To die of a broken heart is a phrase that rings true for loveable air hostess Lisa. The House Rules star reveals that her beloved nan passed away just three weeks after her grandad four years ago. She still finds the loss difficult to process.
“It was like old-school love,” Lisa, 30, tells TV WEEK. “They’d been together forever. My nan would wait for him to come home every night, and they’d never go to bed angry with each other.
“She just doted on him; he did everything for her. She didn’t even know how to drive. He was the man of the house. She would cook the meals and he would go to the work.”
Lisa with her beloved grandparents Ann and John.
Lisa’s grandad John was 78 when he discovered he had a stage-four brain tumour. He died soon afterwards – followed by Lisa’s nan three weeks later.
“He went downhill from there and was admitted to a nursing home,” Lisa explains. “He needed 24-hour care before he passed away.
“Three weeks later, Mum tried calling Nan and she just wasn’t answering. She died of a broken heart. My nan couldn’t live without him.”
On House Rules Lisa takes after her grandather John, who was a carpenter.
While the loss devastated Lisa, she’s able to find comfort in the fact that she shares traits with both grandparents.
“John was a carpenter, and Mum said he would be so proud of me,” she says.
“He’d be blown away. Mum says that when she watches me on TV, she can see I muck around like he would. And when I say, ‘Andrew, what are you doing?!’, I’m more like my nan!”
House Rules airs Monday and Sunday, 7:30pm, on Channel Seven.
