since you and Snez were on?
It’s kind of gone full circle a bit, hasn’t it? It definitely went down that path of celebrities or ex Bachelors and Bachelorettes and I think it’s quite nice that it’s gone back there. I’ve got such fond memories of how I felt getting thrown in the deep end of literally knowing nothing about the show and not having any agenda or anything like that so I definitely think that’s one of the reasons why Snez and I worked out so well. I just hope that he has the same fortune as us.
The Australian Bachelor franchise success rate is pretty decent compared to other countries, right?
It’s quite amazing really, isn’t it? I definitely think the Australian version of the show is a lot more romance-based rather than drama-based, even though there’s always a bit of drama going on. But you know, it seems to be a lot more genuine than the American or other versions which tend to be a bit out there.
Sam’s burnt sausage sauce in collaboration with BL Burgers is available on the BL Dad Bod Burger and will be exclusively via the Deliveroo app for $18.00 from Saturday 31st August to Sunday 1st August.
