MUST WATCH
CHANGING
LIVES
Anastasia and Faye on their Gogglebox Australia journey
T
hese Greek-Australian Melbourne
mums met more than 10 years ago,
when, as they famously claim,
Anastasia thought Faye was trying to
pick her up in a nightclub.
Fast-forward to 2015 and Anastasia is
approached by a Googlebox Australia
casting agent on the hunt for talent for the
first season. She enlists Faye to join her.
“I had no idea what I was getting into,”
Faye tells us. “I told her, ‘I don’t watch
much TV,’ and she said, ‘Just go with it!’”
Fans of the show will know Anastasia
as arguably the most irrepressible,
unfiltered cast member.
“What I bring to the show is just
honesty,” she reasons. “There’s no bulls***
with me. I say it how I see it, I don’t care.
“But even though in the public eye
they look at us as celebrities now,
I haven’t changed my personality. I’m
still the same stupid idiot.”
That said, the series has made one
major difference in her life.
In February, Anastasia received
a Facebook message from a Sydney man
named Gabriel, who had been watching
the show for years. She says he told her:
“There was always something about you,
I just knew you were meant for me,” and
asked her out on a date. The pair met, hit
it off and now live together in Melbourne.
“It’s the best relationship I have ever
had,” she admits.
For Faye, one thing that’s changed
since being on Gogglebox Australia is
that she can no longer catch the train to
work, as people always try to talk to her.
But on a serious note, there have been
other more dramatic changes in her life.
Last December, her long-term partner
Tony died of pancreatic cancer. After
watching the Ricky Gervais dramedy
After Life, an emotional Faye spoke on
the show in April about her struggle with
grief. As a result, she was inundated
with messages of support from people,
some of whom had lost a loved one, too.
“I’m glad I said what I did at the time,
because it does open the door for
people, and people can see that we’re
all normal people and we all go through
the same stuff,” she acknowledges.
“Sometimes you think you’re the only
one that’s going through that.”
While she’s lost the love of her life,
Faye is truly happy that Anastasia
has found hers.
“I love Ana and I wish her the best,”
she adds. “She deserves every
happiness – everyone does.”
GOGGLEBOX AUSTRALIA (s10)
Stream* or watch from August 14, Wednesdays
at 7.30pm on Lifestyle [106] part of
the ENTERTAINMENT pack
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9
There’s no shortage
of laughter when
Anastasia (left) and
Faye are involved
Foxtel AUGUST 17