Canberra may not have contestants on this season of The Block, but the national capital can lay claim to a handy tradie or two helping to bring five homes to life in country Victoria.
Troy Boots, owner of Canberra company Absolute Outdoor Constructions, got the call-up to help out on the hit renovation show, with its latest incarnation, The Block Tree Change, going to air this week.
The show, for the first time, has moved to the country to Gisborne South in Victoria's Macedon Range, and it was there Troy and his workers Nathan Monk, Rhodry Petersen and Reuben Misner, headed after getting a call for more manpower from one of Mr Boots' suppliers, Straco.
"Obviously with the building industry at the moment, it's very busy so they put the call-out to see if we were interested in helping them out because they were down a few dealers," Mr Boots said. "So, yeah, we made the trek."
The Canberra tradies were on-site for a week, during outdoors week, which was right at the end of the construction, working on decks and pergolas.
"It was great," Mr Boots said. "We went in with an open mind. We knew it was going to be a hectic week. They were long days which we already said to ourselves, 'That's what's going to happen'. But it was really a great experience for all of us."
The Theodore father-of-two worked mainly on House 5 with Omar and Oz, House 2 with new couple Rachel and Ryan and House 1 with Tom and Sarah-Jane.
"Everyone was great," he said. "The other tradies, we didn't have any issues at all. Everyone helped each other."
Did it feel surreal being there?
"Yep, definitely," he said. "Especially now as it's started to be televised."
Mr Boots said he and his wife Vicki and daughters, Tiana, 18, and Mikayla, 17, couldn't wait to see him on-screen.
"The cameras are there all the time but when it comes to editing, maybe I've got a face for radio," he said.
"But the cameras were definitely there, we thought we did a good job, so hopefully."
As well as hard work visiting the on-site McCafe every morning, The Block experience was also defined by the distances between the houses.
"We did a lot of k's walking while we were there. The steps were up," Mr Boots said, with a laugh.
Mr Boots is also the head coach of the under 17s at the Canberra United Academy.
"My team was in the Kanga Cup and it ended up being the week we were away. And they won it," he said. "So the experience of being on The Block, we weighed it up and thought, 'This could be a once-in-a-lifetime'.
"We weren't only proud of what we did but a few dealers from Melbourne and South Australia came in, so networking with them and getting a few ideas from them as well on how they do things. So working closely with them was really good."
And he did consider applying to be a contestant next year.
"I actually asked the wife about that," he said.
"I don't know if she could put up with me that long, 12 weeks so confined. I honestly think we'd do okay. She's got a good eye for how things should look but, nup, she's definitely already put that to bed."
- The Block Tree Change's first reveals are on Sunday at 7pm on Channel Nine.
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