The Block Australia’s Ricky Recard has revealed he’s “not interested at all” in reconnecting with his estranged family, whom he hasn’t seen for decades.
“I haven’t spoken to my family for 20 years,” the 34-year-says, adding he changed his name from Richard Blennerhasset after falling out with his whānau. “For the first time in a long time, they’ll see me pop up on their TV. If they reach out, they won’t get on to me.”
Already, the Melbourne plumber’s estranged father Martin has spoken out about his eldest son and their fractured relationship after Ricky made claims on the show that “alcohol and domestic violence were rife” in his former family life.
“I’m not proud of the night he left,” says Martin. “But I want to be clear when I say I have never hit my kids or ever been violent. There was no violence in our household and as for alcohol, I’d be lucky if I had three beers in a week.”
However, Ricky doubles down on claims of dysfunction, saying, “I left home at 16. There was domestic violence and alcohol abuse – it was pretty rough.” Although he’s trying to turn his pain into productivity with an “I’ll show you!” attitude.
Ricky explains, “I’ll just keep pushing through the hard times. Nothing really fazes me. I’ve had a pretty rough time, so these days, if people want to make absolute mountains out of molehills, I just let them go off and do it.” And he’s taking the same attitude towards his ex Lauren Smith, who has publicly labelled him a “love rat”.
Ricky insists, “That’s a bit harsh,” but adds he doesn’t have “anything bad to say about” the 30-year-old. She claims she was “blindsided” when he chose to end their relationship shortly after filming wrapped on The Block. And then went public with his new love, the show’s makeup artist Erin Lee. “I spent three months looking after his dogs and his house,” Lauren claims.
Meanwhile, Ricky says he and his new partner are now “very happy”. Adding, “I was lucky enough to meet Erin just before filming started. I’m not sure what she fell in love with!”
Things are so serious between the pair that Ricky is already setting up home with the single mum. A source reveals, “Erin’s kids are still quite young and deeply connected to Phillip Island life. The current plan is for Ricky to move to Phillip Island.”
The Block Australia screens 7pm Sunday to Wednesday on Three and streams on ThreeNow.
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