Kyal and Kara, 2014
After taking home more than $500,000 on The Block in 2014, Kyal and Kara Demmrich, both 36, not only became fan faves but were able to turn their hobby of home renovating into their full-time gig! Here, the parents-of-two tell Woman’s Day how the reality show made all their dreams come true…
Was it like no time had passed when you were back on The Block?
Kyal: Yeah, it was. I loved catching up with the old faces, and seeing [co-hosts] Scotty Cam and Shelley Craft. We share a bit of a unique bond, so it’s always a treat to go back.
How did The Block change your lives?
Kyal: It changed because we won a lot of money and that definitely is a good thing!
Kara: Well, I was working full-time as a physio when I went on The Block and I never went back to that full-time. Now we have our own renovating business and we’ve just put our latest project on the market.
Kyal: Now we get to work with people in the industry and brands, helping showcase what we love to do, which is renovating. Once we finished The Block, we really wanted to show people what’s possible for their own homes.
What did you do with your $576,000 prize money?
Kara: We’d just finished our own reno and we were about to sell that house, but then this shack became available and the auction was the exact same day the money landed in our account. We were like, “That’s a sign!”
Kyal: We were mortgage-free momentarily.
Kara: Yeah, for a couple of hours!
What’s your favourite memory from The Block?
Kara: Just those delirious late-night chats that we had with the other couples who were going through what we were going through.
Kyal: For me, it’s just that buzzing environment of tradies working over the top of each other, with the camera crew in their faces. It made us realise wer were part of something unique and it’s really rare to have that opportunity.
Do you still get recognised by viewers?
Kyal: Yeah, we do. Surprisingly, even when I’ve got like a beanie and sunnies on, and my own mum probably wouldn’t recognise me, I get people going, “Oh, you’re that guy off The Block!”
Deb and Andy, 2019
Do you still get recognised from your time on The Block?
We do and it’s really nice. It’s been so long, but people still come up and chat to us about the show. It’s always really lovely and people are very kind.
Have you stayed in touch with any of your original Block castmates over the years?
Absolutely, we holiday with Tess, Luke, Elise, Matt, Jesse and Mel every year. We’re currently planning our next getaway together. We all talk regularly too. We’ve also caught up with crew over the years. They get to know us all so well on the show, and go through all the highs and lows with us!
What was the biggest thing your time on The Block taught you both?
To never ever give up on anything until the very end, and also that every person copes with stress and difficulties differently. You have to allow people to move through hard things the best way they can. Last but not least – a good tradie is worth their weight in gold!
Dale and Sophie, 2012
How did The Block change your life?
Obviously it changed it financially – we were able to buy our first home, which was pretty amazing – but it also created a myriad of opportunities for us both.
Was it strange returning to The Block for the 20th anniversary?
Really strange, but it was so fun to reminisce with Scotty and the crew. It felt like a lifetime ago and like we’d never left at the same time.
Have you stayed in touch with any of your castmates or the hosts over the years?
We definitely caught up more regularly in the first few years following filming, but three kids later, plus time and distance, can make things difficult. Lucky they’re the type of friends where you pick up where you left off when you do catch up again.
Alisa and Lysandra, 2013 and 2014
What’s your favourite memory from your time on The Block?
It would have to be winning The Block and being the first all-female team to ever win. The sense of accomplishment we felt and seeing all our hard work come to fruition was incredibly rewarding.
And the worst?
Doing two seasons of the show back to back. We didn’t have time to come up for air in between. Also, being away from our kids was extremely tough, but we knew it was for their long-term benefit.
Can you believe the show is still so popular all these years later?
The show has done an amazing job of evolving and keeping audiences engaged. It’s a real testament to the creativity and hard work of everyone involved.
Michael and Carlene, 2014
How did The Block change your life?
We infamously made $10,000 at auction, so it didn’t set us up financially like it did others. However, The Block provided us an opportunity to see what we’re made of and with a platform to be able to launch our skills.
What kind of opportunities did it bring your way?
We’ve had lots of pinch-me moments during the past 10 years. We’ve had the opportunity to work with loads of brands. We even did a campaign for Singapore Tourism, by which we were able to take the kids on a trip to Singapore.
Did it bring any negativity?
Yes. It was the first time having to engage in social media. Navigating nasty comments from strangers is a strange thing for anyone to wrap their heads around. We also had to get ourselves out of the financial red.
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