Married At First Sight's Martha Kalifatidis and Michael Brunelli have never been a couple who conform to convention.
Since getting engaged in 2021 and welcoming their son Lucius in 2023, the couple have been shacked up with Martha's parents in Melbourne.
But it hasn't all been roses. On their first episode of The Morning Roast — a vodcast that features Martha, Michael, and matriarch Mary Kalifatidis — the threesome got into a heated discussion about something Martha did.
While Martha's dad and mum Mary were away on a six-week holiday in Greece, Martha decided to start renovating their home, without speaking to her parents about it.
"That's not a normal thing to do," Michael raged at Martha during the episode.
Martha even hired a builder, started to knock down walls and began demolition.
It all began when Michael was entrusted by Mary to add an "extra shelf" to one of the kitchen cupboards in their absence.
Watch part of the argument go down below. Post continues after video.
Then there was an idea to make a 'butler's pantry' by knocking down a wall and suddenly, Martha was calling a builder and "a wall was gone," she said.
"You're skipping over, like… it's not your house!" Michael moaned.
"Everything is hers," Mary added. "We just live in her world."
"I need to get to the psychology of how you thought that would be okay," Michael added.
"Michael, we need a new kitchen, look how we live!" Martha replied. But a small change to the kitchen turned into multiple rooms being turned into a construction site.
"You would think we pay the mortgage repayments," Michael butted in. "It's not normal to make this decision."
"What's not normal? To renovate?" Martha comically replied. "The difference between me and you two is I make things happen." She's not wrong!
When Martha's parents were set to come home, she said that she feared her dad's response. "I thought my dad was going to lose his s**t. I thought, 'Mum, I can get her round and talk her into it,'" she admitted.
"But my dad, he's going to hang me to dry."
Mary shared how she felt when she came home to a construction site. "I walk through the door and I see that my lounge is gone, coffee table gone… I don't have a lounge anymore," Mary said.
"As I walk around the corner I see the builder sitting on the ladder knocking the wall down and that's when I went 'oh my f**king God, what is going on?' It took a while for everything to sink in because it was like it was surreal."
But thankfully, the family has gotten on board… sort of. Michael says that overall, it was a "positive" decision.
"I am [happy]. I've been indecisive for five years," Mary said.
"I didn't know whether to move or stay and renovate and now Martha's made that decision."
Martha shared that the couple plans to stay in her family home for another two years. "I kind of had to do it because if I'm going to be here, I can't live in this type of environment," she said.
And that's on innovation!
Feature image: Instagram/@martha__k.
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