This was published 7 years ago
House Rules competition suspended for first time ever due to Cyclone Debbie
By Aja Styles
House Rules contestants Aaron and Daniella faced losing their newly renovated home on the Gold Coast to flooding when Cyclone Debbie struck during filming for the show.
Teams Ella and Sean, from Tasmania, and Kate and Harry, from South Australia, were working on the exterior of the couple's canal home at Broadbeach Waters when the category three cyclone set in on March 28.
During Monday night's episode you could see the tropical storm roll in with one day and four hours left on the clock of the four-day challenge.
In a matter of hours Queensland declared a state of emergency, particularly in the north of the state which was battered by 260km/hr winds. Severe weather warnings were issued on the Gold Coast due to the heavy rain and damaging winds.
Stop the clock: House Rules competition suspended by Cyclone Debbie.Credit: Seven
But the teams soldiered on, as host Joh Griggs narrated: "The impact of Cyclone Debbie hits the Gold Coast hard. Both teams do what they can to protect their sites from the elements. Well aware that work must continue."
Speaking to Fairfax Media, Aaron and Daniella said it was nerve-wracking to learn of that the cyclone was bearing down on their unfinished property while they were busy renovating another home in Tasmania.
"The storm escalated to Cyclone Debbie and I had that fear of, are the kids OK?" Daniella said. "Friends, family? Is our house going to be OK? It was nerve wracking."
Aaron, meanwhile, said as the storm grew more intense he also felt bad for Ella, Sean, Kate and Harry. He said being in a renovation competition is like being in a "pressure cooker" even when there's sunny skies.
House Rules competitors Ella and Kate embrace after the competition is suspended on the Gold Coast due to safety concerns.Credit: Seven
"We didn't want to see our house ruined or the guys put behind," he said. "Mother nature is completely out of your control.
"We were in Tassie, so the only thing we had to put up with was good whiskey and fine wines."
BEFORE: The canal levels were rising at Aaron and Dee's Gold Coast home during the cyclone.Credit: Seven
It is understood that the teams were given cyclone updates as filming continued.
"With delivery schedules in chaos state-wide, Sean and Ella are concerned their pool tiles are lost in transit," Griggs continued.
Aaron and Daniella's Gold Coast house is left to the elements.Credit: Seven
"The tiles got diverted because of the storm so they are not going to get here before the tiler goes home. Nightmare," complained Ella. "We're already behind and now the rain is now another problem as well."
They were told by the tiler that if it was raining tomorrow they couldn't tile the pool. "Oh my God."
House Rules' Build Supervisor tells the teams to make the site safe as renovations get suspended.Credit: Seven
And they woke to "cyclonic weather lashing the site". "I cannot believe this weather, we have got one day to finish this front yard, we're going to be working in the elements," Harry told viewers.
His partner Kate outlined all the elements they faced. "We've got to paint all the walls, we've got to lay all the grass, we've got to pave, we've got to get this carport roof on, plant... Everything needs to be done today."
The House Rules teams start sandbagging to try and prevent flooding.Credit: Seven
"This is an exterior garden round and I don't know how we're going to get paint on these walls," she added.
"It's only going to get worse from here. It's eight o'clock in the morning and it's meant to get harder at 10.30[am] today. We're in all sorts," a rain-drenched Harry elaborated for the cameras.
Sean starts work on a trench around Aaron and Dee's Gold Coast home.Credit: Seven
Conditions on the site became unworkable and the teams ground to a halt. "It will not stop raining," said Ella. "It just doesn't look like we're going to get this finished for Aaron and Dee."
It has been reported that tradesmen on the site threatened to quit since their tools were being ruined by the torrential rain.
Knee deep water means the House Rules site is unsafe.Credit: Seven
The Build Supervisor instructed the teams to suspend all work on the renovation. "Hey guys, the storm's getting worse. Make it safe, thanks guys."
Already hundreds of homes had been flooded state-wide so Kate, Harry, Ella and Sean set about helping to lay sand bags outside and towels inside to try and prevent Aaron and Dee's house from flooding as the canal levels began to rise. But the rain alone was already wreaking havoc.
House Rules clock stops for first time ever.Credit: Seven
"The house is actually flooding, front, back, sides. This is massive," Kate informed viewers. "We're trying to clean up a mess and it's becoming more of a mess."
Ella instructed Harry to help Sean dig a trench, but when they found themselves "knee deep in water" the site manager called 'time'. "That's it, we're done, we're out," he declared.
House Rules' (from left) Sean, Ella, Kate and Harry 'devastated' by the impact of the cyclone.Credit: Seven
"Conditions are worsening and they've done all they can to barricade against the rain. As a safety measure the head builder shuts down the site," narrated Griggs.
When local roads began to close and the contestants were in danger of becoming stranded in a flood water zone, House Rules suspended the competition.
"Then with only seven hours left and for the first time in House Rules history, there's no choice but to stop the clock."
Aaron and Daniella were called since their house had to be left to the elements unmanned.
"Feel so sad for Aaron and Dee. It's not for a lack of trying, we just can't even work," Sean commiserated to fellow competitors Kate and Harry on the show.
"And they're working hard on our house and we can't even do the same thing," said an equally saddened Ella.
"All we really wanted to do was produce a beautiful backyard and Kate and Harry a front yard for Aaron and Dee and we've left it in a condition that's worse than to start with."
Headed back to their hotels to seek solace in safer shelter and drier clothes, Kate concluded: "This means that it will be us or Tassie going home. There's no way around it."
Viewers will find out the true extent of the damage to Aaron and Daniella's Queensland property on Sunday night.
- with Broede Carmody