As of this week, Anastasia and Tim are officially the new kids on The Block. –
In its tenth season, the series aired last week on the Nine Network with the six competing teams still in the first round of ‘Elimination Central’.
Unlike any other series of the show, competitors on The Block Triple Threat are faced with three rounds of evictions before they make it to the site of the actual block in Melbourne’s trendy South Yarra.
“This year is probably going to be the hardest,” contestant Anastasia tells Neos Kosmos.
“Every year it’s gotten harder in different ways, but three eliminations in the first week. That’s really, really tough.”
The South Australian couple didn’t think that they would actually be selected. Applying a couple of days before the deadline, they were shocked to get a call back out of the 5,000 applicants.
“Maybe it’s because I’m Greek and a bit fiery,” she says with a laugh. “Maybe personalities do have something to do with it. It’s certainly an experience that neither Tim nor myself expected to have. We sent an application video in and hoped to get it. You don’t expect to get a phone call. When you do … wow, it’s such an amazing experience!”
Although neither of them have pursued a career related to construction and design – Anastasia is an operations manager and Tim manages a solar company – the couple believe they have what it takes with the encouragement of those closest to them.
Having moved 12 months ago to a 1930s bungalow, they set out transforming it into their dream home, achieving their goal in record time.
“Family, friends and neighbours, they’ve seen the work that we’ve done and said we should apply for the show,” says Anastasia.
Despite being very capable, the couple have already faced their fair share of challenges on the show.
Being from Adelaide and unfamiliar with the city of Melbourne, the duo have struggled to find the right places to shop, all the while faced with tight time constraints and a lack of sleep.
“A lot of people at home watching the show think ‘oh, they must get a bit of extra time’. That’s not the case. If it’s a 24-hour challenge, we get 24 hours,” she says.
“For the bedroom challenge, we may have laid down for about 20 minutes. What you see on TV is what it is and when people say they haven’t slept, they literally haven’t slept!”
The next challenge will see the couple faced with the huge task of transforming a space into the perfect living and dining room in just 48 hours.
That entails brainstorming ideas and finding the right pieces of furniture, in the right colour, ready to be delivered in just a two-day period – an unimaginably difficult task that any viewer who has attempted to renovate their home will understand.
Yet despite the frustrations that can arise in such trying situations, Anastasia and Tim are not at all worried about rubbing each other the wrong way in front of thousands on national television.
The couple, who met on an internet dating site, knew they were meant to be almost instantly, marrying just after 12 months.
“Tim and I have a very strong relationship and I’m very fortunate because he’s a very placid person,” she says.
“We work well together and we didn’t think this was going to test us in any way. We were quite strong before we went on, so I think it will be fine.”
When it comes to couple’s aesthetic, although they are open-minded, they do prefer a classic style similar to what they have at home. However, when it comes to the design process, although Tim does have some input, Anastasia describes her husband as a “typical male” who leaves that sort of thing up to her.
Excited to be a part of the whole experience, neither of them know what to expect with the first three rounds of evictions, and if they make it through, the return of the ‘All-Stars’ couples from previous series.
“You don’t know what’s happening next. The only thing you can do is be yourself,” she says.
“I think as time goes on, people do get tired and you have seen it on previous series – they’re mentally and physically exhausted. But it’ll be interesting to see what happens.”