They’ve been together for 10 years, but My Kitchen Rules’ Luke Stewart and wife Alexandra still struggle to be away from each other for more than a few days.
They’d just had their daughter Harriet, when school teacher Luke, 29, was cast alongside his cricket mate Matt for the reality show.
WHO catches up with the couple in the lead up to the grand final to talk all things love, family and the show’s infamous drama.
How hard was it without Luke, with a baby?
ALEX: Harriet was 7 months old when he left, we’d just moved house (literally the weekend before) and then our house got broken into while we were home the week after he left. It was particularly hard having to step up as a single parent at that time. We have a completely equal partnership and it really shone a light on how much I rely on Luke.
LUKE: It was really hard being away from them. Luckily, when we finished the Instant Restaurants Alex was on maternity leave so she and Harriet would come down and visit for a few days. That was really good.
Luke, how did you cope with the drama on the show?
LUKE: Josh and Austin would just throw a bit of bait out there to see who would bite. But if Matt and I wanted to comment on something, we were quite diplomatic about it. People would become really emotional and start raising their voices, which just isn’t necessary. I told Josh during eliminations that what he was saying was rude, regardless of who he was saying it to – and I didn’t need to swear or raise my voice to get my point across.
How is life post-filming?
LUKE: Spending time with bub has been really, really good. I feel like I’m playing catch-up from all my time away, like getting the house back in order and doing nice little things as a family. Alex has been an absolute trooper, so I definitely owe her a few!
ALEX: Luke and I have been together for 10 years and the longest time we had been apart before MKR was less than a week, so now we both have a renewed appreciation for each other and our time as a family.
How did your love story begin?
LUKE: We met at uni. I was in one of my first tutorials and Alex came in late and sat in the only seat available which was next to me. We started talking, but one of my friends who was sitting next to me, got her number first (because he was a little bit interested too), but I obviously won that battle. [Laughs]
ALEX: I came late to my first class and ended up in a seat next to Luke and his mate. His friend ended up asking for my number and Luke got his hands on it first. I knew when I met him that he was special. He’s exactly the person I always hoped I would end up with.
What are you like as parents?
LUKE: Being young parents means we can get involved in our kids’ lives and be more able to do things with them. Being a dad has made me a lot more empathetic with my students and I make sure to prioritise my kids and spend time with them.
ALEX: Luke is the dad every kid wants and every woman wants her kids to have. He’s overtly loving, has fun and puts our daughter’s needs first. Our children are going to grow up with an amazing role model.
Would you guys like to have more children?
LUKE: Oh yeah there’ll definitely be more kids, but when, we’re just not sure but we definitely want our children to be pretty close in age.
ALEX: We definitely want more kids – we have always planned for three but, as all new parents do, we’ve questioned whether we can handle it. We’ll start with two then, we’ll see.
If you win MKR, what would you spend the prize money on?
LUKE: If we win, we would definitely renovate our kitchen because we moved into a new house just before the show, and the current kitchen just sucks! Apart from that we might be smart with the money and maybe put it in a bank account for our future family.
Any exciting plans ahead?
LUKE: Matt and I, we’re currently trying to work together on a few ideas we’ve had. With Matt working in social work and me being a teacher, we’re hoping to integrate food and education in a way that can benefit young people.
My Kitchen Rules airs Sun. 7pm, Mon. and Tues. 7.30pm, on Channel Seven.
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