More than a year after his marriage to Tammy Hembrow came to an end, Matt Zukowski has opened up about the part of their relationship that continues to weigh heavily on his heart.
While much has been said about the couple’s whirlwind romance and sudden split, the former Love Island Australia star says his deepest pain had little to do with the divorce itself—and everything to do with saying goodbye to the children who had become part of his life.
“That Was the Hardest Part”
Appearing on The Debrief with Savanna Young, Daily Mail Australia’s new podcast, Matt reflected on the emotional aftermath of the breakup, admitting that leaving Tammy’s three children behind was the most difficult challenge he faced.
Tammy shares son Wolf, 11, and daughter Saskia, 9, with former fiancé Reece Hawkins, while her youngest daughter, 3, is from her previous relationship with Matt Poole.
When asked whether he still misses the children, Matt didn’t hesitate.
“Of course I do,” he said.
According to Matt, the loss affected him far more deeply than many people realised.
He revealed that for several months after the separation, he found himself crying almost every day as he struggled to come to terms with no longer being part of their lives.
The Letters He Never Sent
In one of the interview’s most emotional moments, Matt shared that he wrote numerous letters to Tammy’s children after the breakup.
The letters, however, were never meant to be delivered.
Instead, they became a private part of his healing process during therapy.
Matt explained that he chose not to send them because he had no idea what the children had been told about the separation, and he didn’t want to create further confusion.
He added that if the children had been led to believe he was the “bad guy,” he was prepared to accept that if it helped them cope with the situation.
Despite everything, he admitted he would still love the opportunity to see them again one day.
A Personal Battle Beyond the Divorce
Matt’s emotional story is also shaped by another deeply personal challenge.
Several years before meeting Tammy, he publicly revealed that he is unable to have biological children.
Speaking previously on his podcast Where’s Your Head At?, Matt recalled learning about his infertility after undergoing medical testing.
Doctors eventually confirmed that he had no sperm, a diagnosis linked to a childhood condition involving undescended testicles that left permanent damage despite corrective surgery.
The news forced him to confront the possibility that he might never become a biological father.
Reflecting on the diagnosis, Matt admitted his greatest sadness wasn’t for the present—but for the future version of himself who might one day want to have children with the woman he loves.
Dreams They Once Discussed
Although their marriage was short-lived, Matt has revealed that he and Tammy did talk about building a family together.
During his appearance on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, he shared that they had discussed IVF as a possible path to parenthood.
Those conversations, however, never progressed beyond the planning stage before their relationship came to an end.
A Romance That Ended Almost as Quickly as It Began
Matt and Tammy began dating in late 2023 before becoming engaged just months later during a romantic holiday in the Maldives.
The couple married in an extravagant Byron Bay ceremony in November 2024, but their fairytale romance unraveled only three months later.
Their separation became public several months after the wedding, bringing a swift end to one of Australia’s most talked-about celebrity relationships.
Today, Tammy has moved on with 23-year-old model and actor Grayson Te Moana, making their relationship public earlier this year.
For Matt, however, some parts of the past remain impossible to forget—not because of the marriage that ended, but because of the children he quietly came to love, and the goodbye he never truly had the chance to say.
