The thing that made Hamish Blake fall for his wife, Zoë Foster Blake

Hamish Blake is best known as one half of comedy duo Hamish and Andy, and for hosting shows including Lego Masters: Grandmasters of the Galaxy. Here, the 43-year-old reveals what made him fall in love with his wife, writer and beauty industry figure Zoë Foster Blake, as well as details of his first heartbreak.

Hamish Blake met Zoë Foster when she was a beauty editor for a women’s magazine.Credit: Getty

My maternal grandmother was affectionately known as “Moosie”. Not only was she very loving, but she was also a lot of fun. We went to her house in [Melbourne’s] Wheelers Hill for dinner weekly, as she and Pop lived 10 minutes from our house in Glen Waverley.

Moosie wasn’t the greatest cook, but her meatloaf was presented to us like it was our favourite. I have no recollection of saying that it was, but it was made with such love that you just played along.
Her favourite drink was Mateus Rosé. It came in this flat-shaped bottle. Moosie would have a few glasses and get a bit rowdy. She’d often take her shoes off because her feet had swollen up. Moosie died in 2019, but she’s always with us.

My mum, Kerry, took her love for us to the next level. She was an English literature teacher, and so we were a big reading family – not every kid in suburban Melbourne had a mum who was interested in exposing them to Shakespeare. Later on, she worked for the Melbourne Theatre Company and Opera Australia and I would go to opening nights. I recognise these as a formative experiences.

My parents separated when I was 17, but there were no hard feelings from my older brother, Lachlan, younger sister, Sophie, and me. We just thought it was something they needed to do.

I get on really well with my stepmother, Kriss. She and my dad, Noel, have been married for nearly 20 years. She is terrific and they make a great team.

Blake (left) with long-time collaborator Andy Lee.

Growing up, my crushes were on people who made me laugh, rather than those I viewed as romantic, but I do have this memory of taking note of Carmen Electra when I was 15.

My first real relationship was in year 11 with Anne, who had just finished year 12. She had a car, so that was a fast ascension into adult freedom. It was also the first time I’d explored the idea of being in a team and having a partnership with someone.

I met [fellow comedian] Andy Lee at Melbourne University. We probably did double-date because we were always together. We were starting to make sketches and do community TV, so those dates would have been to places where we’d plot our next film shoot, or to a pub where Andy was playing acoustic covers for cash.

In my 20s, I dated Eleanor for two years. It was a terrific relationship as she had a great family, but it was also my first heartbreak when she dumped me. At that time, I was working in breakfast radio. I took two days off, which I thought was a completely normal thing to do after a break-up.

The first time I met my wife, Zoë [Foster Blake], was after my axing from The Hamish and Andy Show on Channel 7. I was 24 and Andy and I had been booked to go to Sydney to do a fragrance launch. At that time, Zoë was the beauty editor of Cosmopolitan. I thought she was hilarious and basically a legend. She had this amazingly magnetic and fun aura. The thing that grew into love many years later is that I’m attracted to doers. I just love people who take life on.

Zoë is an incredible mum to our two children, Sonny, 11, and Rudy, 7. Not only do they get this extremely loving and funny and fun force in their lives, but they also get to see a really successful, intelligent and heartfelt woman who’s doing great things in the world.

When it comes to Lego Masters, and I don’t want to generalise, I would say that our female contestants are far more skilled at keeping a level head when things get a bit emotional and tense. Brickman [Lego Masters judge Ryan McNaught] told me that if you get a bunch of six-year-olds to build a house, girls will build it with a colour and aesthetics. Guys, on the other hand, are a bit more wired to be functional.

Lego Masters: Grandmasters of the Galaxy airs Sunday to Tuesday on Channel 9 and 9Now. (Nine is owner of this masthead.)

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