The Block 2019: Behind the scenes with tradie favourite Matt from Elevate Building Group
A Greensborough carpenter with an impressive The Block resume has revealed the lengths contestants Tess and Luke went to secure him as their builder on the show before he came on board.
After responding to a mayday call from The Block contestants Tess and Luke, Matt Menichelli from Elevate Building Group is throwing his hat into the ring for the third time.
He was the builder behind Josh and Elyse’s winning house in 2017, and Caro and Kingi’s luxury apartment in 2015, and now has succumbed to the northern Queenslanders’ desperate phone calls.
RELATED: The Block 2019 episode 6 recap
The Block 2019 episode 5 recap
The Block 2019 episode 3 & 4 recap
Matt said when Tess and Luke found out they were going on the show they called him multiple times through Hipages to get him as their builder.
“I said no four times and then I didn’t hear from them for a couple of weeks and then in week two of filming the request came through again,” he said.
In last night’s episode, Matt met with Tess and Luke to see if he wanted to take on the mammoth challenge.
“We begged for him to be our builder, too busy,” Tess said during the show.
“You can see why, easy on the eye, very good at what he does, winning Block builder.
“If we play our cards right and behave ourselves and show how committed we are, how serious we are and how organised we can be, maybe he will fall in love with us too.”
They even threw in a promise of Lite n’ Easy meals to sweeten the deal.
Matt said from the first meeting he knew their hearts were in the right place but could see they were devastated with the first results.
“It was harder for them as they come from interstate with no trade base network, they were a little bit in the dark,” he said.
“I think because they are from north Queensland and have a laid-back nature, it was a shock to the system for them.”
Matt said it was great to be involved in The Block for a third time.
“Every year they go bigger and better and they have certainly outdone themselves with this one, it is pretty daunting,” he said.
He said it was harder coming into the show a couple of weeks in but knowing the crew gave him “an ace up my sleeve”.
“They showed a little bit of mercy while we got up to speed,” he said.
“I thrive off a challenge, I may have put on a brave face last night but alarm bells were going off internally.”
MORE: The Block 2019 episode 2 recap
The Block 2019 episode 1 recap
Behind the scenes of The Block
As for drama between the contestants, he could see lack of sleep definitely being an instigator as the weeks progress.
Originally published as The Block 2019: Behind the scenes with tradie favourite Matt from Elevate Building Group