House Rules win will bring families together

THE Seven Network’s House Rules “Dream Holiday Home” in Toogoom will bring winner Jarrod Bennett closer to a side of his family he hardly knows.

SMILES ALL ROUND: South Australian couple Jessica Yates and Jarrod Bennett sit in the kitchen of their new home in Toogoom. Picture: Seven Network

THE Seven Network's House Rules "Dream Holiday Home" will bring winner Jarrod Bennett closer to a side of his family he hardly knows.

The 29-year-old plasterer from South Australia could not believe he and his girlfriend Jessica Yates had won an $800,000 Queenslander home in Toogoom, and said it would help him get closer to his distant father and 21 siblings who live across Australia and the Fraser Coast.

"My grandmother, grandfather and father had lived in Hervey Bay, but I lost contact with dad when I was only one or two years old and was only able to track him down when I was 21 and he told me he has 21 other kids," Mr Bennett said.

Jarrod said he has only met four of his siblings and said he was excited to meet more.

He said for the next 12 months he and Jessica would use the house for holidays and would consider moving up once they had secured jobs.

RELATED:Renovated Toogoom home first prize for House Rules

Although the competition's winners were announced publicly on Sunday night, Jarrod and Jessica had known they had won for a couple of weeks.

"We did go up to the house a little bit before it was announced on TV and as far as we were aware all 11 competition finalists were coming up, but it was only us who were actually there and when we walked up to meet Joh (the host) she told us we had won, it was a huge shock," he said.

"We weren't expecting that at all - it surprised the living hell out of us!"

Originally published as House Rules win will bring families together