Sam and Snezana Wood on life, love and business
The Bachelor’s Sam and Snezana Wood have built a strong marriage, happy family and flourishing online fitness community together. Here are their secrets.
Nine years after falling in love on The Bachelor Australia, the honeymoon isn’t over for Sam and Snezana Wood.
In fact, it hasn’t even started.
With their online fitness and nutrition empire 28 by Sam Wood to run and a chaotic family life parenting four daughters, the happy couple haven’t yet found time to have a honeymoon six years on from tying the knot.
“I keep saying to Sam that by the time we get our acts together, I will be on a Zimmer frame having to slowly make my way over the cobblestones on the Amalfi Coast,” Snezana says with a laugh.
A whirlwind romance
The couple’s love story began in 2015 when Sam was the third bachelor on the Channel 10 reality show and Snezana was one of the 21 women vying for his heart.
The first contestant to step out of the limo, Snezana (a molecular genetics student and single mother from Perth) instantly made an impression on the Melbourne fitness guru.
Over the course of the show — on hot air balloon rides over vineyards, black tie dates to the Sydney Opera House and romantic picnics — the pair fell head over heels and, when filming finished, Snezana and her daughter Eve, now 18, moved across the country to start a life with Sam.
It’s not all mansions and roses
Fast forward to now and, having welcomed daughters Willow, 6, Charlie, 4, and 23-month-old Harper, Sam says life in their Melbourne home looks pretty different from the candle-filled mansion where they first met.
And the days of giving Snezana a long-stemmed red rose as a token of his affection are well and truly behind them, with Sam laughing that his wife much prefers white lilies.
“Wednesday has been our regular date night where we try to have a bit of time, just the two of us,” Sam explains as the couple sit together in their daughters’ playroom where — to neat freak Snezana’s dismay — the floor is strewn with princess costumes and toys.
“It was something that we have tried to do when the kids were not super young, but we keep having babies, so it’s been on again, off again.”
Although time alone together is as scarce as it is precious, Snezana points out their relationship has always been built around their family commitments, with Sam throwing himself into being a stepfather from the get-go.
Snezana enthuses that one of the things she loves most about her husband is that he always puts their daughters first.
“Even when we have had a work party on the night before and we’re tired and groggy, he will still get up and take them to the park,” she says.
“He doesn’t let outside things stop him from being a great dad.”
A beautiful reality
Both aged 35 when they starred on The Bachelor, the pair were ready to settle down rather than capitalise on their 15 minutes of fame.
“I’m so grateful that I went on the show because the best thing I’ve ever done was meeting Snez,” Sam enthuses.
“But I also look at how reality TV has probably changed a lot in the last nine years, and I don’t necessarily know if it’s the same type of experience these days as it was back then.”
Snezana adds: “Once we were out of the house we just wanted to be together.”
After the show, the pair focused on growing their family and their business and have recently released their new 28GO protein range.
Balancing business and pleasure
Although health conscious and passionate about fitness, for Sam and Snezana that has never come at the expense of enjoying flavoursome foods, including the occasional ice cream or handful of gummy bears.
A chocoholic who believes every meal is better with a side serving of bread, Snezana says it was vital that 28GO was “clean and light and tasted great”.
One of the best things about 28GO for Sam is that it’s something they have created as a team.
“We don’t always see eye to eye, but we collaborate,” he says, adding the range, which is available in Chemist Warehouse, has been more than a year in the making.
Creating their own style
The couple also collaborate when it comes to their clobber.
The family have become masters of family dressing, regularly showcasing their colour co-ordinated ensembles on red carpets and social media.
“That’s all Snez,” Sam says with a laugh. “And the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree because Evie is quite the fashionista and little Charlie is following in those footsteps — she’s usually worn four outfits before she gets to school.”
All four girls love dipping into Snezana’s impressive wardrobe, although the proud mum smiles that designer handbags and sentimental pieces of jewellery are off-limits.
“Evie and I share each other’s clothes now so if we want something expensive we’ll say: ‘OK, what about we buy it and then share it?’
“The other little girls will come into the room and they’ll put something on. Harper has just started to put my shoes and heels on and try to walk around in them.”
Snezana has also shared lots of beauty and wellness tips with her tribe, encouraging them to be true to themselves, listen to their bodies and keep it simple when it comes to skincare.
That’s because, despite always looking immaculate, Snezana doesn’t spend a lot of time and money on her beauty routine. “I am really low maintenance,” she says.
Except when it comes to picking an outfit, according to Sam.
“She gets ready super fast, and you would think putting the outfit on was the finishing touch but that’s where the roadblock occurs,” he says as Snezana laughs.
“I learned long ago not to get in the car when there’s just the outfit to put on because we could still be a long way from leaving home.”
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Written by Siobhan Duck.
