The Block has hired their first ever female foreperson.
With Foreman Dan heading off on paternity leave to look after his newborn Fletcher James Reilly and wife Dani, foreperson Leonie Akhidenor was called up for the job.
Speaking exclusively with New Idea, Leonie tells us it was “such a privilege” and “insane in the best way possible.”
In fact, she tells us she worked hard for this opportunity.
“It was just real hustle to get on the show, to be honest,” she admits.
“I’ve watched most seasons, and I used to sit on the couch with my husband and say, ‘one day I’m going to be on that show’,” she reveals.
Full of determination, she got her builder’s license and contacted everyone she knew to try and get in touch with Channel Nine or the show.
Finally, she managed to get in touch with the production team.
“They loved my idea of profiling a female somewhere on the show and said, ‘leave it with me, I’ll circulate it with the team, and if that opportunity presents, I’ll let you know’,” she tells us.
And that opportunity came knocking a couple of months later.
“I’ll never forget – I picked up my phone and heard, ‘hi, this is so-and-so from The Block, just wondering if you still want to be on the show?’ and I nearly like dropped my phone!” she says with a chuckle.
“Getting that phone call was everything,” she adds with a smile.
The season had already started filming, and Leonie tells us going in half way through the renovating competition presented some challenges – especially since she was meant to shadow Foreman Dan for a few days before he left!
However, that didn’t happen as Dan’s wife Dani went into labour earlier than expected.
Leonie said heading on site was it was a “baptism of fire” – but she loved it.
“I quickly learned and by day three, it felt like I’d been there for three weeks,” she says.
“It was nothing I could have ever prepared for or expected, that’s for sure. I thought, ‘I hope they take me seriously and know that I can add value’… I didn’t know what I would be walking into’,” she adds.
Leonie tells us that the fast-paced chaos and said it was “very aligned” to her personality.
What it’s like being the first female foreperson on The Block
In her 10 years working in construction, Leonie tells us that she’s “typically the only female on our building sites”.
“It’s very rare another female will come out – maybe they’re a surveyor and they’re surveying something – but on the tools, you just never see it,” she says.
She says that working on site at The Block was different – “like it’s own ecosystem”.
“I noticed a few females on site. You’ve got contestants who are females, it was such an amazing culture.”
“I dealt very closely with Nine and Six who were the builders and they were fantastic – they had a female who was on their team as well! There was no real discrepancy in the way in which the genders would communicate,” she says.
She hopes going on The Block as the first female foreperson will inspire younger women.
“There generally has been a stereotype that it’s either a male that’s in construction or it’s a female, but more of a blokey female… I think it’s important to profile different types of people who might enjoy working in a similar industry. I’m a girly girl – I don’t think we see enough of that,” she says.
“I think it’s important to feel represented within an industry and particularly as a young person looking up, maybe that will give them the motivation to want to be involved – especially if they are sitting on the fence because they think maybe they aren’t going to fit in the mould of what that sort of role or industry commands,” she adds.
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