The Bachelor’s Matty ‘J’ Johnson reveals the one thing that keeps him from feeling like a ‘total failure’ as a parent to his young daughters
Matty ‘J’ Johnson has revealed that sharing his failed parenting on social media actually makes him feel better.
The Bachelor stars tell it Nine treasure that raising his two daughters, Marlie-Mae, five, and Lola, three, is an “endless list of failures.”
“There’s nothing that makes me feel more normal and not like a total failure than telling a story about a parenting struggle,” he said.
Maty gave examples such as: ‘trying to wean off the pacifier, failed sleep routines or my child hating me’.
“Other parents contact me, on social media or in person, and say, ‘I have the same problem!’” he says, and that reassures him.
Matty and his wife Laura Byrne married on the south coast in 2022 after meeting on The Bachelor.
Laura and Matty are one of the most successful couples the series has produced, but the beautiful brunette told the I’ve Got News For You podcast that it almost didn’t happen because she got ‘cold feet’ the day before filming in 2017 .
“I had a complete change of heart and didn’t feel like filming anymore,” she admitted.
Matty ‘J’ Johnson has revealed that sharing his parenting failures on social media actually makes him feel better. The Bachelor stars tell Nine Honey that raising his two daughters, Marlie-Mae, five, and Lola, three, is an “endless list of failures.” Pictured with wife Laura and children
“If you get selected, you’re given a time and location, and it’s a secret time and secret location, to try to throw off paparazzi,” she explained.
‘Mine was a pick up location in Alexandria at a random park at 3pm, and you’re supposed to show up with all your bags and a bus will come pick you up.
“And I remember it got to 3 p.m. and I was sitting at home and I didn’t have a bag packed. I just had a complete change of heart. I really didn’t want to do it; I was worried about what it would be like competing for a man’s attention on a reality TV show.”
Then she got a call from the producers who gave her until 10am the next morning to decide. That night she had a dream that changed her mind again.
“There’s nothing that makes me feel more normal and less of a total failure than telling a story about a struggle with parenthood,” he said.
Since they met, Matty and Laura have become parents to two beautiful daughters.
They welcomed Marlie-Mae in 2019, followed by Lola in February 2021. The couple got engaged while on holiday in Fiji in April 2018.
In March, the couple welcomed a new member to the family.
The famous couple announced on Instagram that they have adopted a kitten named Raspberry.
Laura shared the exciting news alongside a video of the couple’s daughters, Marlie-Mae and Lola Ellis, meeting their new pet.
“They say sometimes you don’t choose the pet, the pet chooses you. And that’s exactly how it felt when we found our little Raspberry among all the kittens at @sydneydogsandcatshome,” she wrote.
‘At first Lola was so shy. She had never seen a kitten before and was too scared to hold one. But then she saw a little fluffy tomcat.’