Kirsty & Jesse ‘IF WE DON’T WIN, WE’LL HAVE TO SELL OUR HOME’
Country couple Kirsty and Jesse have won hearts around the nation, but privately they are in a world of pain as they confront the brutal reality that they may have to sell their own dream home.
“If we walk away with nothing it will be devastating, and yes, we will probably have to sell our home,” Kirsty reveals in an exclusive interview with Woman’s Day.
“You go into it hoping you’re going to win a lifechanging opportunity, but there are no guarantees, and there have been contestants in the past who have walked away with virtually nothing. If that happens, I don’t know what we will do.”
Like many Australians, the pair have had some rough times. Country music singer Kirsty had all her tour dates cancelled when COVID-19 hit almost two years ago and Jesse, who runs their small production company, had 12 months’ worth of booked work cancelled overnight.
“The Block couldn’t have come at a better time for us,” Kirsty says, explaining they were both surviving on Jobkeeper payments before filming began.
“We were considering selling the house at the time. I’ve had just one gig in the last 18 months and probably lost $100,000 worth of work. We’d saved $50,000 to renovate the house, but we had to use that money to keep going.”
Fans will have no idea how tough the past few years have been for Kirsty, 33, and Jesse, 32, who lost $20,000 on a renovation project a few years ago.
“We had to move into Jesse’s mum’s shed, which didn’t even have running water. And we stayed there for the next three years,” says Kirsty.
Growing up, life was just as hard for The Block battler.
“I’m the first person in my family to ever own a home,” she says. “My mum still lives in housing commission and my dad lives in a caravan.”
Kirsty is hoping the reno show will help her and Jesse realise their dream of financial security. “Now we just have to win big on The Block. We didn’t go on it to come second!” she says. Fans can see Kirsty perform at the Tamworth Country Music Festival in January.
As the gruelling renovation show enters its final weeks, these exhausted Block teams are feeling the pressure