Shani Goldstein on motherhood, fame, and the toxic relationship that cost her hundreds of thousands

Shani Goldstein, 36, says she is busier and more open than ever, now spending much of her time with her four-month-old daughter, Sasha, with partner Sam Klein. In a podcast interview with ynet’s weekend magazine, the former Big Brother standout spoke candidly about the shock she felt the morning after giving birth, when she briefly thought, “What did you do? ... Just leave her at the hospital.” She said the feeling lasted only minutes, but it reminded her of the fog she experienced during a clinical depression as a teenager.

Goldstein said motherhood is “hard” but not a burden, and that she often brings Sasha with her, though the baby stayed home on the day of the interview because she would not have allowed them to work. She described a routine with no family help, no nanny, no cleaner, and no assistant, while Klein works full-time and takes over evenings. She also said pregnancy and postpartum changes were hard for her body image, but she eventually chose to “make lemonade from these lemons.”

The couple’s relationship began after Goldstein had already started looking into sperm donation in Denmark. A friend introduced her to Klein, a British Jewish man who had appeared on Netflix’s Love Is Blind, and the pair moved quickly. They got engaged less than 10 months later, and she announced the pregnancy about a month after that. She said they planned the pregnancy and that they were together for nine months, much of it long distance, before Klein recently made aliyah to Israel.

Goldstein also defended Klein from criticism over his political views and public support for Israel, saying the backlash against him was tied to anti-Israel sentiment. She said the relationship feels different because, for the first time, she has a partner who stands beside her. At the same time, she looked back on an earlier relationship with Omer Gordon, saying it was financially and emotionally abusive, that she lent him about 100,000 shekels, and that he manipulated her into doubting her own memory and judgment.

She said the mental damage from that gaslighting hurt more than the money, and noted that Gordon denied stealing, being abusive, or bullying her. Goldstein said she has since rebuilt her career through radio, modeling, television hosting, and social media, including upcoming work on her podcast Basic Bitches, and she continues to clap back at people who mock influencers and reality stars.