When Paige and Jesse made the decision to quit The Block, producers worked around the clock to replace them.
But within 24 hours they’d locked in their brand-new Pink Team – Sydney-born sisters Maddy, 24, and Charlotte, 22.
The experienced renovators, who flip houses professionally, are the youngest team to ever compete on the show.
“Mum and dad took us past the first The Block open homes… we went past [in] prams.” Maddy tells New Idea.
Since then, they dreamed about their chance to be Blockheads.
“We’ve always been ambitious and wanted to challenge ourselves, so I think we’d always just kind of said, how cool would it be to do that one day?” Maddy shares.
The sisters went through the original application process but had received a ‘no’ in the final round. That’s why they were shocked to receive the call from The Block’s producers months later.
Maddy says she was cooking a hot cross bun when she suddenly heard her younger sister screaming upstairs.
“Charlotte was yelling at me, come quick… I thought they were ringing to tell us why we didn’t get in. Then, they were like ‘a couple has left today. Could you be here tomorrow?’” she tells.
When asked if any doubt went through their heads, the siblings say it was silly to even consider saying no. Further encouragement from their parents pushed them to claim their spot.
“You should have seen the state of our house, as we were ripping apart our wardrobes and packing bags… very overwhelming, very chaotic – absolutely insane,” says Maddy.
Although the pair were grateful to be selected, they concede it was a “weird” and “different” experience to what they had imagined, considering they came in late to the competition.
That didn’t stop the determination though. Charlotte says: “we were just ready for whatever came our way”.
“We literally just instantly went into survival mode and tried our absolute best. We gave it 110 per cent. But at the same time being realistic and realising we’re here for the end game,” Maddy shares.
They found their first week challenging with a limited amount of time to finish a room in three days – compared to the rest of the teams who had seven. Plus, the lack of sleep and constant filming took some getting used to.
“Just to know that every single thing that you do for nine weeks could be shown on national TV is quite intimidating,” says Maddy.
The girls say they realise that they’re young, but they’re willing to give it their absolute best and “just prove to ourselves that we could do it and not really anyone else”.
