Courtney From ‘Love Island’ On The “Hard” Part Of Parenting With Jack From ‘MAFS’
Fan-fave reality TV couple Jack Millar and Courtney Stubbs are adjusting to being parents of a newborn. The MAFS and Love Island pair welcomed baby girl Penelope June Millar into the world on November 10, 2023.
Since then, their socials have been quieter than usual as they’ve been busy taking care of Penelope. Courtney recently popped on Instagram to share that they’re “surviving”, but admitted that the lack of sleep can be “pretty hard”.
“Some nights we have a really good routine and some nights she just doesn’t wanna be put down,” she told her followers. “The first four days after labour [were] so magical, and then my hormones dropped, and I was like, oh, this is actually really tricky.”
Courtney Stubbs, Jack Millar and their baby Penelope. Image credit: Instagram/@_courtneystubbs
Jack told Punkee that Courtney has been flourishing in her new role as a mum, and seeing her go through a tough labour has only increased his love for her. “I cannot believe the female body can do what it does, like, I’m in awe… you fall so much more in love with someone after seeing them go through that and becoming a mum. It’s really lovely,” he said. Awww.
He admitted that taking care of a newborn can be “tiring for sure”, but emphasised that it’s also “beautiful”. “We have these moments at night time where we’re just like, ‘Oh, go to sleep’. But then, two minutes later, we’re laughing because she’s feeding and making hilarious sounds,” he explained.
Jack Millar and Courtney Stubbs introduce their newborn to family.
Jack recently shared some snaps of Penelope meeting some of his family members – including his grandfather Biz Nonno – and described the experience as one of the most “special moments” of his life to date.
“When we told my grandparents that they were going to be great grandparents… Nonno was in tears saying things like, ‘I never thought I would live long enough to be a great grandfather’. That made me bawl my eyes out,” Jack recalled. “But when he came to meet her, he goes, ‘Oh I can’t believe it. I never thought I’d hold a baby at my age’, it was incredible.”
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Penelope also got to meet Jack’s ex Domenica Calarco, and he reckons she’s getting “clucky”. “Genuinely, she loves kids… I definitely think she can’t wait to be a mum as well,” Jack spilled.
Interesting. Could there be another MAFS baby on the cards?
MAFS’ Jack Millar shares his top parenting tip.
Jack is quick to say that he’s no parenting expert – he’s only been doing this for two and a half weeks after all – but the biggest tip he’d give is to “go with the flow” and “expect the unexpected”.
“You can plan as much as you want, but realistically, you should set your own expectation to have no expectations… it sounds really cliche, but you seriously don’t know what’s coming day by day,” he said. “[The baby is] learning everything for the first time, so you’re on their clock, not yours.”
Courtney Stubbs and Jack Millar’s baby Penelope. Image credit: Instagram/@_courtneystubbs
And of course, I had to ask how his pup Finn was coping with having another baby in the house. I thought perhaps he’d be a little jealous of the new baby stealing his spotlight, but that’s not the case at all. Apparently, Finn seems to think he’s Penelope’s second dad and is extremely protective. So. Damn. Adorable.
“I’m sitting on this nursing seat [with Penelope] and I kid you not, he has not broken eye contact with me and the bub for the last hour,” Jack revealed. “He’s taken this protective role on.”
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Image credits: Instagram/@jackomillar, @_courtneystubbs