A cool $750,000 canโt compare to the biggest prize Ricky Recard scored on The Block โ meeting the love of his life.
โPeople spend their whole lives looking for their soulmate and someone to love, so no matter what happened on that auction day, I was always going to come away a winner,โ says the reality star, who says heโs found his forever with The Blockโs makeup artist, Erin Lee.
SPARK FROM THE START
The mother-of-two, 40, says there was an instant attraction between the pair as soon as the plumber sat down in her makeup chair.
โWe spent a few months forming a friendship, but there was definitely a spark,โ says Erin.
Ricky, 34, explains, โI was in a relationship but I wasnโt 100 per cent happy in that relationship and I definitely wasnโt in love, thatโs for sure. I needed that time away to realise there are things out there that are more important and I was just lucky to find love at the end of it.โ
Rickyโs ex, Lauren Smith, 30, went public in September with claims that the Melbourne-based plumber had โblindsidedโ her with his new romance with Erin.
โI was definitely disappointed, but obviously she was a bit disgruntled and I was trying to move on and she was struggling. There are two sides to every story. Me and Erin knew we hadnโt done anything wrong,โ says Ricky.
Erin admits, โIt brought a lot of unwanted attention. But it didnโt affect us because we knew the truth.โ
MADLY IN LOVE
Ricky says he never expected to find his life partner while starring on The Block.
โAfter the show finished, me and Erin stayed in touch. I went to Mexico for a couple of weeks and we spoke every day โ and after a couple of tequilas on the beach, I got the Dutch courage to FaceTime Erin and we just started speaking every day from that point,โ he says.
โThen, by the time I got back, we were destined to meet up and ever since then, weโve just been madly in love!โ
Erin adds, โIt got pretty serious, pretty quick.โ
The couple havenโt moved in together yet, but she say itโs โdefinitely planned for the future.โ
Ricky explains itโs been โwildโ since finishing the home reno show so the pair havenโt had a chance to make solid plans yet, but heโd like to make the move from Melbourne to Phillip Island, where Erin is based.
โWe want to spend the rest of our lives together,โ he assures.
ISLAND LIFE
โI was born and raised in the country so I do like that laid-back lifestyle. I love my fishing, Erin loves her surfing, so Iโd love to get a house down on the island,โ he says.
In fact, Ricky says Erin โpretty much had me the minute she said she had a dream that she was out on a tinny catching squid. I was like โThatโs it. I want to spend the rest of my life with this woman.โโ
BUILT-IN FAMILY
Ricky says his relationship with the single mum is the first heโs had thatโs made him think about a family of his own.
โIโve never met someone that I wanted to start a family with, but Erinโs situation is she has two boys of her own, so I donโt know,โ he tells Womanโs Day.
โI think Iโm just going to see how raising two young boys that arenโt my own is and see how that goes. But Erinโs happy and Iโm happy and I reckon it might work just fine.โ
Itโs welcome stability for Ricky, whoโs been open about his estrangement from his own parents, Martin and Debbie Blennerhasset.
โThey did try to reach out and the only reason they reached out was because they saw me on television,โ says Ricky. โMy feelings havenโt changed at all. Iโve got all the people that I need around me and even more so now that Iโve got Erin. Weโve got our own little family happening.โ
Attention from his long-lost relatives isnโt the only kind Ricky is getting used to.
โObviously me and Haydn [Wise] are pretty colourful units, so itโs pretty obvious who we are when weโre out. I think Erin gets a little bit annoyed when weโre out at a bar or at dinner when people come over and ask us for photos but she knows Iโm a people person and people are just excited to see someone from TV so Iโm happy to take the time,โ says Ricky, who says heโs been โhumbledโ by his Block experience.
โWith the money and opportunity, Iโve got the chance to set me and Erin up forever. Exciting times ahead.โ