Jamie Durie says lockdown the perfect time for ‘forced meditation’
House Rules host Jamie Durie says being stuck at home is the perfect time for self-reflection on the status of our planet, and “growing your own fruit and vegetables has never been so important” in the fight against COVID-19.
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Jamie Durie is calling on Australians to embrace the upside of social distancing and self-isolation, saying it’s an opportunity for “forced meditation”.
The multi-talented, Logie-winning TV host, designer and landscaper has relocated permanently back to Australia after years of working in the US and said he’s using this time to reconnect with friends and family and to pick up new skills.
“It’s a great time to sit down and reflect on the last 20 years,” said Durie, who has taken over from Johanna Griggs as host of the long-running reality renovation show House Rules: High Stakes, which airs on Channel 7 on Monday night.
“I am going through my old photo albums now and following up on emails I didn’t have time to do before. I am even starting to learn the piano.”
The passionate environmentalist also said that the current coronavirus pandemic, following on from the recent bushfires, was an opportunity for people to reassess their lives, relationships and impact on the planet.
“It is absolutely the time for us to regroup and take a good, hard look at the way we have been treading on our planet and take stock of where we are at in our careers, how happy we are, where we are at in our relationships, what’s important to us in life and how we are going to change the way we move forward to create minimal impact on each other and in the environment we live in.”
He also encouraged the housebound to get into their gardens, saying “the idea of growing your own fruit and vegetables has never been so important”.
“Nutrition will be one of the strongest forces against COVID-19,” he said.
“And keeping our immune systems strong so that when we do come into contact with it, we can fight it off.”
Durie said the new season of House Rules was extremely lucky to have wrapped production just days before new government guidelines shut down production on fellow reality TV shows such as The Block, The Voice and Australian Survivor.
“No one has seen anything like this,” he said of the current state of Australian TV.
“I guess the one godsend is that it will be Australians just kind of buckling down and getting some good, wholesome, Aussie TV and getting some inspiration. What we are saying to everyone is ‘stay home with House Rules’.”
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