She first found fame on Married At First Sight and is now one of Australia’s most influential social media stars – but, now, thanks to her appearance on Celebrity Apprentice, Martha Kalifatidis is determined to prove she’s business savvy – and a star in her own right – too.
WATCH BELOW: Martha Kalifatidis on the set of Celebrity Apprentice
How are you feeling about watching Celebrity Apprentice when it airs?
It’s exciting, I can’t wait to see it because we filmed it ages ago, last September. I was blonde then. In fact I’ve been through three different hair colours – and three different dress sizes – since then!
Did you know much about the show or the new boss Lord Sugar who has hosted the UK version of the show for 15 years?
I didn’t know anything about the show or him. I did a little bit of research on him before I started on the show but I went into it with no expectations. I don’t really get scared of anyone at all but he is, he just has this thing and a way about him that is really intimidating! I don’t know if he tries to do it or it just comes naturally to him. He’s very intimidating and scary. He has a look and you don’t know if you your hired or fired. You don’t know anything.
This is not an easy show to do, what made you want to take part?
I was offered the opportunity and the timing was right. We were coming out of the initial bit of COVID and I felt like my mind had turned to mush. I thought this is the perfect opportunity to come back to life and challenge myself, and it was. I really want every one to know this, but there is nothing fake about this show. We all give ever single bit of ourselves to this show. There are no people in black behind the scenes helping us, we do everything ourselves. I promise you. We eat, sleep, breath and cry Celeb Apprentice for the entire duration of filming. And filming was gruelling at times too, six days a week, some days for 16 hours a day.
That’s so full on. Did you have any second thoughts or meltdowns?
No, I didn’t have those thoughts. I was actually super confident going in to this, I went in with the attitude that I was going to win. I went in with a winner’s mentality and I think people were surprised by me. This is a show where you have to be really resilient and you have to spread yourself super thinly all the time.
Is there a lot of confrontation?
No, you can’t spare anyone’s feelings here. I went in with the attitude that I’ve been given an incredible opportunity to raise a tonne of money for an incredible charity. I’m not in a position in my life right now to be able to dump all this money into charity so I went into this determined to fight tooth and nail to win this, to be able to help so many people. I took this super seriously and I didn’t go into it to make friends. I had to do what I had to do.
What charity are you competing for?
My charity is called Bully Zero. It was started by a woman who lost her son to online trolls. This is something very close to my heart. During COVID, online trolling seems to be really highlighted, I don’t know why especially but for me, it was a no brainer that I would chose this charity because it’s an issue I feel passionately about. Everyone on Celeb Apprentice’s charity is worthwhile but you can tell that for some people on the show, their charity is especially close to their heart and they’ll fight so hard for. That’s how I felt.
Did you know any of the other apprentices?
I did not know any of them. I hadn’t met any of them. I walked in on the first day and I was like ‘please don’t be offended but I don’t know who any of you are’ apart from The Veronicas and Anthony Callea. Poor Lorna Jane was like ‘I love you! I follow you! and I was like ‘I’m so sorry I don’t know who you are.’ I was so mortified. Then when I found out she was Lorna Jane my foot was in my mouth so bad!
Who did you bond with?
I instantly clicked with The Veronicas. I cannot say enough good things about Jess and Lisa. The are the sweetest girls. They have their Italian background. I’m Greek but we have this cultural connection, we just had this instant understanding of each other. I love Shaynna Blaze, it’s a little bit of a love story between Shaynna and I.
Did Michael help you?
He was so supportive. I wouldn’t have been able to have done this without him. He said that while I was filming, it was like he was a single lonely guy again. He was on his own all day. He helped me as a silent ally though. Our relationship was on pause. On a show like this, you don’t have time to go out to restaurants. I’d literally be at home long enough to sleep and that was it. I’d even dream about the show. He was so helpful and understanding through. I’d come home and he let me vent. He got really into it.
He should do it next year.
Yes, I’d love him to. He would be an amazing celebrity apprentice!
You guys are still going strong. Does your time on MAFS feel like another time?
Yeah, we’ve kind of forgotten that whole time of our lives. So much has happened since then. It’s not that we look back and want to forget it. It was an amazing time in our lives but it doesn’t feel like that’s how we met. I sort of forget we met on a reality TV show.
You two are in a good place?
Yeah we’re so good. We’re very happy just doing our thing.
What plans have you got coming up?
I’m working on a brand of my own. I can’t say too much about it, it’s in the very early stages. All I can hope is it is really well received by everyone. I’m really excited about it.
Did Janine Allis or Lorna Jane who are on CA wit you give you any tips?
I will call on them both. Janine is incredible, she’s such a remarkable businesswoman. She really taught me how to take the emotion out of things when it comes to business.
Do you think the other apprentices underestimated you because of your reality TV background and that you’re now an influencer?
Absolutely. When I walked in a lot of people rolled their eyes. They said to me after filming, ‘I literally said to production if there are any MAFS or reality TV people on this show I don’t want to be involved.’ Lo and behold, I walk in and I had to work really hard to break that perception down. People see me on Instagram and they think they know what I do and they have these opinions about me and it’s really hard to get someone to change their mind once they’ve formed an opinion of you. I had to work really hard to change that – I’m not complaining about it, it’s always like that for me and I’m happy to do that.
You can use it to your advantage though can’t you?
Yes for sure. I could be under the radar and then slam them.
Did you end up crying on the show?
There are a lot of tears – not necessarily my tears, but there are a lot of tears. It’s an emotional rollercoaster for sure.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
