Lego Masters star Ryan 'Brickman' McNaught reveals what it's REALLY like working with Hamish Blake
The Lego Masters star has shared the screen with Hamish for the past seven years on the hit Channel Nine game show.
On the cusp of the premiere of Lego Masters' seventh season - Grandmasters of the Galaxy - Ryan opened up about what it's like working with Hamish.
Speaking to Nine, Ryan admitted that, rather than displaying any diva-like behaviour, Hamish has always been incredibly genuine.
'I'm not surprised by how funny he is, because he's exactly the same guy off camera as what he is on camera. So there's nothing hidden from that perspective,' Ryan said.
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'He's just incredibly genuine, like he's the same guy, so it makes it pretty easy to go to work I'll be brutally honest.'
The Lego doyenne added that when the pair first met eight years ago, they hit it off instantly, bonding over eerily similar hobbies and interests.
'Whilst I'm creative with Lego from a professional point of view, and he's obviously a comedian and media personality type guy, we both cycle every day to and from the studio,' he said.
'We're both into footy. We both play golf. There's lots of things that we do that are the same, which made for a pretty easy connection, and we have a very similar sense of humour.'
The chemistry has obviously translated successfully to the screen with Lego Masters proving quite the ratings hit for Nine.
The 2024 series finale boasted a national total reach audience of 1.9million viewers - a figure that remained relatively consistent throughout the season with the premiere bringing in 2.2million fans.
Ryan's ringing endorsement comes after Hamish was revealed to be one of the highest-paid TV stars in the country.
The Australian's TV Rich List report, released this week, places the comedian third in the top 35 highest-paid stars list at a formidable $2million.
He trails behind fellow Nine colleagues Scott Cam, who is on $2.4million and Karl Stefanovic who tops the list at an eye-watering $2.8million.
However, the Brickman is nowhere to be seen on the list, with the lowest-placed star, 60 Minutes reporter Amelia Adams bringing in $300,000.
Hamish recently revealed the celebrity interview that changed his life.
The radio star, 42, appeared on the ABC series The Assembly in 2024 and said speaking with billionaire business magnate, Richard Branson, 74, was a life-changing experience.
He recalled a time when he was left stunned by Richard's response to a producer who asked for $1,000 during an interview in 2010 on Hamish & Andy.
Hamish explained he was chatting with Richard on the comedy show he hosted with co-star Andy Lee when producer Jack Post asked the billionaire for some cash.
'Jack basically said to him, "You are a billionaire. Can we just go downstairs to the ATM, can you give me a thousand dollars? It's nothing to you but it will change my month,"' Hamish said.
'[Richard] was like, "I'll tell you what – there's something I'd give you all my money for," and Jack's like, "Really?" and [Richard] goes, 'Your age."'
Hamish went on to say Jack was penniless and 22 at the time while Richard was wealthy and 60, but the Virgin co-founder insisted he would love Jack's life.
'We were like, "What do you mean by that?" and he said, "I'd happily be broke and 22 than a billionaire and 68," or whatever he was at the time,' Hamish explained.
He added: 'It's true. I think that it will be true for all of us. As we get older, you're like, "OK, money's thing in life, a tool that can certainly take some bad situations and discomfort away, but it's not happiness."
'It's nowhere near the exhilaration of getting to live, and all the best stuff is free. I think about that all the time.
'That always stuck with me, that idea that we've got something immediately available to us, that in the future we'd give all our material possessions for.'
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All this leaves me wondering what the solution might be. One reason accommodation at Edinburgh is even dearer this year is that Oasis and AC/DC are playing the city slap bang in the middle of the festival. Last year, the Marriott hotel advertised a job as a live-in breakfast jester to amuse guests over their Corn Flakes. The position was paid and came with free accommodation. It seems a funny idea, but I also wonder if this sort of thing makes a mockery of comedians, pitching them as performing monkeys who will do anything for money. Then again, I'm a man couldn't even cut it for a day in Brighton. So what do I know?
