Mother-and-daughter team Kim and Michelle won’t just walk away from House Rules with a better-looking home. Going on the show has transformed their bodies too.
Kim, the oldest renovator in the competition at the age of 59, admits she hasn’t stepped on a set of scales in a while. But she can tell from the looseness of her clothes she’s lost quite a bit of weight. She’s dropped almost two dress sizes since filming began.
“I was a size 14,” she explains. “I’m down to between a 10 and a 12.”
Kim was slowed by a knee problem in the early weeks of filming House Rules. But it didn’t take long before she was back to doing her share of physical labour. She says she’s happy with her slimmer physique.
“It’s good weight loss,” she says. “You’re very active. When you’re at home, it’s just housework, and a lot of standing. But on the build, it’s physical. It’s hard labour – a lot of hard labour. We can work up to 12-hour days.”
Michelle, 27, estimates she’s lost “about three kilos”. But she explains both she and her mum have been gaining muscle while they’ve been losing fat.
“It’s not like a stress weight loss or anything,” she adds. “You transform it into muscle because you’re lifting things and using muscles you’ve never had to use. I didn’t even know some of my muscles existed until they started hurting.”
Michelle, who’s mum to daughters Bella, eight, and Aaliyah, seven, has been inspired by her new House Rules body. She’s now planning to do more regular weight training after filming wraps.
“I feel great,” she grins. “I’ve got a gym membership that I haven’t used in three years. I think I’m going to keep it up and go to the gym and build more muscle.”
