NSW country couple Toad and Mandy have won House Rules, beating out Queensland’s Mel and Dave.
For the engaged couple, the $355,000 cash prize means they can fast-track their wedding plans.
Toad and Mandy are intending to get married in Toad’s home town of Candelo and hold the reception in Mandy’s home town of Eden.
Now that they’ve won the money, they don’t need to save up. Mandy says they can get the planning underway “tomorrow”.
Toad and Mandy have been declared the 2018 winners of House Rules.
“We just need to pick a date and obviously contact the people and see if we can book it,” Mandy, 28, says.
The money will also help the couple achieve another one of their dreams: for beauty therapist Mandy to open a salon.
“It’s just like the wedding,” Mandy says. “I’ll be able to get into planning and building the salon a bit sooner.”
The couple are parents to one-year-old twins, Lenny and Layla. Toad, 33, says they’re going to be smart with the money they’ve won.
“We won’t just blow the money. We might blow a little bit on a boat or something like that, but we’ve done a long haul to get to where we are and we were away from our businesses and our kids and family for a long time. It’s about the future and just staying strong.”
Toad and Mandy with their twins, Layla and Lenny.
The dairy farmer never expected that he and his fiancée would win.
“I didn’t think we’d get through the first week, to be honest with you,” he admits. “I’ve never built anything in my life, really. I didn’t know that Amanda could design as well as she can. She used to put the cushions on the lounge and I’d have to throw them off to have a sleep at lunchtime, but I didn’t know she had quite the eye.”
It’s a victory for country people.
“It goes to show that just because you don’t have all the big shops around you, you can still have that eye for design and the will to go away from your kids and family for so long, and still do a really good job.
“We come from a town of 300 people and we’re bloody celebrities here now. But we didn’t do it for celebrity status. We did it so we could have a better life together and with our kids.”
Congratulations to Toad and Mandy on their major win!
