From MasterChef romance to a growing family

Sarah Todd and Declan Cleary’s relationship began in an unlikely place — the MasterChef Australia kitchen.

The pair met while filming MasterChef Australia: Back to Win and gradually developed a relationship away from the cameras. What began as a friendship eventually became something much deeper, with Declan moving from Sydney to Melbourne to build a life with Sarah and her teenage son, Phoenix.

By late 2025, the couple were preparing for another major change.

They were expecting their first child together — although they initially kept the pregnancy private and did not reveal that they were expecting twins.

For Sarah, the news came unexpectedly.

She later recalled becoming sick while travelling home from India, suddenly vomiting into a bin at the airport. After arriving in Cairns to meet Declan and some of her MasterChef co-stars, she discovered she was pregnant.

What followed was a pregnancy filled with excitement, anticipation — and eventually, serious complications.

The pregnancy took an unexpected turn

Sarah’s pregnancy was not straightforward.

At her 34-week scan, she was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, a potentially serious pregnancy complication associated with high blood pressure and other health problems.

As her condition failed to improve, doctors made the decision to deliver the babies by emergency Caesarean section.

For Sarah and Declan, what should have been the long-awaited moment when they finally met their daughters suddenly became something far more frightening.

They were about to experience a moment neither would ever forget.

“I’ve got like two dead babies here”

Declan later described the scene during an episode of The Australian Women’s Weekly‘s Love Stories podcast.

Sarah was taken into surgery and placed under anaesthetic.

Then their daughters were delivered.

But the babies were initially silent.

“They’re cutting her open and both girls come out – and the girls were still,” Declan recalled.

In those terrifying seconds, he did not know what was happening.

“And it was like, God, I’ve got like two dead babies here and mum’s knocked unconscious.”

Medical staff immediately began working on the newborns.

According to Declan, around 18 people were in the room as the medical team rushed to stabilise the babies.

It was a moment that would stay with him long after the crisis had passed.

The twins were safe — but Sarah’s ordeal was not over

Eventually, Claudia and Charlotte were out of immediate danger.

But just as the couple began to process what had happened to their newborn daughters, Sarah’s own health deteriorated.

She began experiencing seizures, a rare but serious complication associated with pre-eclampsia.

For Sarah, the experience was deeply frightening because it was something she could not control.

“It was just so scary, not feeling stable or in control,” she said.

“I can handle pain, but I couldn’t handle this. There was nothing I could do to stop it.”

The physical ordeal did not simply disappear once the babies were born.

Months later, Sarah said she was still recovering.

Two daughters who arrived on Christmas Eve

Despite everything that happened, Claudia and Charlotte were born healthy on Christmas Eve 2025.

The couple announced their arrival on Instagram with a simple Christmas message:

“Claudia and Charlotte. Merry Christmas from our family to yours.”

The post included photographs of Sarah and Declan with their newborn daughters, alongside Sarah’s son Phoenix and Declan’s dog, Sol. One particularly meaningful image showed hands and paws resting on Sarah’s pregnant belly before the twins arrived.

The photographs captured the family they had been waiting for.

But only Sarah and Declan knew how much had unfolded before those images could be taken.

Declan had promised to be there for Sarah

Even before the twins arrived, Declan had spoken about how much he wanted to support Sarah through motherhood.

He said becoming a father was something he had always wanted, and that he was looking forward to the smallest moments — including late-night feeds.

He also wanted Sarah to be able to continue her career while experiencing motherhood.

“I really want to support Sarah in every way I can professionally,” he said, so she could continue her career and enjoy the experience.

That commitment became even more significant after the difficult birth.

The couple had entered parenthood expecting sleepless nights, new routines and the beautiful chaos of raising twins.

Instead, their first days as parents also carried the memory of an emergency that had left both of them terrified.

A family they had imagined — and a beginning they never expected

Before the birth, Sarah and Declan had spoken openly about wanting children together.

They knew becoming parents would change their lives, but they could not have known how dramatically their journey into parenthood would begin.

They had even discussed other options if Sarah struggled to become pregnant.

Instead, they eventually found themselves preparing for two babies at once.

The couple had also moved into a larger home in Melbourne’s Bayside area as their family grew.

What began with a romance born inside the MasterChef kitchen had quickly become a much bigger story: Sarah, Declan, Phoenix, Sol and two little girls waiting to arrive.

And then, in the space of a single day, everything changed.

The 14 minutes they will never forget

Today, the story of Claudia and Charlotte’s birth carries a very different meaning from the joyful photographs the couple eventually shared.

The Australian Women’s Weekly describes the emergency Caesarean as “14 of the longest minutes of their lives” — a period when both babies were initially silent and Sarah’s health began to spiral.

For a couple who had fallen in love while competing against each other on television, their greatest challenge came far away from the MasterChef kitchen.

It came in a hospital room, at the exact moment they were supposed to be meeting their daughters for the first time.

The twins were eventually safe.

Sarah survived the ordeal and continued her recovery.

And Claudia and Charlotte arrived into a family that had already learned, in the most frightening way possible, just how precious those first moments could be.

Their journey into parenthood may not have begun the way Sarah and Declan imagined.

But the two little girls they had waited for were finally there — and the family they had dreamed of had begun.