Life has become a lot busier for LEGO® Masters Australia star Cade Franklin since he rose to fame by winning the inaugural series, alongside Henry Pinto, in 2019.
After stepping away from the cameras to focus on building his family with wife Melissa, Cade and Henry are now returning to the Build Room to compete in the show’s Grand Masters of the Galaxy season.
And this time, Cade has quite the cheer squad in his corner!
He and Melissa have been married for 10 years and now have three beautiful kids together – Duke, eight, Theodore, five, and Lily, six months.
In fact, LEGO® Masters plays a big part in the timing of the couple’s family! While Cade was filming Season 1, Theodore was born.
Then, during work on this brand new season – like some sort of LEGO® Masters spell – Lily came along!
Sitting down exclusively with New Idea, Cade, 42, and Melissa, 41, open up about what it was like to welcome a new baby at the same time as filming a TV show – twice.
“It was a bit surreal because Lily was a little surprised,” Cade says. Melissa adds, with a laugh: “[You] got the phone call about competing on LEGO® Masters: Grand Masters of the Galaxy, and I was like, ‘OK, this is starting to get almost very deja vu like.’
“But despite everything, the timing was right, and so it all fell into place.”
Now that their sons are a little older, building is something Cade enjoys doing with Duke and Theodore.
“They keep me honest. One of the things I really enjoy is seeing their reactions to things [we make], which is really cool,” Cade says.
But, even though LEGO® plays a huge part in their lives as a family, don’t expect to find Cade and Melissa playing with it at home together on a date night!
Cade laughs when Melissa tries to assure us that she “loves” her husband’s hobby.
“That’s a lie,” Cade fires back, with a grin.
But being married to a champion builder – and having children who are just as obsessed with the plastic bricks – means Melissa is often the recipient of LEGO® gifts, whether she likes it or not!
“The boys will give me LEGO® for my birthday, and say ‘it’s a pirate ship, don’t you love it, Mum?
You can build it, and if you don’t wanna play with it then we’ll give it a go’ and I’m like, ‘OK, thanks boys!’” she shares.
In fact, Theodore already wants to follow in his dad’s footsteps and be on LEGO® Masters one day.
But not as a competitor – as a judge!
“Theodore was telling me, while we were watching the show, ‘I wanna be on LEGO® Masters when I’m a bit older.’ And I said, ‘You could go on with your brother Duke.’ And he said, ‘No, I’m gonna be a judge!’ So, he has got his priorities straight,” Cade tells us with a laugh, adding, “You think Brickman’s harsh? Just wait till you’ve got your kid judging the builds!”
Before Theodore can think about one day being a judge on the show, the family will be sitting down together to see if Cade and Henry can retain their LEGO® Masters crown.
“We’re very excited. We’re going to have a little viewing party for the first episode,” Melissa says.
“The boys’ bedtime is normally 7pm but I said that we could stretch that this time to watch Dad on LEGO® Masters. They can’t wait.”
There’s no doubt Cade’s appearance on two seasons of the show holds some very special memories for him, considering he won the first series and welcomed two children during production.
But he says this will be his last time in the Build Room.
“I can also tell you we are definitely not planning on having any more children,” Cade says.
But he adds: “It’s all been an incredible experience.”
