Pictures: Phillip Castleton.
A cool $750,000 can’t compare to the biggest prize Ricky Recard scored on The Block Australia – meeting the love of his life.
“People 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,” says the reality star, who has found his “forever” with The Block’s makeup artist Erin Lee. The mother-of-two, 40, says there was an instant attraction between her and the Melbourne plumber, 34, as soon as he sat down in her makeup chair.
Erin shares, “We spent a few months forming a friendship, but there was definitely a spark.”
Ricky, 34, confesses, “I was in a relationship, but I wasn’t 100% happy and I definitely wasn’t in love. 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.”
Ricky’s ex, Lauren Smith, 30, publicly said the tradie had “blind-sided” her with his new romance with Erin.
“I definitely felt disappointed, but obviously she was a bit disgruntled,” Ricky tells Woman’s Day.
“I was trying to move on and she was struggling. There are two sides to every story. Me and Erin knew we hadn’t done anything wrong.”
Erin admits, “It brought a lot of unwanted attention, but it didn’t affect us because we knew the truth.”
Madly in love
Ricky never expected to find his life partner while starring on The Block.
“After the show finished, me and Erin stayed in touch,” he says. “I went to Mexico for a couple of weeks and we spoke every day – and after a couple of tequilas on the beach, I got the Dutch courage to FaceTime Erin and we started speaking every day from that point.
“By the time I got back, we were destined to meet up and ever since then, we’ve just been madly in love!”
Erin adds, “It got serious pretty quick.”
The couple haven’t moved in together yet, but she says it’s “definitely planned for the future”.
Ricky explains it’s been “wild” since finishing the home reno show, so the pair haven’t had a chance to make solid plans yet, but he’d like to make the move from Melbourne to Phillip Island, where Erin is based.
“We want to spend the rest of our lives together,” he insists. “I was born and raised in the country, so I do like that laid-back lifestyle. I love my fishing and Erin loves her surfing, so I’d love to get a house down on the island.
“Erin pretty much had me the minute she said she had a dream that she was out on a tinny catching squid. I was like, ‘That’s it. I want to spend the rest of my life with this woman.’”
Built-in family
Ricky says his relationship with the single mum is the first he’s had that’s made him think about having kids of his own.
“I’ve never met someone that I wanted to start a family with, but Erin’s situation is that she has two boys of her own, so I don’t know,” he admits.
“I’m just going to see how raising two young boys that aren’t my own is. But Erin’s happy and I’m happy. I reckon it might work just fine.”
It’s welcome stability for Ricky, who’s been open about his estrangement from his own parents, Martin and Debbie Blennerhasset.
“They did try to reach out and the only reason they reached out was because they saw me on television,” says Ricky. “My feelings haven’t changed at all. I’ve got all the people that I need around me and even more so now that I’ve got Erin. We’ve got our own little family happening.”
Attention from his long-lost relatives isn’t the only kind Ricky is getting used to.
“Obviously me and Haydn [Wise, his Block partner] are pretty colourful units, so it’s pretty obvious who we are when we’re out,” says Ricky.
“Erin gets a little bit annoyed when we’re out at a bar or at dinner when people come over and ask us for photos, but she knows I’m a people person and people are just excited to see someone from TV, so I’m happy to take the time.”
Ricky adds that his Block experience has ‘humbled’ him, grinning, “With the money and opportunity, I’ve got the chance to set me and Erin up forever. Exciting times ahead!”
Stream Ricky’s season of The Block Australia now on Three Now.
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