KATIE & ALEX

They’re the golden couple who have won over fans on this season of House Rules (continues Sun., May 19 at 7pm, and Mon., May 20 to Wed., May 22 at 7.30pm; Seven). The country NSW pair – a federal police officer and stay-at-home mum to 1-year-old daughter Hallie – are thanking their lucky stars they made it onto the renovation series. “It’s like winning the lottery,” Alex, 32, tells WHO. Katie, 29, adds: “We are just so lucky.” The couple open up about their bond with their rival teams and leaving their daughter to compete.

How do you get along with the other contestants? KATIE We aren’t very dramatic people, so we were happy to find out everyone was so lovely. We all helped each other finish painting and were always asking each other for advice. There’s no-one saying, “I’m not helping you because I want to get ahead.” ALEX It’s incredible, we genuinely feel like we’ve made lifelong friends with everyone on the show. How old is Hallie now?

KATIE She’s 14 months. She was 7 months when we left her. Was it a difficult decision to leave her to compete on the show? ALEX It was so tough. KATIE As soon as we found out we were on, I had this moment where I was like, “Oh, God, can I actually leave her?” And I thought, “We’re never going to get this opportunity again.” So many people were trying to reassure us, saying she’s not going to remember and that it’s for her, so we decided to suck it up and do this for her.

Who looked after her while you were away? KATIE My mum and little sister. As soon as we found out we were on, I had to wean her, then she wouldn’t take a bottle. It was very frantic and stressful. How was it being away from her for such a long period of time? KATIE Thankfully we were so busy we didn’t get a lot of time to sit and dwell on it. But we missed her so much, and feeding was one of my favourite things to do with her so that was a big thing to give up.