Dream Home contestant Lara was reduced to tears after a major confrontation with Victorian sisters Taeler and Elle.
The sisters were labelled “competitive and fake” for appearing to take advantage of other contestants’ naivety and walking away with more than half of the labour budget on the latest renovation.
Not only did the pair upset Lara and husband Peter, but tradie brothers Rhys and Liam were also upset.
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The three couples had been tasked with renovating Hannah and Jonny’s dream Queensland home after Lara and Peter’s win last week in Victoria.
As the winning couple, they were rewarded with a $10,000 combined cash and labour bonus to use “on something special” — a reward that should have given them the upper hand this time.
When it came time to dividing this round’s budget, Taeler and Elle took charge of making the divisions.
The sisters were renovating a bathroom and dining room, Lara and Peter were assigned the kitchen and a guest bedroom, and Rhys and Liam had the laundry and living room.
Elle asked Lara and Peter immediately how much they needed.
As renovation rookies, they had no clue, with this their first kitchen.
Taeler, who is an architect, offered to “help” and suggested $4500 of the $40,000 total for the kitchen.
Rhys, who is a tiler by trade, said that it should be $9000.
However, Elle cut him off, “We can’t give them $9000.”
“With the budget allocation, we are putting our trust and reliance on someone who does this for a living (Taeler) and who would want the best for their friends Jonny and Hannah,” Lara said of their trust in the sisters.
However, was this the right course of action in the competition?
“Our strategy is (that)we need to do the best. We need to be selfish when it comes to money,” Taeler told producers.
Suggesting the budget, Elle said: “So what if we did $4500 for (Lara and Peter) and $8500 for (Rhys and Liam)?”
As Rhys did the maths, he realised the staggering remaining amount the girls would then pocket for themselves.
“You’ve got $27,000?”
Elle did not bat an eye, saying, “Yeah, that’s what’s left of the $40,000”.
“That’s a lot!” Rhys said.
“What the hell!” Lara added.
“Guys, it was a pleasure doing this with you for the first time,” Elle smugly said.
Lara and Peter appeared stunned by what had just gone down, telling producers, “Somehow, Taeler and Elle have walked away with $27,000 of labour, which is more than half the budget. We walked away with $4500.
“I cannot believe we just let that happen.”
Realising how unfair the budgeting was, Peter went to Elle to get more of the massive budget.
But Elle shut it down.
An angry Peter told the producers, “You’ve got $27,000 sitting there, and you’ve already told me you have nothing left, and you haven’t got a single quote … ah ok”.
“I’m pissed, they’re b******.
“They’ve literally left us hanging with $4500 knowing that we won’t be able to finish our space with that money, and they could build a palace with their money. Watch this space.”
As the work began, the money injustice became clearer by the hour, with Lara stating that it was as if Taeler and Elle had received the Hipages reward, and not them.
Calling a house meeting, all six contestants came together to discuss the disastrous situation.
But the conversation came to a boiling point, with Lara in tears after the sisters stormed off, claiming “the relationship is beyond repair”.
“They have left my wife in tears,” Peter told producers.
“I need to stay absolutely clear of them because I am going to blow a gasket if I go anywhere near them.
“I don’t want their money, if they’re going to play like that, we’ll make our own way. I’ll work night and day to finish our spaces!”
Dream Home continues on Channel 7 and 7plus Tuesday 7:30pm AEST.
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