It isn’t easy being away from your kids for weeks or even months but Dream Home couple Hannah and Jonny say the sacrifice of leaving their one-year-old twins, daughter Goldie and son Theodore, with family and friends at home in Brisbane to take part in the renovating competition was worth it.
“Any parent in our position would do the same thing,” Hannah, 33, tells Woman’s Day. “As much as it was really hard leaving them, we knew that they were safe and loved and cared for by their grandparents, but in the meantime, we were giving them something that we would never be able to give them otherwise.”
The couple’s original plans to renovate their inner-city Brisbane home themselves went out the window after parenthood.
“When the twins came along, obviously we were down to one income, and everyone knows interest rates and living is just skyrocketing at the moment, so we just kind of put paint on the inside and said, that’s all we can do,” says Jonny, 42.
Until the reality series changed their lives!
OUT OF THEIR HANDS
The couple admit it wasn’t easy putting their home in the hands of strangers though. “It was definitely nerve-racking but at the end of the day we’re doing the same thing for other people’s houses,” Hannah says. “They’re putting their trust in us as well.”
So what would they hate to find back home?
“Jonny and I have a lot of personality and when people meet us, they’re going to think that we want bold and bright and crazy. So for us, our worst nightmare is if it’s got bright, different colours in every room. It’s not cohesive. It doesn’t have a sense of calm.”
Of course, an overhauled house isn’t the only thing this couple could walk away with – there’s also the grand prize of $100,000 towards their mortgage up for grabs.
“It’s really hard to put into words because we’re already so grateful for just even being selected to go on this show and being given a renovated house,” says DJ and event emcee Jonny.
“But having that amount of money to take off the mortgage would just take so much stress off me, and how much I have to bring in. It would be even more life-changing.”
THE FEEL-GOOD FACTOR
In the meantime, Jonny says there’s plenty of drama – and heart – to keep viewers hooked.
“It really is a feel-good show and we didn’t realise that until the first reveal,” he says.
“Once we stepped back and said, ‘Wow, this is what we’ve created. They’re going to absolutely love it.’ It kind of kicked in that this is a different show compared to the others.”
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