A house call required Daniella’s body near breaking
THE pressure of appearing on Channel 7’s House Rules was so intense that one contestant admitted she suffered hallucinations.
Gold Coast mother-of-two Daniella Winter, 38, and husband Aaron, 31, survived a tense elimination round to make the grand final on Sunday. They will go head-tohead with South Australia’s Kate Whiting, 28, and James ‘Harry’ Harris, 32.
Both couples are feeling the heat of vying for the $200,000 winner’s prize however, Daniella has revealed the pressure actually caused her body to “break down”.
Daniella only gave birth three-and-a-half months before entering House Rules and refused to get a doctor’s clearance after her emergency Csection to do the level of physical work involved.
Because of this, her body didn’t heal properly and she will now have to return to her obstetrician for further surgery. The professional dancer was too “stubborn” to consult a doctor before competing on the physically demanding television show.
“My body just was not coping with the physical side – you’re shovelling, pulling wheelbarrows, pulling down walls, you’re doing the hard physical labour,” she said.
“I had stomach pain in the beginning. It’s (the caesarean wound) healed but it’s really scarred and really raised.
“So I’m looking at going back to my obstetrician to have a chat to him. My body was breaking down.
“There was just no sleep, so the sleep deprivation – I almost felt like I was going a bit loopy.
“I felt very out of control, on a merry-go-round.
“The lack of sleep is exactly the same as having a newborn but with House Rules you’ve got the physical and mental side of things as well.
“With the baby you’re just trying to work out your baby and trying to get sleep when you can, there was no time for downtime.”
For the seven months the show was in production, the Winters revealed they would only sleep for three hours per night. On painting nights, they would go without sleep altogether.
“Driving was quite hard. I would see things, because you’re not sleeping and because (I’m stressed) ... I couldn’t sleep,” she said.