My Reno Rules: Julia explains the fierce drive behind House 1’s growing tensions

Julia knows viewers might have strong opinions about her competitive streak on My Reno Rules – but she says there is a very personal reason behind it.

“I think parents will understand the competitive edge we have because they know that we’re doing this for our kids,” Julia, 34, tells TV WEEK. “Our kids were the main reason for us going on this show, putting ourselves out there and competing so hard. We’re doing this to try to buy back more time with them – so that we can be present for them and with them.”

With the prize money now at one million dollars, and three children she hopes to build a brighter future for, it’s no surprise Julia’s emotions are running high. But, for those sharing House 1, that intensity can be hard to live with.

This week, tensions flare between Julia and Nathan and the other House One team, Emma and Michelle, over room allocation.

While Julia and Nathan appear to concede, that comes with one important condition – they want first pick of one of the most valuable spaces the following week: the kitchen.

“We were just going around in circles and wasting our time,” Julia recalls. “We just needed to come to some sort of agreement and we said, ‘We’re happy to take the less preferable zone this week if we get the more preferable zone next week.’”

Later, when a bar that the Victorian-based couple had planned appears in Emma and Michelle’s zone – along with a similar paint choice – it looks on-screen as if the mother–daughter team might be taking inspiration a little too literally. But Julia insists it wasn’t that simple.

“I don’t think there was any copying,” she reveals. “We were all working with the same suppliers, the same inspirations, under the same time pressure. You’re all working to the same stock availability. Naturally you’re going to have a lot of overlap when it comes to similar inspirations and designs.”

With pressure mounting and patience wearing thin, the battle for House 1 is only just heating up.

My Reno Rules airs on Tuesday’s at 7.30pm on Channel Seven and 7plus.