For father and daughter duo Rick and Tayla, the experience of watching themselves back on TV, on one of Australia’s biggest reality shows no less, has been something of a learning curve.
“It’s a bit cringey watching yourself on telly,” Rick tells Woman’s Day. “But I’m slowly getting used to it now. Half the stuff Tayla’s done on the show, I didn’t actually get to see [while filming] so it’s been quite funny watching her.”
“Being a little fruitloop,” adds Tayla. “But I do want viewers to know that I actually got on the tools! I just wasn’t allowed to paint!”
One viewer Tayla won’t have to try too hard to convince she’s capable is her six-year-old son Hendrix – mainly because he hasn’t been watching!
“He watched the first couple but I think he’s a bit over it to be honest,” she laughs. “He ends up halfway through [an episode] just playing with his cars! But all his friends at school were like, ‘Oh my God, we saw your mum on TV!’”
Rick adds, “I think when he’s a bit older, he’ll realise what you’ve done and he’ll look back and say, ‘Hey, that’s my mum up there,’ and be very proud of what you’ve done.”
MENTAL BATTLE
The Melbourne-based pair, who had auditioned for The Block a total of nine times, both together and separately, say nothing could prepare them for what was to come.
“I did think we were going on the show for s**ts and giggles,” laughs Tayla, 32, who works as a personal trainer. “It’s a beast. But I’ll tell you something, I’ve never been that efficient in my life. I was up at 5.45am, I was on the ball. I had so much dedication and determination and focus…well, most of the time.”
“I think the mental side of it was tough for me,” reveals builder Rick, 63. “Some of it didn’t go to plan. And standing up there on a Sunday, listening to the judges belt the crap out of Tayla for styling, it was hard to take as a dad. But she stood there beside me and squeezed my hand every time until I was about to let go.”
SNAKES IN THE GRASS
Already known for their fiery exchanges with each other, Rick and Tayla reveal they got on with everybody on the show – for the most part.
“I think Nine was hoping for a bit more drama when they put us all in the one house,” says Tayla. “Although I would often lose it over the bathroom situation. People were always doing number twos where I brushed my teeth,” she laughs.
While they add they grew the closest to Brisbane best friends Courtney and Sev, Tayla let slip that there may have been some bad blood between her dad and Adam.
“That’s what upset me because Dad was pouring his heart out to him and [Adam] was being a little snake,” she says bluntly.
“He was being a smartass. That really peed me off.”
“Look, yeah they were in there to win the game,” Rick adds about South Australian contestants Adam and his wife Jolene.
“I went in there for the experience and if we’re fortunate enough to make money then great, but they were in there for one thing and one thing only.”
LIVING LIFE
No matter how challenging the show got, Rick says it paled in comparison to what he’s already been through – surviving cancer twice.
“I was struck down with kidney cancer,” Rick says. “And later it was prostate.
“So I’ve dealt with the beast twice and fought it and won, but it’s always at the back of your mind,” he says.
“But you just have to live life and make the most of it. And doing this with Tayla, it was just the best thing for me.”
Tayla says her father is her biggest inspiration and notes that he, along with Hendrix, is the reason they’re hoping to walk away with a ton of money on auction day.
“I’m hoping after all of this that he can actually get off the tools and finally kick back and relax and let his body heal. He deserves that.”
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