Speaker 1: Welcome back guys to TV Reload. As you may know,
Speaker 1: my name is Benjamin Norris and this is your podcast
Speaker 1: to get all the inside goss on the popular TV
Speaker 1: shows you may be watching from around the world. Undeniably,
Speaker 1: our TV sets are a major part of our home entertainment,
Speaker 1: and yet very little is known about how our favorite
Speaker 1: shows get made. So weach episode. I've been finding guests
Speaker 1: that want to dive just that little bit deeper into
Speaker 1: the shows they're currently making, so that you can hear
Speaker 1: all their exclusive stories and gain access to the biggest
Speaker 1: names in Australian television. I want to thank you for downloading,
Speaker 1: all subscribing to this podcast however you've found me. I
Speaker 1: love hearing your feedback, so make sure you leave a
Speaker 1: review or a comment on your chosen podcast platform. On
Speaker 1: today's podcast, I have House four New South Wales contestants
Speaker 1: Stephan Gian the most talked about contributors of The Block
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three. This series of The Block has been
Speaker 1: making headlines for the conflict between Steph, Christy and Leah.
Speaker 1: So far we've seen cheating, accusations, tears and one giant
Speaker 1: bust up at the first Body Corporate meeting. The Block
Speaker 1: has always divided fans over the show's format, as some
Speaker 1: people are there for the renovations and others are there
Speaker 1: for the drama. I think this year has been super
Speaker 1: juicy because both are actually quite phenomenal to watch. As
Speaker 1: we know, this season is set in the family friendly
Speaker 1: Melbourne suburb of Hampton East. The new series features five
Speaker 1: new houses, designed and built in the nineteen fifties and
Speaker 1: located on the very well named Charming Street. I will
Speaker 1: talk to Stephan Jann about this season's conflict and how
Speaker 1: their first Impression kick started a rift between all the houses.
Speaker 1: We will find out how Steph and Jiann have taken
Speaker 1: some of the criticism and what they think of the
Speaker 1: cheating accusations at the first Body corporate meeting. Jan will
Speaker 1: share his thoughts on the way in which Steph has
Speaker 1: struggled with certain contestants, and Steph will open up about
Speaker 1: the pressure of being an architect. Whilst we will get
Speaker 1: plenty of exclusives from behind the scenes of The Block
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three, which has its next room reveal on
Speaker 1: this Sunday night on Channel nine and you can catch
Speaker 1: up on nine now if you've fallen that little bit behind. Anyway,
Speaker 1: let's bring Jian and Steph into the podcasting. Guys, I
Speaker 1: really hope you enjoyed this very fascinating look at the
Speaker 1: block for twenty twenty three. How are you both? You
Speaker 1: both well? Yeah, well, well right, how have the viewing
Speaker 1: parties been going? Have you been having a bit of
Speaker 1: a ritual? I would love to be a fly on
Speaker 1: the wall to find out how it's going down at
Speaker 1: your house.
Speaker 2: It's crazy.
Speaker 3: We were one of the only contestants at the block
Speaker 3: that every single time there was a Sunday viewing, we
Speaker 3: had a different family member or friend there.
Speaker 2: So you can imagine that it's when it's on TV,
Speaker 2: it's like clockwork. It's like and three couples this night,
Speaker 2: two couples the other my family, our family's hosts like
Speaker 2: the Sundays. Yeah, it's on a big it's.
Speaker 4: Full on, it's full on.
Speaker 1: And then do you because this is how I can
Speaker 1: imagine you're watching it with the rest of Australia. So
Speaker 1: are you telling everyone to be quiet while it's on
Speaker 1: TV and then debriefing? Like I can imagine if it
Speaker 1: was my family, they would have like a little notepad
Speaker 1: ready to like ask questions at the end. How is
Speaker 1: that all going?
Speaker 5: Oh you could imagine trying to to facilitate something like
Speaker 5: that with like an ethnic background, like our parents, But
Speaker 5: what about that?
Speaker 4: And then we're like shut up, shut up.
Speaker 5: And then when when the commercials are on, TV goes
Speaker 5: on mute and there's like a forum and we chat,
Speaker 5: and then as soon as it gets back on, as
Speaker 5: soon as there's that last advert on nine.
Speaker 4: It's like, all right, we're back on.
Speaker 1: You can tell me our last advert that it's coming back,
Speaker 1: And that's where you're going to be shure, I would say, knowing.
Speaker 1: Because I grew up in Doncaster and temple Stone mainly
Speaker 1: an ethnic area, I understand the need for a talking stick,
Speaker 1: So maybe you need one of those. Just pass it around.
Speaker 3: Absolutely like, Okay, the forum is open, We're able to
Speaker 3: answer your questions.
Speaker 6: We sure.
Speaker 1: Are we getting to see a fair example of what's
Speaker 1: going down? Or are you quite surprised because you're now
Speaker 1: watching everyone's journey together?
Speaker 5: I'm not so, to be honest, the only thing I
Speaker 5: was really surprised about was the amount of talk that
Speaker 5: was going on week one because we were so in our
Speaker 5: own bubble. Week one, we were having problems with our builder.
Speaker 5: We're just the build itself was just not going to plan,
Speaker 5: and we didn't leave the confines of our own house us.
Speaker 5: But there was just so much outside noise about us
Speaker 5: that we didn't really know, and we only found out
Speaker 5: about it Comebody Corporate because we were legitimately surprised about
Speaker 5: the Body Corporate like there was We were like, oh, maybe
Speaker 5: it's because ash le I met with White Fox, who
Speaker 5: we bumped into, and when we were talking to Dan
Speaker 5: that they wanted to see if they could use White
Speaker 5: Fox but not mine.
Speaker 4: That's where our heads went. We were just so out
Speaker 4: of the picture. So that's probably the only thing that
Speaker 4: was surprising to us.
Speaker 2: The rest.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's kind of how it's played out.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I must admit I was not there for filming,
Speaker 1: but I was already hearing whispers about this whole thing,
Speaker 1: which I thought was hilarious, Like people were already talking
Speaker 1: about it, that you guys were kind of oblivious to
Speaker 1: what was going on, And I just think it sounds
Speaker 1: interesting that we get to watch a show like this
Speaker 1: back because it's such an intense pressure cooker. You know,
Speaker 1: you would have no idea what is going on at
Speaker 1: the other houses. If you were focusing on the job
Speaker 1: at hand.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, and that's it for us.
Speaker 3: And we were really clear about why we were there,
Speaker 3: and we definitely thought it's and I know there's quite
Speaker 3: a bit of controversy out there the moments, like oh,
Speaker 3: what's sort of this show turned into? But we definitely
Speaker 3: applied for the show that everyone knows, and that's a
Speaker 3: renovating show and that's what we went and set out
Speaker 3: to do.
Speaker 2: And all the noise, which we like to call it, yeah,
Speaker 2: we just try to block it out.
Speaker 1: Is this the first time that you both had applied?
Speaker 1: Did you apply the first time and get straight in?
Speaker 5: Yeah, the first time, first time ever applying. It just
Speaker 5: never made sense for us to apply before, Like we hadn't.
Speaker 3: We never thought about it, yes, like oh yeah, we
Speaker 3: just renovated a house.
Speaker 2: Shure we can apply for the block. I don't know,
Speaker 2: like there was no thought process.
Speaker 3: There was no critical thinking of game plan or anything
Speaker 3: like that.
Speaker 2: By the time we got told that we were on,
Speaker 2: we were just lifting our jawels from the ground and thinking, oh.
Speaker 1: Okay, now, I said to Dianne, the first time that
Speaker 1: I saw I mean, I'd seen you once before, but
Speaker 1: it was the second time I came back to the set,
Speaker 1: I was talking to you about the hat, and so
Speaker 1: I'm wearing a hat on your behalf my friend because Steph,
Speaker 1: I don't know if I told you storialized there, but
Speaker 1: it wasn't recognizing when he was on camera when he
Speaker 1: was wearing a hat, I was like, who's that young
Speaker 1: child there? That that? And then I said to my partner.
Speaker 1: I was like, come in and have a look at
Speaker 1: this guy. I was like, is this guy that like
Speaker 1: super hot? And he's like, yeah, that guy's super hot.
Speaker 1: And then I told him to come back in while
Speaker 1: Jeanne wasn't wearing the hat, and he was like, no,
Speaker 1: not for me. So now on mates, I'm wearing a hat.
Speaker 5: When you told me that, I was like, that is
Speaker 5: so funny. But at the time you're just not even thinking.
Speaker 4: You're like, what am I wearing? I'll put a beanie on.
Speaker 1: It's all working for your mate, it's all working. So
Speaker 1: keep were going. You know, Steph, you would feel a
Speaker 1: lot of pressure. I can imagine being an architect coming
Speaker 1: on this show. And I remember talking to Jewels. I
Speaker 1: spoke to Scotty about it, and they were so revved
Speaker 1: up about the fact that they had a female architect
Speaker 1: on the show, which is so exciting. Were you worried though,
Speaker 1: you know, moving forward, that people watching this with judger
Speaker 1: abilities and that my affect your business, Like what kind
Speaker 1: of pressure was going on in your mind?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Look, I think initially you're like, oh, okay, what does
Speaker 2: this mean?
Speaker 3: But first, and I will be honest, First, it's exciting. First,
Speaker 3: it's like, oh, this is an amazing opportunity. Where are
Speaker 3: we going to go from this? And I'm really open
Speaker 3: about what I don't know, and I'm really open about
Speaker 3: being new as a business owner. But also I can't
Speaker 3: talk myself too much down, Like obviously I have been
Speaker 3: in the field for some time and I have a
Speaker 3: knowledge base. There will always be people that are going
Speaker 3: to say to you that you're not capable, you're not this,
Speaker 3: or whatnot.
Speaker 2: You'll see on the show that we're actually harsher critics
Speaker 2: than what anyone could say about us. So so long
Speaker 2: as we're happy in prowd, that's probably a good little
Speaker 2: what do you call it?
Speaker 4: Summary?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I could summary.
Speaker 5: I personally, I personally saw Steph take a lot of
Speaker 5: that I think pressure on especially in the first couple
Speaker 5: of weeks and actually there was a defining moment and
Speaker 5: I'm honestly so glad the camera was there to see
Speaker 5: it when she just said to herself, like I need
Speaker 5: to be kinder to myself because there was all this pressure,
Speaker 5: Like we got the plan, Steph had to design what
Speaker 5: the house was going to look like within a date
Speaker 5: and that's never real life. So I'm just glad that
Speaker 5: I think people were able to see what was going
Speaker 5: on in STEP's head in those last two days when
Speaker 5: they could have formed opinions on her. But I think
Speaker 5: that you felt a real big weight off your shoulder
Speaker 5: as soon as you let that out, and it was
Speaker 5: just like, let's have fun with it, Let's give it
Speaker 5: our best shot, and yeah, the rest is history.
Speaker 2: We should people judge me. I'm not an interior designer.
Speaker 2: I'm an architect, Like, do we know what that is?
Speaker 1: I think there is always confusion, you know. I don't
Speaker 1: necessarily think that the viewers will always understand the difference
Speaker 1: of those things. They just seem to just assume a
Speaker 1: certain energy level and that's where the confusion comes from.
Speaker 1: But I have to say, Joan, I agree with Steph
Speaker 1: seeing and recognizing that she was a bit overwhelmed at
Speaker 1: that point, and then saying, you know what, in my profession,
Speaker 1: I usually have a lot more time to analyze things.
Speaker 1: But then on the block, you know, you're being forced
Speaker 1: into making decisions much quicker than you would in a
Speaker 1: business sense. You know, I thought it was really important
Speaker 1: that you were able to recognize that yourself. I mean,
Speaker 1: I was very self aware to notice that and then
Speaker 1: maybe put some space in there for yourself.
Speaker 3: I was I'm a big reflector, super analytical, and I'm like, okay,
Speaker 3: things aren't going okay. And then I thought, you know what,
Speaker 3: it's because this I can feel that that pressure that
Speaker 3: you're talking about that you discussed even with with Scott
Speaker 3: and stuff.
Speaker 2: I felt that, and I go, hold on, what feeling this?
Speaker 2: Why's I'm putting all this pressure on me? Everyone just
Speaker 2: sort of chill a.
Speaker 3: Little bit because I need to chill, and I need
Speaker 3: to also recognize that the block is nothing like practicing
Speaker 3: architecture in the real world, and that's okay. And if
Speaker 3: people are going to judge me coming out of this
Speaker 3: for not being capable of doing their house, and I.
Speaker 2: Don't want to work with them.
Speaker 1: I with you. You know, it's a very unrealistic expectation.
Speaker 1: I think anyone coming off television, good or bad, from
Speaker 1: what you have seen, isn't a very good indicator as
Speaker 1: to what they can do for you on a job,
Speaker 1: because there's many different ways that that can transcend through
Speaker 1: the camera. Not the best job reference, I'd think, you know, no,
Speaker 1: it's not.
Speaker 2: But to be honest, like, I actually love architecture for
Speaker 2: me is a lot more personable than just being able
Speaker 2: to design a stock stand house. You should go to
Speaker 2: an architect who you actually resonate with from an ethical
Speaker 2: perspective as well. And I actually like that people actually
Speaker 2: getting to know me and looking anything is you don't
Speaker 2: know for me yet because you need to watch the
Speaker 2: full show.
Speaker 3: But the benefit of being on a show like this
Speaker 3: is you actually see my journey evolve when you see
Speaker 3: our design thought process.
Speaker 2: Evolve as well.
Speaker 3: And I think that there will be lots of people
Speaker 3: that you'll be like, yeah, I align with her, and
Speaker 3: lots of people that don't. And that's so fine, and
Speaker 3: I'm okay with that.
Speaker 1: I think those steps. You know what, We talked about
Speaker 1: this the last time I saw you. And it's really
Speaker 1: strange because once you get to know you You're very
Speaker 1: different to how we read you or when people read you,
Speaker 1: and maybe this is wrong, maybe this is just me
Speaker 1: and it's a coincidence that some of the other girls
Speaker 1: have felt this way. I read you wrong to start with,
Speaker 1: and then the more I got to know you, the
Speaker 1: more I was like, I was in awe of your intelligence,
Speaker 1: your capability, and your generosity and how open you were
Speaker 1: and self for a flying like all of these things
Speaker 1: that we're probably not seeing at this stage of the competition.
Speaker 1: I'm sure we'll get to enjoy as it goes on.
Speaker 3: Thank you, thank you, And I definitely yeah, I did
Speaker 3: speak to you about that when I was younger.
Speaker 2: I do feel that people when they first meet me
Speaker 2: see me as.
Speaker 3: Sort of polarizing and I can't really relate to her
Speaker 3: and she's really confident and that's and then actually because
Speaker 3: the girls, we're really good friends with the girls, and
Speaker 3: we reflect on that and I sort of say, girls,
Speaker 3: how do you.
Speaker 2: Think, like what am I doing wrong here? Like am
Speaker 2: I only coming across like what's going on? And it's like,
Speaker 2: you know what there It's actually comes down to everyone
Speaker 2: else as well. It's like I think we all should
Speaker 2: just not judge someone straight away. Give some people time.
Speaker 3: Yes, Okay, first impressions matter, and I agree with that,
Speaker 3: and I'll work better at being more approachable. But I
Speaker 3: do think it's also a give and take and people
Speaker 3: do have to reflect a little bit more and sort
Speaker 3: of think, oh, there's more to hers, Let's get to
Speaker 3: know her. Maybe she's more complex than just a nice person.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 1: I genuinely think this is going to work in your
Speaker 1: favor because you've got to make people hate you to
Speaker 1: make them love you, and so if you take them
Speaker 1: on this journey, which is where you're going with this,
Speaker 1: I think it's going to work out.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Well, it shows that you're multifaceted, right, You're actually able
Speaker 3: to show your light and shade.
Speaker 2: And definitely there was a massive turning point when.
Speaker 3: People were surprised that when we were told that something
Speaker 3: was wrong, that we absolutely owned it because that's us.
Speaker 2: We're not going to sit here and pretend, oh my god,
Speaker 2: one hundred percent we are so sorry, it's never going
Speaker 2: to happen again, because that's the people we are.
Speaker 5: I think that's what made the first week so hard
Speaker 5: to look back on, because Steph and I had grown
Speaker 5: so much throughout the block experience more than we could
Speaker 5: have ever imagined, and looking at those confused, naive people
Speaker 5: in week one and not who we are now, And
Speaker 5: I think that's the beauty of what we've been through.
Speaker 5: We can literally look at it, pick it apart and
Speaker 5: be like, oh, like, we're so happy with the growth
Speaker 5: that the block allowed us to have. And that's the
Speaker 5: main reason why we went on the experience the growth
Speaker 5: as people. And yeah, it's been nice watching that.
Speaker 1: I still think that the first week, which was really
Speaker 1: interesting because you didn't really seem to adopt that theme,
Speaker 1: which was that house deciding challenge that was there, and
Speaker 1: the judges had hoped that you would do something different
Speaker 1: with it. Watching it back, what could you or what
Speaker 1: may may have you already been thinking about doing to
Speaker 1: incorporate that Disney theme that then didn't happen, Like was
Speaker 1: there a continuation of because I thought that room was
Speaker 1: the best room. I thought it was stunning. However I
Speaker 1: had to recognize no, I loved that room. I thought
Speaker 1: it was great, but there was no Disney theme. I
Speaker 1: was like, wait, the fu the Disney theme? You know
Speaker 1: what I mean? But I still it's a strange journey.
Speaker 1: It's a strange thing to understand because I'm like, a
Speaker 1: Disney deciding challenge is not going to affect the way
Speaker 1: in which that house gets sold in the end. Do
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? A room that you built
Speaker 1: actually does look like something that is more universal and
Speaker 1: can be changed in all the rest of it. I
Speaker 1: loved it. So that's why I'm saying that, thank.
Speaker 2: You for acknowledging and seeing that. But also, yes, it
Speaker 2: was a challenge.
Speaker 4: And we should have done treated it like a challenge.
Speaker 5: We treated it like we want the judges to see
Speaker 5: what we would put in our home, and that's not
Speaker 5: the challenge. The challenge is designer room in forty eight
Speaker 5: hours that's going to be ripped down through the construction.
Speaker 5: And we're like, we didn't think that way. We weren't
Speaker 5: have been communicating that and we were just you know,
Speaker 5: working to the blocks pace and it was like, all right,
Speaker 5: let's make the room big up, let's do this, and.
Speaker 2: It was just that don't even make sense to me.
Speaker 2: It's like, what do you mean when to knock it down?
Speaker 2: We kind of this room down like we're.
Speaker 1: Building it away. People are dying in Africa apparently.
Speaker 2: So I'm like, so of course, it was basically week
Speaker 2: two where like we didn't like obviously our challenge room
Speaker 2: from really early on because we reflecting like.
Speaker 3: Oh why didn't we cheat it like a challenge let's
Speaker 3: rock at that? But yeah, I love that you saw
Speaker 3: what we were getting at because that was where where
Speaker 3: we're moving towards.
Speaker 2: We're like, I don't want to be creating a room
Speaker 2: that's really limiting and with this massive, in built, bulky
Speaker 2: items that someone couldn't feel that they had their own taste.
Speaker 3: That's just like a a that's a design behavior and
Speaker 3: a design strategy that I like to adopt.
Speaker 1: So it's interesting. You know, remember a couple of seasons back,
Speaker 1: the two boys, the brothers, the twin Brothers, they put
Speaker 1: this giant iron man statue to sort of prove that
Speaker 1: this is a cinema room, do you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: And that kind of stuff, to me, never works. It
Speaker 1: just looks like it cheapens it. It sort of gives
Speaker 1: it a bit too much of a gimmick. I could
Speaker 1: sit to see where anyway, I could see where you're coming.
Speaker 3: You get me? I gotcha?
Speaker 2: Girl?
Speaker 1: How does having the full plan this season affect the
Speaker 1: way that you guys are planning this series because this
Speaker 1: is a massive twist for the show. Yeah.
Speaker 5: Look, having the plan and also having the budget helped
Speaker 5: a lot when planning the way that we were going
Speaker 5: to roll rooms out, so we knew certain weeks, you know,
Speaker 5: we were basically doing that whole studio area first, but
Speaker 5: also getting the plans straight out, We're like, okay, let's
Speaker 5: cut this up on steps program. Let's see how we
Speaker 5: can stage out which room should we double down on
Speaker 5: in the hope to win?
Speaker 4: Because you really have to play it that way because.
Speaker 5: Scotty said really early on, He's like, you will not
Speaker 5: be able to finish unless you win. So we really
Speaker 5: had to look at our plan, look at the schedule,
Speaker 5: and okay, how are we going to get through this? Well,
Speaker 5: we're going to double down and what made sense for
Speaker 5: us to get to the end goal, which was a
Speaker 5: cohesive inviting entertainer's home.
Speaker 4: It really helped us.
Speaker 5: It can be overwhelming though some people might have seen
Speaker 5: it and be like, oh my god, how do I
Speaker 5: plan out a quarter of a million dollars strategically while
Speaker 5: building a house, But yeah, I think we just worked
Speaker 5: to our strengths really on that, And yeah, I think
Speaker 5: it worked out well for us.
Speaker 1: I also think you know, what is setting you guys
Speaker 1: apart from everyone is your theme? Is it? It's Japanzee, right, Japane.
Speaker 1: You know this is so many You could tell me
Speaker 1: something three times and I'd still get it wrong. I
Speaker 1: felt like that's a really cool thing to do because
Speaker 1: you are sort of structuring something. You are putting something
Speaker 1: of a schematic. I guess that's there and it is evident,
Speaker 1: so you know, I'm sure as we see as the
Speaker 1: show goes on. I just think having a theme like
Speaker 1: that has been really clever for the two of you.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that that's probably a benefit. Now there's
Speaker 3: not many, but a benefit of being an opposite of
Speaker 3: being able to kind of have this consistent design thread
Speaker 3: and this overall arching design concept that's going to come
Speaker 3: together when you see it at the end, and then
Speaker 3: that's when you actually.
Speaker 2: Get the buyer to be like, oh wow, this is
Speaker 2: a home. It's the difference to the house with rooms
Speaker 2: and a home.
Speaker 1: It's more of a cohesive way of doing it. You know,
Speaker 1: That's what I saw. You know, Jean, you seem to
Speaker 1: have upset Keith a bit when you nearly caused that accident,
Speaker 1: and you know, even even in the synopsis, it was like,
Speaker 1: you know, Keith is so upset with jan but was
Speaker 1: he right to haul you over the coals? And how
Speaker 1: does it feel when that is happening for you? Is
Speaker 1: it like being in school and being told off? Like
Speaker 1: how do you take that on the chin?
Speaker 5: It was definitely fair because it was super dangerous what
Speaker 5: I actually did, and I don't think I had realized
Speaker 5: it at the time, nor would I have realized how
Speaker 5: dangerous it was unless Keith really did come down on
Speaker 5: me hard. And it wasn't something that I'd seen Keith
Speaker 5: do before, like obviously watching previous like see that the
Speaker 5: show you see get a little bit angry, But it's
Speaker 5: different when it's directed to you and you're like, oh shit,
Speaker 5: I did something really wrong, and like just they.
Speaker 1: Don't get told off though like that in the real world,
Speaker 1: do you know what I mean? Like it's it's it's
Speaker 1: hard when we're adults when someone comes down on us
Speaker 1: like that, because you know, once you get to a
Speaker 1: certain point, people are afraid to be that hard, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, It's true.
Speaker 2: I think that you handled like a champ and at
Speaker 2: least the day it had safety.
Speaker 4: Yeah it was, so what are you argure? There was
Speaker 4: nothing to argue about. At the end of the day.
Speaker 5: I was trying to just put myself like fully into
Speaker 5: the construction area, just kind of rip the room down
Speaker 5: as quick as possible because that's what you need it
Speaker 5: on the block. But it's like, you need to do
Speaker 5: it smart and safe.
Speaker 4: So it made sense.
Speaker 5: And look, Keith is a legend and he doesn't go
Speaker 5: out of his way to be like that to people.
Speaker 5: It's you know, when when when he needs so he does.
Speaker 5: And yeah, at the end of the day I meaned it.
Speaker 5: I was like, yeah, that was that was stupid.
Speaker 1: Well, it's a good way to be to be able
Speaker 1: to take that sort of stuff on the chain. Everyone
Speaker 1: is talking about this body corporate meeting that has happened,
Speaker 1: and you know, it was really great television. I should
Speaker 1: say that it's hard to watch, but it's great television.
Speaker 1: So I'm here for it. But it seemed to escalate
Speaker 1: very quickly. How could that have been handled better so
Speaker 1: that you know, there probably wasn't as much tension in it?
Speaker 1: Is there looking back at it, Is there a better
Speaker 1: way that they that maybe even Leah could have brought
Speaker 1: it up with you. Do you think that having that
Speaker 1: body corporate meeting was the right way to do it
Speaker 1: in front of everyone, like, how do you feel about
Speaker 1: it now?
Speaker 2: The way that we always felt about it actually was.
Speaker 3: And something that you, I guess don't see is that
Speaker 3: like the girls can leslie, like they all knew about
Speaker 3: it before, and we obviously found out after we sort
Speaker 3: of said, that's why we're really really open about Why
Speaker 3: don't you guys just you had time to speak to
Speaker 3: everyone else individually, You could have just said it to
Speaker 3: us straight away and we would have one hundred percent said,
Speaker 3: you know, oh a god, this is so wrong, you know,
Speaker 3: Or in that moment when you did see my dad
Speaker 3: there and you were able to identify something, just call
Speaker 3: it out and we would have been like it was
Speaker 3: so innocent, like I was taking a photo of my
Speaker 3: dad to show my mom like that that he was
Speaker 3: like on the block, Like it was so innocent that
Speaker 3: I kind of wish someone was like, Steph, wake up,
Speaker 3: you're missing one detail. Yes you're paying him and that's great,
Speaker 3: but you just need to get his paperwork signed. I
Speaker 3: was like, oh, you know, so of course I just
Speaker 3: wish it was done like that. I definitely think that
Speaker 3: they had a lot more tension because maybe it was Brelly.
Speaker 1: For them, maybe it was what they brought to the town.
Speaker 1: You know, this is what happens in conflicts sometimes, is
Speaker 1: that people don't know what to do with the energy
Speaker 1: that they've got. And I think that there was a
Speaker 1: sense of rejection that they were feeling from you by
Speaker 1: not having that initial maybe warmth or giving them the time.
Speaker 1: And you know what's funny about that as well, is
Speaker 1: that you know, our judgment on how much time we
Speaker 1: need from other people to build a relationship is also
Speaker 1: very different. So I think to me, from looking at
Speaker 1: it from an outsider's perspective, I think that they were
Speaker 1: feeling rejected by you and then took this thing of
Speaker 1: your dad working on site as the way to surface
Speaker 1: that energy and try and come at you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that's a really great point.
Speaker 3: But also like then people have to then reflect on
Speaker 3: how that person is feeling, and we definitely felt alienated
Speaker 3: in the sense that if you even look at the build,
Speaker 3: like we didn't have a concrete slab or true call
Speaker 3: wars our studios inside.
Speaker 2: The existing parameters of the house we felt like we
Speaker 2: couldn't discuss anything with anyone. We didn't want to purposely
Speaker 2: not talk to people that.
Speaker 3: Week we were drowning, like so like it would maybe
Speaker 3: be nice for people to have recognized that as well
Speaker 3: and to see it come and say hey, do you
Speaker 3: need any Yeah.
Speaker 5: I think the only thing that I could maybe say
Speaker 5: on it, and this is not like you know, pointing fingers,
Speaker 5: but to hear how people reacting in their myths about like, oh,
Speaker 5: you know, I saw him with a drill and that
Speaker 5: was during the night right and if you obviously everyone's different.
Speaker 5: But if I had seen that and I thought something
Speaker 5: like that was going on, I would literally just go
Speaker 5: up to the business I had, just letting you know,
Speaker 5: like I've seen him with a drill?
Speaker 4: Is he working?
Speaker 5: And that body corporate could have been completely alleviated if
Speaker 5: Ash had come to us and said, hey, is your
Speaker 5: dad doing work?
Speaker 4: Are you paying him? Do you know you can't do that?
Speaker 2: But for some reason they thought, like like you were saying, Ben,
Speaker 2: I think they thought that that was an act to
Speaker 2: be sneaky, but like, yeah.
Speaker 4: No, we were literally competing against ourselves that way.
Speaker 1: Aws up, I mean you seem to rub this is
Speaker 1: the thing. So I just think in some ways and
Speaker 1: it feels bad stuff because what we've seen and maybe
Speaker 1: it is what happened, maybe it isn't. But it seemed
Speaker 1: like you rubbed Leah and Christy the wrong way. And
Speaker 1: I think that came down to first impressions from them.
Speaker 1: Is that is that the truth? There is there? Do
Speaker 1: you think it's just come down to first impressions that
Speaker 1: went awry?
Speaker 2: But like, even if you look like you.
Speaker 3: Was even on screen, like when she won, like I
Speaker 3: went and hugged her like I was there, I was
Speaker 3: trying to.
Speaker 2: Like she asked for no more gaps for the challenge.
Speaker 2: I gave it to her willing, but she then spoke
Speaker 2: to camera after and was sort of like, oh, I
Speaker 2: think she was unhappy.
Speaker 3: I would not ever unhappy. You can have whatever you
Speaker 3: want if you need some no more gaps, that's fine.
Speaker 3: So again it's like, I don't know what I needed
Speaker 3: to do different for someone to have not judged me.
Speaker 3: I really think that that's two people sort of wanting
Speaker 3: to create an alliance and that's a result of that.
Speaker 3: And I don't think I should take take it as think,
Speaker 3: oh I didn't I wasn't open enough, like I mean,
Speaker 3: the girls and col Leslie got to know me.
Speaker 1: I think though, what happens though sometimes with girls, and
Speaker 1: I feel bad about saying girls and not boys, not everyone,
Speaker 1: but it does happen a lot in girls. Sometimes two
Speaker 1: girls will form a friendship over talking about another girl,
Speaker 1: and that can be really an easy way for them
Speaker 1: to form a friendship is by having a common person
Speaker 1: to hate against in a way. So I think maybe
Speaker 1: there's some of that happening in there. And then on
Speaker 1: top of that, I think that maybe is Leah leading that.
Speaker 1: Do you think they both got the wrong impression or
Speaker 1: do you think it's one person pushing that narrative more.
Speaker 2: I still can't even answer that question. I don't know
Speaker 2: who's leading who.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's a good tease in the competition. I don't
Speaker 1: know if we can go any further than that. But Jeanne,
Speaker 1: I would say, this must be really hard for you.
Speaker 1: You two have been together for so long and you
Speaker 1: are such as you know you are. What I loved
Speaker 1: about meeting the both of you is you get a
Speaker 1: very good sense of your protection of Steph, and I
Speaker 1: think that's lovely to watch. How have you felt. Is
Speaker 1: it strange watching other people have the wrong impression of her?
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely, it's definitely very It's more weird to see
Speaker 4: because you know, like if I had known potentially the
Speaker 4: way that they were speaking about her, would I have
Speaker 4: been as open and nice with them, knowing that they're
Speaker 4: treating Steph a certain way or talking a certain way?
Speaker 5: You know, like we were open books to everyone, and
Speaker 5: we were always going to be open books on the
Speaker 5: block because we.
Speaker 4: Didn't see it as a competition.
Speaker 5: I feel like this year was very different in the
Speaker 5: sense that all five couples had very different styles. You
Speaker 5: were never competing when it came to style, and that
Speaker 5: was the beauty of it. And that's why I think
Speaker 5: people who are super competitive right the end of the day,
Speaker 5: like where ten strong personalities and in some way, shape
Speaker 5: or form, we are competitive. But I just think taking
Speaker 5: that nasty approach to competition never pays off, like.
Speaker 1: It's human nature, though I still think it's human nature.
Speaker 1: You know, this is exactly how people behave when you're
Speaker 1: in a competition and when you're living on top of
Speaker 1: each other. This season's gone back to putting you guys
Speaker 1: so close there's literally meters between your houses and you
Speaker 1: were able to watch what other people are doing. Last year,
Speaker 1: you'd have to walk half a kilometer to go over
Speaker 1: there and see what Sharon was doing. You know what
Speaker 1: I mean, Like this is a very human response to
Speaker 1: being in a competition, and from what I can see,
Speaker 1: I think that all of the girls are very talented,
Speaker 1: very competitive, around the same age, and all of you
Speaker 1: have a bit of an insatiable need to be liked
Speaker 1: by people. And when you find personality types like that, bang,
Speaker 1: it's going to be good television. It's explosive.
Speaker 6: Yeah, But I mean all the other seasons of the block,
Speaker 6: everyone's sort of just you know, it was a bit
Speaker 6: of controversy.
Speaker 2: But it was a bit of a like target one person, I.
Speaker 1: Feel bad because it's your life. But for me, I'm
Speaker 1: a viewer and I'm watching, I'm like I want more,
Speaker 1: you know, I'd be like, yeah, go next door. And
Speaker 1: I mean I've watched this now with a fine tooth comb,
Speaker 1: so I'm like, oh my god. I feel like they've
Speaker 1: given Steph and Leah a similar sort of haircut, a
Speaker 1: similar shoulder cut. Is sort of like already like they've
Speaker 1: set the cat amongst the pigeons with the competitive hair bob.
Speaker 2: That is funny.
Speaker 1: It's because I have no life and I've been looking
Speaker 1: at this.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, I love it.
Speaker 1: Is Leslie and Eliza and Liberty have are they going
Speaker 1: to They're keeping themselves out of the drama at this moment,
Speaker 1: and you kind of said that, you know, you were
Speaker 1: able to talk to them and there wasn't anything. But
Speaker 1: without giving too much away, are they going to join
Speaker 1: the drama or are they going to stay in Switzerland?
Speaker 5: The best way to answer this is when when you
Speaker 5: have five different teams living in each other's pockets, it's
Speaker 5: hard to avoid the drama.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So will the husbands get involved in the drama?
Speaker 1: Then that's sort of about the girls that they may,
Speaker 1: but I mean.
Speaker 2: It depends on your husband. It depends on the type
Speaker 2: of posband that you have.
Speaker 4: I mean, we saw Kyle.
Speaker 5: Kyle got amongst it, and I really respected Kyle for
Speaker 5: that because I think Kyle put his no but naturally right.
Speaker 5: It definitely wasn't a drama ploy. But it's just like
Speaker 5: he put his father hat on and he saw that
Speaker 5: we were blindsided by it, and he's like, well, if
Speaker 5: I put myself in their shoes. This may be me,
Speaker 5: and I don't think we should try and victimize them
Speaker 5: because of it, you know what I mean? Like I
Speaker 5: feel like I don't know, no one's really going out
Speaker 5: of their way to create drama. It just happens. It
Speaker 5: just happens.
Speaker 1: It's human nature. It's just exactly and it's funny. I
Speaker 1: was talking to some of the other girls about it
Speaker 1: as well when I was there that day, and they
Speaker 1: felt they didn't say the word embarrass They definitely I'm
Speaker 1: putting words in their mouth, but I could feel that
Speaker 1: energy of trying to look for some ownership there and
Speaker 1: feeling a bit guilty, like feeling a little silly about it.
Speaker 1: And I just kept saying, this is what people do.
Speaker 1: You know, you're not a good person or a bad
Speaker 1: person if when you put into a melting pot you
Speaker 1: don't always behave the best way, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: But also, I definitely think that there are examples in
Speaker 2: this season of how everyone is put in the same situation.
Speaker 2: It's how you handle yourself. I think we all have
Speaker 2: to take some responsibility for how we have handled things.
Speaker 2: And I and we pride ourselves and we are super
Speaker 2: happy and have yet absolutely nothing. No regrets on how
Speaker 2: we handled ourselves because we maintained our ethics and the
Speaker 2: way that we were raised through it. And I think
Speaker 2: if you get caught up, then that's fine. Don't feel embarrassed.
Speaker 2: Take accountability.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's a fifty to fifty split on people that
Speaker 1: watch the block, and fifty percent of the people like
Speaker 1: I'm just here for the houses, and the other people
Speaker 1: like I'm just here for the drama. Like a it
Speaker 1: is a sort of two part scenario. So it's worth
Speaker 1: talking about a part of that as we have just done.
Speaker 1: But absolutely getting back into the housing a little bit.
Speaker 1: I know that a lot of people were curious about
Speaker 1: whether or not you were going to leave those beams
Speaker 1: in the bathroom. You know, after you've this week, we've
Speaker 1: seen you keeping the beams bit in a different fashion.
Speaker 1: If you do get a redo, is that something that
Speaker 1: you will change.
Speaker 6: Oh, yes, the first bathroom that you saw. I think
Speaker 6: as soon as we got back, we were already pulling
Speaker 6: it apart. Yeah, Like you guys know, we were just
Speaker 6: trying to get to the finish line. There were lots
Speaker 6: of elements in the room that weren't even finished.
Speaker 3: Or hardly done, so for us, we definitely knew that
Speaker 3: we will be redoing that bathroom.
Speaker 1: Jan how are you feeling about the judges at this point?
Speaker 1: What's your relationship with the judges and how's that been.
Speaker 1: Do you think they're being fair? Is there a judge
Speaker 1: that you seem to like more than the others? Like,
Speaker 1: how do you want to pack that?
Speaker 5: To be honest, as contestants, we don't actually meet the judges.
Speaker 5: I mean we've met them once and that was at
Speaker 5: the launch party after the show. And I think that's
Speaker 5: the beauty of being judged by these judges is they
Speaker 5: do not understand what's happened during the week. They don't
Speaker 5: know what drama, what relationships are going on in the show.
Speaker 5: They merely walk in a room on a Sunday and
Speaker 5: judge it on their own apparel. I think this year
Speaker 5: having Mary as a judge is actually really nice element
Speaker 5: because he's looking at the houses not from an interior
Speaker 5: design perspective, but as a real estate perspective because at
Speaker 5: the end of the day and looking at the houses,
Speaker 5: they need to be sold at the end of the
Speaker 5: show and then the competition. So I think what we
Speaker 5: did and Seth mentioned it before we were like our
Speaker 5: own harshest judges. Like we would walk in the room
Speaker 5: at the end and be like, oh my god, why.
Speaker 2: Did we do that this week?
Speaker 5: But let's run with it anyway. Yeah, and we really
Speaker 5: resonated with a lot of the judges' comments because they
Speaker 5: were constructive. We feel like the judges didn't go out
Speaker 5: or go into our rooms and pick us apart because
Speaker 5: they were.
Speaker 4: Being like they weren't spiteful.
Speaker 5: They were just judging based on their educated eye and
Speaker 5: we have to take that into account absolutely.
Speaker 3: And also, like I completely respect anyone in their profession
Speaker 3: of their field, right, So if someone is giving you
Speaker 3: feedback in that field, then you take that on and
Speaker 3: for you can try and understand where they're coming from.
Speaker 3: If you don't, if you don't fully get it, okay,
Speaker 3: agree to disagree.
Speaker 2: But yeah, you'll never catch John and I not taking
Speaker 2: on their feedback or being rude about it because we
Speaker 2: respect them for their individual builds and their their their
Speaker 2: lens they're looking at it.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, to answer your question, we will love all the judges.
Speaker 2: They were great.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know with the beams, right, like they they
Speaker 5: definitely didn't like the finish of the beams in the
Speaker 5: bathroom being timber, and we said, you know what, we
Speaker 5: really we didn't love it, but you know, like we
Speaker 5: believe in the beams and we want to show you
Speaker 5: a different aspect of the beams.
Speaker 4: So we did a a plaster this week.
Speaker 3: So I believe your concept, and I fully like when
Speaker 3: we clouded it that in that in the timber, I
Speaker 3: was like, this isn't the timber that I wanted.
Speaker 2: And I also don't even have time to be able
Speaker 2: to go and source the great timber.
Speaker 3: So you know what, let's just pretend that, like, sorry,
Speaker 3: let's just realize that we're on the block and I'm
Speaker 3: not going to have hours for hours to go and
Speaker 3: source this amazing timber money.
Speaker 1: I think it's the nature of the show though. The
Speaker 1: reason why it's placed this way is to put that
Speaker 1: pressure on you. It's an unrealistic amount of time to
Speaker 1: build a room. Let's just say that. I mean, it
Speaker 1: just is, so you underneath that pressure will be forced
Speaker 1: into making decisions quickly, and any decision that's made very
Speaker 1: quickly can be, you know, the wrong decision. And that's
Speaker 1: why this show works so well, because we you know,
Speaker 1: if you had all the time in the world, and
Speaker 1: these rooms were perfect every time. We wouldn't have that
Speaker 1: feeling as an audience where we get to go, I
Speaker 1: don't like that what they did there? Do you know
Speaker 1: what I mean? Like it?
Speaker 2: And that actually lends onto your point as do you
Speaker 2: like how you said before? Are you worried about your
Speaker 2: image or your job after this? If anyone wants me
Speaker 2: to design their house in a couple of hours and
Speaker 2: give me one way to do every room, sure.
Speaker 1: Sure it's unrealistic.
Speaker 2: It's just so realistic.
Speaker 5: So yeah, I think it's the perfect like the block
Speaker 5: is the perfect formula. Like for a show, there's the
Speaker 5: time stress, there's the competition stress, there's the money stress.
Speaker 5: But then there's also ten really different personalities trying to
Speaker 5: push the limits without compromising their design standards, and in
Speaker 5: that you're going to have drama because you know, like
Speaker 5: it did.
Speaker 1: I just say, don't take it too seriously, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean?
Speaker 5: Like?
Speaker 1: Because then it is what it is, and it is
Speaker 1: your image. It is the words that come out of
Speaker 1: your mouth. But I always say to people when they
Speaker 1: do these shows, there's so many variables there. And as
Speaker 1: much as some people will love someone on television, when
Speaker 1: you meet people, you can be like, I can tell
Speaker 1: you this is most nine times out of ten for me,
Speaker 1: the people that I've loved watching on TV are the
Speaker 1: people that in real life I'm like, Oh, they're not
Speaker 1: what I expected. Do you know what I mean? So
Speaker 1: is television affair representation on how we read people, like
Speaker 1: how we get to know them. Absolutely not, You're only
Speaker 1: going to be disappointed.
Speaker 3: It's really interesting, although at this point we are enjoying
Speaker 3: the growth journey that you see John I go on
Speaker 3: and then a lot of my friends are like, yea, yeah,
Speaker 3: that's Steph like the light and shade or that's John.
Speaker 2: So at this point we're really real in the sense
Speaker 2: that it's very much the way that it is.
Speaker 1: I mean, I just want to know how the two
Speaker 1: of you you got together so young and are still together.
Speaker 1: I want to know, is it luck, chance and circumstances
Speaker 1: that we're still together? What's your secret? What do you
Speaker 1: say to people?
Speaker 5: You can go, yeah, I think it like the stars
Speaker 5: definitely aligning. Like Stephan I always say, right, if we
Speaker 5: met when we were twenty one, we would have had
Speaker 5: different we would have been going clear different directions. But
Speaker 5: because we met so young, we kind of grew together,
Speaker 5: which was really good.
Speaker 4: And we always prioritize.
Speaker 5: Growing as individuals because we do see a lot of
Speaker 5: people that get together really young lose their sense of
Speaker 5: independence and they can't live without the other. And we
Speaker 5: always say to each other, we don't think that's the
Speaker 5: healthiest way to go about things. So, you know, we
Speaker 5: supported each other's studies, travels, job, everys, and we traveled
Speaker 5: separately as well, so we always tried to maintain friendships
Speaker 5: and our sense of.
Speaker 4: Independence through that, and then we grew together at the
Speaker 4: same time. Like yeah, yeah, I think also.
Speaker 2: Like advice, I guess for people that are young and
Speaker 2: want to stay in their relationships. I never wanted to
Speaker 2: turn around to me when we.
Speaker 3: Were like older and be like, oh, you didn't let
Speaker 3: me hang out with the boys, or you didn't let
Speaker 3: me do that when we finished school, like I traveled
Speaker 3: with the girl for three years, he traveled with the boys.
Speaker 2: Like we were trying. Yeah, like John says, to be
Speaker 2: individuals in the relationships.
Speaker 3: So even then when we know and then we encourage
Speaker 3: each other to also be in our own lanes, like
Speaker 3: we we say that a lot, because you know, John's
Speaker 3: got so many strengths, and I've got so many strengths,
Speaker 3: so you also love that and support that person's strengths,
Speaker 3: not trying to, you know, become.
Speaker 2: That person or try and do their hobbies or whatever.
Speaker 2: Just support them and then he'll support me.
Speaker 3: And then we sort of just went on this train
Speaker 3: together and then we adopted that same mentality of allow
Speaker 3: that person to grow within the relationship as an individual constantly.
Speaker 1: I think that's the secret. I mean, I mean that's
Speaker 1: both been my partner and I Whilst our names are
Speaker 1: the same, which is fucking weird, and whilst people come
Speaker 1: up to us and ask if we're twins because we
Speaker 1: look the same, because we're wearing similar clothes, because apart
Speaker 1: from that, we are very very different in personality. And
Speaker 1: I think it's important to championing the other person to
Speaker 1: be the best version of themselves rather than trying to
Speaker 1: recreate a version of yourself in them, which can happen
Speaker 1: in relationships. You know, this is not a relationship podcast though, so.
Speaker 2: But we can speak of our relationships age.
Speaker 1: Everyone wants to know. Everyone wants to know. Anyway, just
Speaker 1: before you go, the last question I'm asking you is
Speaker 1: what ask everyone who joins the podcast. What is something
Speaker 1: from behind the scenes, something that we won't see probably
Speaker 1: on camera, maybe something that's happened in the first two weeks.
Speaker 1: Is it anything silly, like a funny anecdote, not necessarily
Speaker 1: like to spoil how the block is made, but like
Speaker 1: something that's happened that maybe the viewers will be interested
Speaker 1: to hear.
Speaker 2: I guess something that hasn't really been put a lot
Speaker 2: of light on is our showering situation?
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh yeah, I want to know? So by you
Speaker 1: so clean?
Speaker 2: Well, so I'll tell you.
Speaker 3: So we walked into the challenge room and it was
Speaker 3: a really large room with a walking wardroom anyway.
Speaker 2: Whatever, we knocked it down and there was a door
Speaker 2: among the side that was the bathroom, but.
Speaker 3: We had to close it because we had to just
Speaker 3: we couldn't like have an en suite to a kid's
Speaker 3: room anyway.
Speaker 2: Whatever, we closed that room day one. We don't have
Speaker 2: a bathroom or a shower free. Right. Then you see
Speaker 2: us move to house four and what do we do.
Speaker 4: We demo the wrong bar.
Speaker 2: We demo the wrong bathroom, functioning bathroom in our property.
Speaker 1: I'm not making it easy for myself.
Speaker 2: Then the challenge is to do a bathroom, and then
Speaker 2: our bathroom has got lots of problems so we're not
Speaker 2: even able to use it, so then we have no bathroom.
Speaker 3: So it's about it doesn't get into your birth challenge
Speaker 3: and the next time that we actually have a bathroom
Speaker 3: challenge a bathroom room, that we're actually doing a bathroom.
Speaker 2: So we basically share the same bathroom with the girls
Speaker 2: your whole time we're on the book.
Speaker 1: That is not enough bathrooms between four people.
Speaker 2: Oh it's it's not that's your scoop.
Speaker 1: I love it. I love it, guys. I just think
Speaker 1: you're doing so well on the show. I think you're
Speaker 1: both being very real, and I think that's what audiences
Speaker 1: love the most. I think Steph, you might watch some
Speaker 1: of the crying sometimes and go, why am I crying
Speaker 1: on TV? But everyone cries on Reality Vision, so it's
Speaker 1: totally fine. Good luck with the rest of the competition.
Speaker 1: I really do hope you both do well.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 2: I appreciate your time. Thanks so much.