When Violet Oliver put herself and her daughter Char Oliver forward for new series House Rules NZ, she had no doubt they’d make a great team.
“Char and I have the most beautiful relationship,” says Violet, who at 73 is the show’s oldest contestant. “We’re more like best friends. We really complement each other. We absolutely love designing.
“We’ve designed costumes for World of Wearable Arts for years, and she’s always redecorating and redesigning her own house. But her man Harry doesn’t like it, so she waits for him to go away, then she’ll call me and say, ‘Mum, Harry’s away – come over and paint!'”
“We secretly call him ‘Harry the handbrake’,” laughs mum-of-three Char, 53, who grew up watching her parents regularly renovating her childhood home. “He’s learned that if he goes away, he’ll come home to something different.”
“We’re more like best friends,” says mum Violet (right), whose aim is to get daughter Char the house of her dreams.
Char wasn’t remotely surprised to discover her mum had entered them into the Three show, in which 10 contestants spend five days renovating a section of each other’s houses, with a list of rules from the homeowners the only obstacle to their creativity.
“Mum has so much energy – you’d never believe she’s 73,” she tells. “She’s always the one with the crazy ideas, and I just go along with them and jump on for the ride.
“We have so much fun together and we have the same sense of humour. I love getting mood boards and working out colours – getting a brief for the show was useful too as sometimes you need guidance.”
There was another reason Violet applied to the show – she wanted to gift Char and her family a home makeover. “Renovations cost a fortune. I love Char so dearly and I thought, ‘Wow! What a way to show it, by giving their house a lovely upgrade.'”
The pair’s close relationship is a far cry from Violet’s tough upbringing.
“My dad died at 38 and left Mum with six of us,” tells Samoan-born Violet. “When I was three, it was decided my sister would stay with Mum in Samoa and I’d move to New Zealand to live with my aunt, who lived in Te Awamutu. And she was the auntie from hell.”
When Violet was 19, she became pregnant with Char – an event which reunited her with the rest of her family and gave her a new outlook on life.
“All the other members of my family are the happiest, most wonderful people. When I met them, I finally felt like I belonged. Life for me started at 19.”
All smiles with the other contestants, but things are about to get ugly!
Both Violet and Char are very conscious that family – and much of New Zealand – are watching the show – both the good parts and the not-so-good. “Reality hit that we were actually on a TV show after the first house renovation,” says Char, who admits she and her mum are both very competitive. “There are always limitations, like budget, and I suddenly realised we’d never be able to deliver exactly what they wanted.
“I’m not a professional designer, so I worry about how people will judge us. My name is on these things. I worry I’m going to be humiliated and I don’t know if people are going to love us or hate us.”
The pair believe they are sometimes judged harshly by the other competitors – and they understand the motivation.
“This is a competition with a $100,000 prize,” says Char. “Everyone will make strategic moves at some point. When that much is at stake, you do what you need to do for your family. That’s the driver behind everything we do on the show.”
Adds Violet, “I think there’ll be a reaction to some things we’ve done. There are only five teams, all of whom could potentially win. You have to put your best foot forward. However the viewers react to
us, I believe this sort of thing only lasts for a while. People move on.”
Says Char, “Before anyone judges us too harshly, they should put themselves in our position. Ask yourself: With a prize of $100,000 at stake, what would you do?”
Watch House Rules NZ Sunday to Tuesday at 7.30pm on Three and on ThreeNow.
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