Who would've thought the guy rocking fishnets, high-knee boots, a miniskirt, and a fur coat who slid into my DMS 12 years ago would become my husband?! In this episode, we're poppin' open a bottle of vino and dishing the deets on our relationship.
During this Q&A sesh, you'll get to hear all about our love story (including the time I crashed Roger's car!), and we'll answer questions like how our cultures affect our parenting styles, how we balance our schedules, and how we manage to keep that spark alive - even with two children in the mix!
Topics Covered:
- How we met and the early days of our relationship
- How Roger supports me in fitness
- Our cultural differences in parenting and marriage
- Training together and giving Roger fitness advice
- Roger's thoughts on living in the US
- How we balance our schedules
- Keeping the romance alive with kids
- Our favorite attributes of one another
- What kind of couple we are
Wasn't that fun having Roger on the podcast? What was your biggest takeaway from this episode? Did you learn something that you didn't know before? Come share with me on Instagram!
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Thanks for joining us on the Unfiltered Fit Life podcast! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review on Apple and Spotify to help us reach even more women ready to simplify their fitness journey so they can lose weight, regain their confidence, and feel sexy AF!
More about the Unfiltered Fit Life podcast
Ever wish you had a fit and straightforward BFF with over 15 years of experience to help you filter through all the information regarding fitness, nutrition, and life?
That’s exactly what you’ll get when you listen to the Unfiltered Fit Life Podcast.
Join Former Bikini Olympia Champion, mom of 2, and fitness coach Nathalia Melo each week as she shares fitness, nutrition, and life tips to help busy working moms simplify their fitness journey so they can learn easy and simple strategies on how to lose weight and feel sexy AF.
After helping over 5000 busy working moms, Nathalia has found the blueprint to fitness, nutrition, and life success, which she will be sharing in this podcast: actionable tips that will help busy working moms be more present at work and at home.
This show is for you if you realize that nothing good comes from your comfort zone and are ready to challenge yourself to achieve great things. Follow Unfiltered Fit Life wherever you are listening to join us each week for a splash of sass, humor, and a whole lotta truth.
The podcast transcript for this episode of the Unfiltered Fit Life podcast follows
Hello, hello there! Welcome to another episode of The Unfiltered Fit Life Podcast. I’m your host, Nathalia Melo, and today’s episode is extra special because we have an even more special guest.
I can already see him rolling his eyes…
Before I introduce him, let me set the scene for you. This is the third episode of the podcast, and I’ve been creating a bit of a life sequence for you. In Episode 1, I talked about my beginnings in Brazil, my journey to the U.S., and how fitness became such a huge part of my life. Episode 2 covered my competition days—how I got into competing, the highs, the lows, and everything in between.
And now, Episode 3, I thought it was time to bring on my husband!
[Roger]
Hello.
[Nathalia]
Say hello to the people.
[Roger]
How’s it going?
[Nathalia]
Okay, full disclosure—this is take two because the first attempt was vetoed by my lovely guest. He wasn’t happy with it, so here we are again. And just to loosen him up, we’ve got some wine. Let me make the sound for you…
[Roger]
To be fair, the first time, you didn’t explain what was going on. I just thought it was a quick chat.
[Nathalia]
Where’s your sense of adventure? Anyway, in today’s episode, we’re answering some of the questions you guys sent me on Instagram. We’re going to talk about how we met, a few funny stories from our early days, and your burning questions about how we balance work, kids, and our relationship.
How We Met: The Goat Mask Incident
[Nathalia]
Let’s start with the big one: “How did you two meet?”
I used to live in Fort Lauderdale, and Roger was playing professional rugby in England at the time. One night, he walked into the bar where I was bartending. I saw him and thought, “Ooh, what’s up?” But he didn’t talk to me. Not once. I was devastated.
[Roger]
I stayed around to say hello, but you were yelling at some guy. I thought, “Nope, I’m out of here.”
[Nathalia]
Fair point. A week later, I get a Facebook message from him that says, “Can I ask you a weird question?” Naturally, I’m intrigued, so I look at his profile. And what do I see? A man in fishnet stockings, knee-high white boots, a fur coat, and a goat mask. Something possessed me to answer him anyway.
[Roger]
It was from a Christmas party, just to clarify.
[Nathalia]
Sure, sure. Anyway, he asks, “Were you working the top bar at Blue Martini last week?” And I was like, “Oh, it’s him.” Fast forward, we start chatting, and a couple of months later, I invited him to meet me in Italy while I was visiting family.
Our first date was in Milan. Super romantic, right? Except I was fashionably late to pick him up from the airport.
[Roger]
An hour late. After I’d flown across multiple time zones.
[Nathalia]
But you didn’t get mad, so I knew you were a keeper.
Early Days: The Test
[Nathalia]
When Roger came to Fort Lauderdale to visit me, I joked with my friends, “If I don’t kill this guy by the second week, I’m marrying him.”
[Roger]
You nearly did, though, didn’t you?
[Nathalia]
Oh, do you mean the time you got drunk on vodka cranberries, projectile vomited all over my apartment, and pretended it didn’t happen the next day?
[Roger]
I cleaned it up.
[Nathalia]
After I told you to.
[Roger]
It was a test.
[Nathalia]
A test? Even your dad was like, “How did you marry him after that?”
Long-Distance Love and Moving In
We did long-distance for two and a half years before I moved to Belfast. And let me tell you, transitioning from being a bachelor to living with me must’ve been a shock.
[Roger]
There were a few adjustments, like who gets what part of the wardrobe and whose “stuff” goes where.
[Nathalia]
He calls my things “stuff,” but I call it “essentials.” And for the record, Roger is super organized. He lays out his clothes in the order he’ll put them on and places his car keys on top. Meanwhile, I’m running around saying, “Where are my keys?!”
[Roger]
You’ve improved. A bit.
Balancing Kids, Work, and Life
One question we get a lot is how we balance work, kids, and time together. Honestly, it’s all about communication and having a routine.
[Roger]
We have a shared calendar where we plan everything—meetings, workouts, the kids’ activities. Without it, it’d be chaos.
[Nathalia]
And asking for help is key. Early on, I made the mistake of wanting to do everything myself. Roger finally said, “Do you think I want to harm our kids? Let me figure it out.” And honestly, he was right.
Cultural Differences
Another popular question: How do our cultural differences affect parenting?
[Roger]
I think Latin cultures, like Nathalia’s, are more laid-back with kids adapting to the parents’ schedule, while European cultures are more structured with routines.
[Nathalia]
Exactly. Growing up in Brazil, I’d be at a restaurant with my parents until midnight, sleeping on chairs. Meanwhile, Roger’s upbringing involved strict bedtimes and routines, which we’ve adopted for our kids—and I love it.
Keeping Romance Alive
How do we keep the romance alive? Well, we make time for date nights.
[Roger]
Once a month, we go out, have dinner, and leave the chaos behind.
[Nathalia]
And when we can’t go out, we do date nights at home. Roger cooks steak, seduces me with wine, and even does the dishes. So romantic.
[Roger]
If I cook, you do the dishes. That’s the deal.
Favorite Attributes
What’s your favorite attribute about each other?
[Nathalia]
For me, it’s Roger’s patience. He’s taught me to trust the process and stay calm when I’m freaking out. Physically, I love his blue eyes—they’re dreamy.
[Roger]
For you? Non-physical, your ambition and drive. Physically… your eyelashes.
[Nathalia]
They’re microbladed, but I’ll take it.
[Nathalia]
Thank you so much for joining us today! I hope you had as much fun listening as we did recording. If you enjoyed this episode, let me know, and maybe I’ll convince Roger to come back for another one—this time, we’ll dive into his professional rugby career and fitness expertise.
Thanks for listening, and I’ll see you in Episode 4. Bye-bye!
