By Laura Michell
Bundoora’s Mary Kalifatidis has two of her children to thank for her time in the Big Brother house.
The mum-of-three is one of the housemates in the Channel 7 reality show this year and self-proclaimed “mum of the house”.
It was Mary’s daughters, Sophie and Married At First Sight star Martha, who submitted her application for the show.
“The wanted me to do something for myself,” Mary said.
“They said, ‘everyone will love you mum, you are going to be the mum of the house’, and I was.
“[The other housemates] had all put on six or seven kilos when they left.”
Mary, who admits to not having watched an episode of Big Brother until she was selected for the show, said she was glad her daughters applied for the show, as her time in the house pushed her out of her comfort zone.
Having previously moved her family to Albury-Wodonga and Rhode Island in the US, Mary said she relished the opportunity to “take a risk” and put herself out there on reality TV.
“I describe being in the house as like being on Everest,” she said.
“Every day you are climbing to get to the top… you are always striving…you don’t know what to expect.
“Big Brother pushes you of your comfort zone.
“You might think you are going really well, then you get a curve ball…every day you are fight for your spot in the house.”
Mary said she didn’t have a game plan before heading into the house.
“I thought, I don’t know who these people are… how can I have any plan?
“[Martha] told me to be yourself because if you are not yourself, people will see right through you. I don’t see how you can be anything other than yourself.
“I think my age is a bonus because when you are 56, you can be get a good insight [into people]….your senses tell you. That was an advantage to me.”
Catch Big Brother on Channel 7 and 7Plus.
