‘The kids are sick of me:’ Jess Eva reveals her life in iso
From broadcasting live in her back shed to creating a fish and chip shop in the kitchen of her Tennyson Point home, the former The Block TV star has revealed what life has really been like for her and her family during lockdown.
Northern District Times
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From impulse buying a deep fryer during isolation to catching a glimpse of the Parramatta River while broadcasting on live radio, Jess Eva has revealed what life has really been like for her family during the pandemic.
The former The Block TV star turned radio presenter who has been working from her Tennyson Point home for just under two months said it was really “confronting” when she was first told she’d have to work at home.
“It was a very crazy feeling and it all felt real when tech came and set it all up,” Jess told The Northern District Times.
As she first prepared to work from home she said she had a picture in her mind of how she hoped it would pan out.
“There’s a picture you have of everyone all together and I was going to teach the kids meditation and Norm and I were all going to be in love and be this tight amazing unit,” she said.
“But in reality the kids are sick of me. My son doesn't listen to me during homeschooling, my daughter Matilda wants to eat nuggets all the time and Norm is a workaholic.”
While the Triple M presenter said working from home had its perks she knew it would be a challenge with her two young children, Fred, 6, and Matilda, 3.
The mother-of-two revealed she had to pretend with her youngest daughter that she was leaving the house for work each morning before secretly going into her makeshift studio in her back shed.
When asked what’s the best part about working from home, she said not having to wear makeup nor taking a shower.
“The webcam is pixelated so you don't have to wear makeup and I rarely have to brush my hair. I just wear my pyjama pants and just put a top on,” she said.
“Sometimes before I’m like I’m a bit wafty I have to take a shower but then it’s like who cares.”
During her breaks she’d sit on her balcony where she’d give a wave to locals who canoed past.
“I bet you they’d think I’m just drinking a morning coffee but I was broadcasting to Sydney from here,” she said.
Jess said the most challenging part about working at home is that she found herself getting tired from not moving as much.
“Normally when you go to work you gotta go in your car and go up stairs so you get the blood boiling but at home I just got out of bed then worked at the computer,” she said.
“I found I was getting tired and felt so fat.”
And she said buying a deep fryer during lockdown might’ve not been the best decision.
“I made a fish and chip shop in the house and gave the kids raffle tickets to collect their fish and chip order.”
“In hindsight I wouldn't have bought it” she laughed.
Just a few weeks into isolation, her husband Norm, 42, lost his job which put a lot of stress on the couple.
“We were all really scared cause a lot of builders said they didn’t know when more work was going to come about so we thought righto and bought some spaghetti with the one wage,” she said.
Jess said it was a godsend when Norm got a call from his boss two weeks on saying they had work for him to build mobile COVID-19 testing centres.
“That’s been good because it has given him some work,” she said.
While isolation has had its challenges, Jess said the family have all “grown” together and even made a few local discoveries along the way.
“We only discovered a couple of weeks ago an indigenous walk in Gladesville and it’s got built in decking walk paths and rainforest and looks over the water.
“It’s this little hidden gem.”
Jess Eva is a co-host of Triple M Sydney’s Moonman in The Morning with Lawrence Mooney and Chris Page.