This week on The Block, green team’s Rick is forced to put down the tools when a pre-existing knee injury flares up.
And much to the surprise of Tayla, a family member is brought in to save the day – her twin Shannen!
“I was so surprised,” Tayla, 32, tells Woman’s Day of the moment her sister arrived on set. “I was kind of like, ‘Hang on a minute… What are we gonna do?’ But she’s a great stylist and it worked out because we didn’t get slammed that much – and we actually finished the room!”
HEATING THINGS UP
Shannen, 32, a Melbourne-based influencer, reveals she wasn’t aware of how “hardcore” the show really is.
“Every time I spoke to [dad Rick, 63, and Tayla], they were having a ball. So I was like, ‘Oh, they have it easy. This is great!’ And it wasn’t until I actually got on site that I realised how hard it actually is!” she notes, adding that she was taken aback by how competitive the fellow Blockheads were as well.
“We were doing our first group challenge at the pub and Tayla was like, ‘Shannen, put your head down, get your basket and if you have to push people to get ingredients, you push people!’ And I was like, ‘Are you for real?’”
Shannen says the heat in the kitchen only intensified when she took some salt from competitors Adam, 48, and Jolene, 42.
“Jolene had a resting b*tch face because I took her salt, and I was like, ‘Calm down.’ I didn’t realise sharing the salt was frowned upon. That’s when I realised that people do really push and shove. It’s rough out there,” she says.
The twin, who actually auditioned to go on the show with their father back in 2014, says the experience made her realise she wasn’t cut out for construction, adding that she holds no jealousy over Tayla getting to go on the show.
“Absolutely not,” she says. “I’m used to being behind the screen, I’ve got a podcast, so I’m used to being in control of what goes out about me.
“Whereas being filmed 24/7, where everything is just out in the open, I don’t think I’d do well. I don’t think before I speak and that would get me in trouble. But I think Tayla is doing a great job, she’s great TV.”
BAD EDIT
There’s no denying that the chaotic Tayla is amusing TV – however she has been slammed by both her tradies and viewers for, well, not doing much. But after witnessing her sister on set, Shannen says Tayla hasn’t been getting the fairest portrayal. “I do believe they’re giving her a bad edit,” she says.
“Taking all these clips of her sitting around doing nothing and missing out on the parts where she’s doing work. They’ve obviously chosen her to be the airy-fairy one, but I think that suits her perfectly. I think it’s funny,” she says.
“Although, on the first day I got there, I’m not going to lie, I was kind of like, ‘Well, what the hell do we do?’ Dad wasn’t there, so it was me and Tayla and I was sort of waiting for direction from her. There was a lot of, ‘Where are you, Tayla?’ And so I ended up just having to take my own initiative,” she adds.
“But did I paint the whole room?” Tayla asks, pointedly.“Well, yes who else was going to do it? It was you and I that did that whole room,” responds Shannen bluntly.
BRUTAL BLOWS
It’s clear the twins aren’t afraid of confrontation, especially with each other. And that’s made evident when asked whether there were any on-set blow-ups between them.
“You were on your phone so much, I was like, ‘Shannen, get off FaceTime!’” says Tayla.
“There was another time when we were painting the room and I was actually giving you a compliment. I said, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen you work this hard. I’m so proud of you,’” says Shannen.
“And you were obviously very tired because you snapped at me and I actually spoke to producers and said, ‘Look, that was a bit below the belt. I would appreciate it if you didn’t put that in.’”
“Oh, get over yourself, it’s me on the TV, not you,” Tayla laughs.
Shannen then says Tayla should be grateful that didn’t make it into the edit, “because she was coming for me for being an influencer and then I said, ‘Isn’t that why you came on The Block anyway? To get your five minutes of fame?’ Which is actually true.”
A flabbergasted Tayla waits a beat before responding, “Did you actually just say that? “I came on the show for our dad, Shannen. And my son’s future!”
Trying to get the interview back on track, Woman’s Day asks if they’ve always been fiery towards each other.
“Shannen and I, we’ve not really been, you know, besties,” says Tayla.
“We didn’t really share everything with each other, you know? We were just different people growing up. I think it was once we got to our teenage years and figured out who we wanted to be, we took different paths,” adds Shannen.
“I think at our core, we are just different people, and I think our personalities clash a lot of the time. So we aren’t best friends, but we don’t hate each other by any means.”
FAMILY COMES FIRST
Despite their animated exchanges, it’s clear Shannen is right behind her sister and their dad Rick.
“I’m so proud of them,” she says. “I think they have a very high chance of winning – and I just want it so bad for them. Especially Dad, because everything you see of him on that show is him to his core. He really deserves it because of how much he put in.”
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