Channel 7
Snuggled in his builder father’s brawny arms, it’s plain to see young Bruce Montgomery Brow is a real chip off the old block.
‘He’s the spitting image of his dad when he was a baby,’ beams proud new mum Carly Schulz, who won the first series of House Rules with her partner Leighton Brow.
‘There’s not too much of me visible in the mix right now.’
Not content with simply having their first child, the avid renovators are now also selling their beachside home.
‘We don’t do things by halves,’ laughs former flight attendant Carly, 36. ‘Right now I could murder Leighton, but I’m sure he’ll be a very good father once he has a chance to slow down and breathe!’
Following a 10-hour labour, little Bruce Montgomery made his dramatic entrance into the world on Tuesday, June 6 at Adelaide’s Flinders Hospital, weighing in at 3.11kg and measuring 51cm.
‘The umbilical was wrapped around the little guy’s neck and arm, so they had to get him out pretty quick in the end,’ says Leighton, 37.
‘We’re just lucky it all worked out OK and Carly didn’t have to have a caesarean.’
Certainly, Carly is counting her blessings: ‘He’s a great baby! He eats and sleeps like a champion and I had a really trouble-free pregnancy, so I’m just grateful everything turned out so well.’
Back home in Glenelg North, the new family is cementing its bond while Leighton adds finishing touches to the property before it is sold.
Meanwhile, Bruce – ‘It was always his nickname before he was born, so it stuck. We just liked Montgomery,’ says Carly.
‘He probably won’t get picked on at school, because it’s a strong, manly name’ – is napping in the palatial nursery his mum has furnished with help from local company Danish By Design.
‘You know, I wasn’t really into home decor before House Rules and RenoRumble,’laughs Carly.
‘Now, it’s become my life. I never stop thinking about it. We just live and breathe home renovation!’
The couple got together in 2010 after laid-back Leighton came knocking on Carly’s door looking for a room to rent.
‘It was love at first sight on the doorstep,’ she smiles. ‘Six weeks later, that spare room was up for grabs again because he’d moved in with me! We got together very quickly, but we are best friends and soulmates.’
Winning House Rules in 2013 ‘fast-tracked’ their life, paying off their mortgage and enabling them to buy a $1.01 million ‘fixer-upper’ property in Sydney.
‘But it also fast-tracked our relationship,’ says Carly. ‘It made us so much stronger as a couple.’
But marriage isn’t on the cards just yet, despite the birth of baby Bruce.
‘It’s not up there on our list of priorities at the moment,’ grins Leighton. ‘Life has been so busy, we haven’t even thought about it.’
For the full story, see this week’s New Idea – Out now.
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