Tassie 'villains' attack trolls
Despite being the first team eliminated from the current season of House Rules, Tasmanian duo Brooke Strong and Grant Lovekin feel they can leave with their heads held high.
The couple, who are parents to a blended family of seven kids, have been dubbed "villains" by some viewers for their strategic scoring and controversial comments, with the two contestants speaking openly about their desire to take out the Seven competition at any cost.
They also struggled with styling in previous weeks but seemed to face a turning point last night when they received their highest score to date for their work on Adelaide team Michael "Bomber" Bamford and Melanie Chatfield's house.
While the last-minute points weren't enough to save them from elimination, Strong tells Access All Areas they were just glad the homeowners were impressed with their zone.
"I think we were pretty confident we would be going home - we were kind of ready to go," the 30-year-old says.
"But (the scores made) us really happy because it was really good to know we had done our best for the last renovation. We really wanted (Bomber and Mel) to be happy with it."
Away from the cameras, Strong has faced a challenge of another kind as social media trolls have repeatedly attacked the couple's Facebook page, accusing the mother of being "ungrateful" and having a "bad character".
Lovekin previously spoke out to defend his partner against the online vitriol, saying she has been portrayed in a negative light and is a different person in real life.
And despite the backlash, Strong says she still feelsthey have done Tasmania proud.
"I think we showed people that Tassies are tough and don't give up," she says. "Even if you get knocked down you've just got to keep going."
Though watchers are calling Perth team Carole and Russell Bramston the ones to beat after they finished at the top of the leaderboard by the end of the interior renovation round, Strong believes it could be the dark horses of the competition that come out victorious.
"I think Adam (Dovile) and Lisa (Lamond) deserve it," she says of the Melbourne couple.
"They want to start a family and they have the highest mortgage. They have also improved the most since the beginning."
The scoreboard was wiped clean in last night's episode as the teams move on to their next set of challenges, meaning contestants won't have their previous high scores to carry them through the next elimination.
