‘It felt personal’: Britt and Taz open up about The Block (and what WA’s top cop thinks)

4 hours ago 2

For the last three months, the phone has been ringing off the hook at Newman Police Station.

Not because of a sudden escalation in crime in the remote West Australian mining town, but because so many have rung in to cheer on local officers Britt and Taz, who have become unlikely fan favourites on this year’s season of The Block.

The couple, arguably one of the nicest teams on the show have made a seamless transition from Pilbara constables to building and interior design experts, winning more room reveals than any other team.

They’re in with a big chance of winning the series come auction day, which could make them the first ever WA team to win the show in its 20 season history.

And they have loved every minute of it.

“It was a lot harder than we thought it would be,” Britt said.

“I would watch the show and think, ‘Why are these guys crying over a kitchen?’,” Taz said.

“But I also thought that they would help you a lot more. I thought they’d point you in directions and stuff. But everything in that house was me and Britt.”

The homes are now built and, while the couple did go back to work in Newman after filming wrapped earlier this year, they are now back to Daylesford in Victoria to meet and greet potential buyers and make last-minute alterations.

The 21st season of the reality TV show, screened on Nine which is also the owner of this masthead, has seen the contestants build a home from scratch for the first time.

Britt and Taz with fellow contestants Ben and Emma.

While it was challenging, it also meant they had had a blank canvass to style as their own.

“I researched the area, what it’s known for, what Daylesford’s about,” Britt said.

“It has two quite clear to sort of distinct styles. You have that cottage look, country farm style, with a little bit of a modern twist on it. And then you have the very eccentric, very out there style, bold patterns and colours.

“I was like, ‘Look, at the end of the day, we need to sell this house’. I don’t want it to be too polarising. You have to love the bold, crazy colours. So we went down the other route, which ties into the wellness vibe.”

The couple copped repeated criticism from the judges for creating a Pilates studio, complete with ceiling drapes and drinks cabinet, in one room and were advised on multiple occasions to scrap it completely.

Despite being a self-confessed introvert, Britt has been confident in her styling decisions throughout the show – and she was not going to back down on the Pilates studio.

It was part of a strategic move the couple had planned long before filming kicked off.

“The plan was to open it up to all markets, so a family could live there and go and make it their home, but [Daylesford] being the Airbnb capital of Australia, and because it’s a Block house, because it’s so well marketed, we believe it could be an Airbnb for wellness retreats, for weddings,” Taz said.

“And when we speak to buyers that come through, they have said you can hire it out at 60 to 80 per cent occupancy. You would easily get that and make money, or if you’re renting it out for weddings, that’s when you start chucking zeros at the end of it for weekends or weeks away.”

It’s that level of planning and strategic thinking that has won the couple so many room reveals, but not so many friends.

They have been the target of behind-closed-doors whispering, and were at the centre of drama after being accused of starting to build their outside deck ahead of schedule.

Britt was also embroiled in an on-air argument with fellow competitor Alicia, who she had previously been friends with, after being accused of reneging on a shopping trip.

“We did think maybe we got stitched up here and there a little bit more than we should have,” Taz said, referring to complaints about their deck.

“We thought, why aren’t you calling out the boys for the same thing, or Em and Ben for the same thing, but you’re just calling out us? So that’s why we did say, we took it a bit personally.”

Britt and Taz are reunited with their children while filming.

The pair said it was hard to watch the show back and see the other couples talking about them behind their backs, especially having gone on the show as much to make friends as to make money.

However, in the outside world, the couple have been a hit.

Taz said the “ridiculous amounts” of people who have turned up to some of their publicity stints was “unbelievable”.

But despite suggestions the pair should quit being the force in favour of the interior design and renovation business, they say they will always be police officers at heart.

“I absolutely live and breathe being a police officer,” said Taz.

“I absolutely love it.”

The couple have been in Newman for two years and have become a part of the community, which they said helped enormously when there is an escalation of issues in the early hours of the morning.

“That was one thing when we moved there, they said it was actually a really pro-police community,” Britt said.

“Don’t get me wrong, there’s times when it is very, very dangerous, but the next morning, once the alcohol has worn off, everyone is very apologetic. You see them in the shops, it’s a very welcoming community.”

The couple have had the entire town behind them as they moved through the season and even WA’s Police Commissioner Col Blanch gave them his blessing, with the pair told he was “very happy” with how they conducted themselves and the message they sent about WA’s police officers.

“We have been very conscious of the fact that we are police officers,” Britt said.

“We had to act within our values of the police force. We had to uphold that throughout the whole show.”

Whether the couple goes back to the beat in Newman or end up millionaires after the upcoming auctions remains to be seen.

However, it appears unlikely Australia has seen the last of Britt and Taz.

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