In Dream Home this week, the renovations move to Queensland – and a feud over one house’s budget leads to anger and tears.
Arriving in Brisbane, sisters Taeler and Elle get to work on Hannah and Jonny’s 1950s weatherboard home, alongside two teams they haven’t worked with before: married couple Lara and Peter, and brothers Liam and Rhys.
At the meeting to divide the budget for labour, Taeler and Elle allocate themselves six times as much money as they allocate Lara and Peter.
“That particular budget meeting was a massive learning curve for us,” Peter tells TV WEEK. “We walked out filthy with ourselves that we let that happen.”
Lara says they trusted Taeler and Elle with the allocation of money because Taeler, as an architect, had more experience than they did.
“I think we were maybe a little naive at the start and put too much trust in people,” she adds.
As Lara and Peter’s bills start to pile up, the couple try talking to Taeler and Elle about their budget. But the conversation takes a turn that leaves Lara in tears.
“That was the first time on the show I genuinely got angry at a situation,” Peter recalls. “I had to go have some alone time.”
Will the judges be blown away by what the sisters have achieved with their huge budget, or prefer Lara and Peter’s lower-budget rooms?
For Lara, 35, and Peter, 37, winning Dream Home’s $100,000 first prize isn’t the priority. They feel they’ve won just by being chosen to have their house renovated.
Before going on the show, the couple would sometimes work seven days a week, with electrician Peter helping out Lara in her wedding florist business at weekends. They’d often bring their children – Leo, 10, and Mia, seven – with them.
“They’d be at a wedding, sitting in the corner waiting for us to finish,” Peter says, with Lara adding, “They didn’t really ever complain. But that’s the guilt we had.”
Now, the couple don’t need to work all those extra hours to save up for home renovations.
“With the weddings, I’ve taken a step back,” Lara says, “just to be able to have fun with the kids on the weekends.”
Dream Home airs Monday and Tuesday at 7:30pm, plus Sunday at 7pm on Channel Seven.
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