Woman’s Day New Zealand – August 05, 2019

Ethan’s looked up to his

buddy since being bullied

TEXT:

MARILYNN

MCLACHLAN.

PICTURES;

ROBERT

TRATHEN.

GROOMING:

JULES

ARMISHAW.

STYLING:

BENJAMIN

FARRY.

CLOTHING:

FARMERS,

WITCHERY.

M

ates who build

together, stay

together – at least

that’s the case for

The Block NZ’s

Ethan Ordish and Sam

Whatarangi! The hilarious

duohavebeenfriendssince

theymetat TeKuitiHigh

“He was a little short fella

• a cheeky fella,” laughs Sam.
  Adds Ethan, “Well, I’m only
  going to say this once, but Sam
  was a bit of a pretty boy and
  all the girls used to love him!”
  Andwhile there’s plenty
  oflaughterwhen Woman’s
  Daychatstothepair, Ethan,
  usthow Sam came
  much to him.
  time, a guy

decided to have a fight with

meand I don’t know why,” he

recalls. “But Sam stepped in

andstood up for me, and ever

since then, I thought, ‘You’re

theman!’ It was an interesting

time and it was cool having

someone stick up for me. So

it was ‘Yeah, let’s be friends.’”

Their appearance on the

hit Three show is not the

first time they’ve hammered

together. Whether it’s building

a friend’s deck, a coffee table

or even a church in Fiji, there’s

little Ethan and Sam, 27,

haven’t turned their tools to.

And so, when Ethan called

Sam to say he was putting

them forward for the DIY

series, there was no question

he was keen – but both were

surprised when they made it

on to our TV screens.

They’ve quickly become

the “nice guys” with viewers

and contestants alike.

“Yeah, I’m trying not to

brag or anything, but I guess

we are the good guys,” Ethan

smiles. “But we do like to

have a bit of fun and be a bit

naughty. We were always

gettingintroublefromthe

camerapeople,whichis

quite funny.”

It comes as no surprise

that their cheekiness often

involves good deeds, such as

disappearing to buy food and

coffee for the builders who

can’t take a break and not

telling anyone where they

are going.

But while they both

enjoy the experience, it hasn’t

been without difficulty for

the tradies, who say that

friends and family have high

expectations for them. After

all, Sam is a joiner and

Ethan is a – very recently –

qualified builder.

“On the show, I am an

apprentice builder, but this

literally changed in the last

couple of weeks,” Ethan says

with pride. “It was a bit of

a hard journey, though.

“I stressed myself out

so much trying to do my

best at work and impress

the bosses, trying to learn

everything before going

home and reading and

studying most nights. It’s

probably the hardest thing

I’ve done.”

But despite their talents,

they haven’t won the hearts

of judges Jason Bonham and

Lizzie Whaley, who repeatedly

score them poorly.

“The bro and I love our

work and our builders do

too,” asserts Sam. “We can

top you in the building

department but when it

comes to the styling, we’re

not so sharp, so all of our

scores aren’t that good. It’s

a bit embarrassing for us

as tradies.”

While they’ve received

many messages suggesting

they use sites like Pinterest

(they already are), it’s been

GOOD

CATCHES

hasbeen fishing for

a compliment from

the judges, but so

far no bites! Above:

The boys as teens.

SAM SAV

LITTLE

You’re the m

y g

Schoolwhentheywere

teenagers,andbondedoover

their love of woodwork.

y

26,revealsju

tomeansom

“This one

Goingplaces!

TheHamilton

sweethearts

areoverjoyed

tobeawaiting

thepatterof

tiny feet.

ETHAN

& MIA

Reality bites

r

Th t