Latest news with #LegoMastersAustralia
West Australian
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- West Australian
Lynne McGranger: Home and Away star ‘bewildered' by first Gold Logie nomination
Overwhelmed. Overjoyed. Bewildered. Excited. Lovely. TV legend Lynne McGranger was certainly not lost for adjectives when describing how she felt about receiving her first Gold Logie for most popular personality nomination, alongside fellow female TV royalty and Hamish Blake. The 72-year-old is in the running for the top gong alongside Sonia Kruger, Ally Langdon, Julia Morris, Lisa Millar and Poh Ling Yeow. She is also hoping to take out a silver Logie for best lead actress in a drama. It was the end of an era for the Home and Away favourite, who left the show in March after playing her beloved character Irene Roberts for nearly 33 years. 'Look, if I'd have known this was going to happen, I would have left this show years ago,' she said. 'I already feel like I've gone out on a career high, truly, just because my departure from the bay is one of my proudest achievements. 'And just being nominated for silver and gold is extraordinary, I couldn't have dreamt of anything better. 'And oh gosh, if I win, I'll be speechless. No, who am I kidding? I'm never speechless.' McGranger said if she is awarded the golden trophy, she won't be able to top Larry Emdur's pledge of getting a tattoo on his bum, but has made a promise of her own. 'I promised Larry this morning on The Morning Show that I will carry it with me everywhere for a year,' she said. 'I will show people I don't know on the street. I will say, got a little something to show you, and walk up to complete strangers and drive people mad with it.' Named among a group of nominees consisting of all women, except for Lego Masters Australia's Blake, McGranger said she was honoured to be amongst such 'feminine royalty'. She said it was a testament to the fact that women beyond a certain age were no longer 'invisible'. 'I can imagine what people in Albo's government must have felt like when something's just all full of women and one token man,' she said. 'It really says a lot about women in our society, and women on TV, and all the different roles that we play. And I don't mean that in an acting sense. It's just great that women have been acknowledged, and are being acknowledged. It's truly wonderful.' When the 65th TV Week Logies take place at The Star in Sydney on August 3, it certainly won't be McGranger's first rodeo as she has been attending since her first Logies in 1994 and has probably only missed two or three over the decades. Aside from McGranger getting started on her outfit planning, she is also getting stuck into rehearsals for a play Grandparents Club. It's quite a busy schedule, but one would think the longest-serving female cast member of a TV soap opera in Australia could cope, no worries at all. But really, McGranger said she has been busier since she stopped filming. 'I think when you're just doing one thing and focusing on one thing, you let other things go by the wayside and figure they're not that important and they'll get done,' she said. 'But now, of course, I've just been overwhelmed with everything. 'But you know what, I'm having a good time. I think while you're still above ground, you've got to really just embrace what's going on in your life.' McGranger is back with The Grandparents Club for a second year and said it felt like her acting career had come full circle. 'I started out in community theatre and I just love that life,' she said. 'Honestly, I think I should have been a rock star on the road, because I love touring, and I love all the 'franticness' that goes with that, it's helping to keep me feeling young at heart.' While the play isn't coming to WA at this stage, McGranger said she was disappointed she won't make it over to Perth for Telethon but hoped to make a visit before the year's out. 'I have a feeling, our last show is the night of Telethon. And I said to Jason, my publicist, 'Can't they push Telethon back a week? Because I could come then'. And then he's very kindly said, 'It's not all about you',' she said. 'But you know, that's what happens when you're not on Home and Away anymore.' Lynne McGranger is a nominee for both the Gold and Silver Logies at the 65th TV WEEK Logie Awards, airing exclusively on Seven and 7plus Sunday, 3 August. Click here to vote.
Perth Now
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Home & Away star ‘bewildered' by first Gold Logie nomination
Overwhelmed. Overjoyed. Bewildered. Excited. Lovely. TV legend Lynne McGranger was certainly not lost for adjectives when describing how she felt about receiving her first Gold Logie for most popular personality nomination, alongside fellow female TV royalty and Hamish Blake. The 72-year-old is in the running for the top gong alongside Sonia Kruger, Ally Langdon, Julia Morris, Lisa Millar and Poh Ling Yeow. She is also hoping to take out a silver Logie for best lead actress in a drama. It was the end of an era for the Home and Away favourite, who left the show in March after playing her beloved character Irene Roberts for nearly 33 years. 'Look, if I'd have known this was going to happen, I would have left this show years ago,' she said. 'I already feel like I've gone out on a career high, truly, just because my departure from the bay is one of my proudest achievements. 'And just being nominated for silver and gold is extraordinary, I couldn't have dreamt of anything better. 'And oh gosh, if I win, I'll be speechless. No, who am I kidding? I'm never speechless.' Lynne McGranger. Credit: Unknown / Supplied McGranger said if she is awarded the golden trophy, she won't be able to top Larry Emdur's pledge of getting a tattoo on his bum, but has made a promise of her own. 'I promised Larry this morning on The Morning Show that I will carry it with me everywhere for a year,' she said. 'I will show people I don't know on the street. I will say, got a little something to show you, and walk up to complete strangers and drive people mad with it.' Named among a group of nominees consisting of all women, except for Lego Masters Australia's Blake, McGranger said she was honoured to be amongst such 'feminine royalty'. She said it was a testament to the fact that women beyond a certain age were no longer 'invisible'. 'I can imagine what people in Albo's government must have felt like when something's just all full of women and one token man,' she said. 'It really says a lot about women in our society, and women on TV, and all the different roles that we play. And I don't mean that in an acting sense. It's just great that women have been acknowledged, and are being acknowledged. It's truly wonderful.' When the 65th TV Week Logies take place at The Star in Sydney on August 3, it certainly won't be McGranger's first rodeo as she has been attending since her first Logies in 1994 and has probably only missed two or three over the decades. Aside from McGranger getting started on her outfit planning, she is also getting stuck into rehearsals for a play Grandparents Club. It's quite a busy schedule, but one would think the longest-serving female cast member of a TV soap opera in Australia could cope, no worries at all. But really, McGranger said she has been busier since she stopped filming. 'I think when you're just doing one thing and focusing on one thing, you let other things go by the wayside and figure they're not that important and they'll get done,' she said. 'But now, of course, I've just been overwhelmed with everything. 'But you know what, I'm having a good time. I think while you're still above ground, you've got to really just embrace what's going on in your life.' McGranger is back with The Grandparents Club for a second year and said it felt like her acting career had come full circle. 'I started out in community theatre and I just love that life,' she said. 'Honestly, I think I should have been a rock star on the road, because I love touring, and I love all the 'franticness' that goes with that, it's helping to keep me feeling young at heart.' While the play isn't coming to WA at this stage, McGranger said she was disappointed she won't make it over to Perth for Telethon but hoped to make a visit before the year's out. 'I have a feeling, our last show is the night of Telethon. And I said to Jason, my publicist, 'Can't they push Telethon back a week? Because I could come then'. And then he's very kindly said, 'It's not all about you',' she said. 'But you know, that's what happens when you're not on Home and Away anymore.' Lynne McGranger is a nominee for both the Gold and Silver Logies at the 65th TV WEEK Logie Awards, airing exclusively on Seven and 7plus Sunday, 3 August. Click here to vote.
The Age
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Bicycles, ice baths and 4 million bricks: Behind the scenes of Lego Masters
Every day while filming Lego Masters, Hamish Blake and Ryan 'Brickman' McNaught, host and judge of the Logie-award-wining show, ride bicycles together to get to work. 'Yeah, probably don't tell production that I ride my bike because I'm a 50/50 chance of not making it,' Blake says, laughing. 'City drivers don't love seeing a cyclist. I mean, the anger is palpable.' McNaught grimaces with a smile. 'Dicing with death daily,' he says. 'Lucky we're not angry on this show.' Indeed, Lego Masters Australia, returning for its seventh season with Grandmasters of the Galaxy, a global battle of 10 teams from Australia and overseas, is a bastion of family-friendly encouragement and kinship. 'We're definitely the light side,' Blake says, laughing. 'We're Jedis, always trying to really harness that Jedi feeling.' This season, 20 players from seven countries – a mix of homegrown and international winners and finalists from Australia, Canada, China, Finland, Sweden, the US and New Zealand – will tackle extraordinary challenges. This includes seeing if Lego can fly, building a car with a dash of 'movie magic', creating lifelike objects for a Chinese restaurant, and creating a monster from ancient civilisations. There's also the introduction of the 'magic brick' – a coveted large, glowing block that teams battle for to gain immunity from elimination in the next challenge. And TV personality Sophie Monk will return as special guest in four episodes. Returning Australian builders include fan favourite and season-five winner Owen, teamed up with Gabby, who came fourth in season three; season-one runners-up David and Gerhard (known as 'G'); Henry and Cade, champions of season one; and Trent and Alex, who have come close to victory more than once. Loading The overseas teams include Dai and Jiayuan, from Lego Masters China; Oskari and Aura from Finland; New Zealand runners-up Emily and Sarah; and sibling duo Paul and Nealita from the US. There are also best friends and Lego Masters Sweden alumni Vidar and Albin; and Nick and Stacey, the first Canadians to win Lego Masters USA, who did so in their Lego bow-tie and hair bow respectively. 'These are all the best of the best,' says Blake, who won the 2022 Gold Logie for most popular personality on television. 'Not only has everyone built on the show before, the only people that haven't won are people that are back here because they just missed out. They're the elite.' On the day I visit the studio, which is housed in a hangar-style building at Disney Studios in Sydney's Moore Park, teams of production staff are sorting used bricks on an upper level while, below, a large bank of multiple screens shows 25 camera angles of the contestants, all metres away, constructing against the clock at their workbenches. The set, a red and gold Chinese restaurant, complete with tables and chairs, fills the end of the room. The teams are hunched over, building intently, and the sound of murmuring and clicking bricks fills the air. Every so often, someone will sprint to choose from 4 million bricks in the Brick Pit. Blake and McNaught hover between the tables, quietly observing between chats, jokes and advice with teams off- and on-camera. For all the fun of Lego Masters, the pair know how their presence can affect contestants. 'You have to be cognisant of how much pressure they're always under,' Blake says. 'They want to put their best foot forward, the clock is always ticking and there's a real skill to what everyone's doing on the show, I never want to be flippant about that. 'But I still believe it helps people be at their best if you can keep a slight amount of cheerfulness in adversity. It keeps a pep in their step.' As one of the world's leading Lego brick artists, and the only Lego certified professional in the southern hemisphere, McNaught understands his influence. Loading 'My job, obviously, is to be a judge, but also I want them to be the best possible Lego builders they can be,' he says. 'In some instances there's still 90 minutes on the clock, they've done 95 per cent, they've got capacity to finesse, make it that little bit better. 'In other instances, it's 'hang on a minute, we've just gotta get you over the line'. So you have to juggle both of these.' After seven seasons, Blake says one of the challenges of Lego Masters is coming up with new build quests. 'I think we will have done close to 100 challenges by now,' he says. 'Everything's new. You have to keep getting more and more creative to keep it novel, and that becomes the challenge. But that's all right. That's what happens with any creative process that's seven years in.' In the past week, McNaught has already banked four ideas for future seasons. 'Once you've got your Lego brain on, it's all, 'What about this wild thing?'' he says. There's no doubt McNaught has a Lego brain. But what about Lego fingers? Does building trigger injuries? 'Absolutely yes,' he says. '[Just] working with your fingers for eight hours here is really hard. For instance, Gabby isn't used to operating with the big bricks she's using today, so her hands are throbbing. But it doesn't take long to get match-fit.' McNaught himself has some 'pretty gnarly arthritis' in his hands after manoeuvring Lego for years. 'At the end of a long day my knuckles swell,' he says. 'No different to a bricklayer or a chippy.' Brickman's tips for Lego enthusiasts with aching digits? Learn to use both hands, rest them alternately and have a long break afterwards. What about mini ice baths? 'That's what I do,' McNaught says. Blake is excited. 'Yeah – 'Bricks down, guys!'' he says, jokingly. ''Come to the centre now. I want your hands in the ice baths!''
Sydney Morning Herald
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Bicycles, ice baths and 4 million bricks: Behind the scenes of Lego Masters
Every day while filming Lego Masters, Hamish Blake and Ryan 'Brickman' McNaught, host and judge of the Logie-award-wining show, ride bicycles together to get to work. 'Yeah, probably don't tell production that I ride my bike because I'm a 50/50 chance of not making it,' Blake says, laughing. 'City drivers don't love seeing a cyclist. I mean, the anger is palpable.' McNaught grimaces with a smile. 'Dicing with death daily,' he says. 'Lucky we're not angry on this show.' Indeed, Lego Masters Australia, returning for its seventh season with Grandmasters of the Galaxy, a global battle of 10 teams from Australia and overseas, is a bastion of family-friendly encouragement and kinship. 'We're definitely the light side,' Blake says, laughing. 'We're Jedis, always trying to really harness that Jedi feeling.' This season, 20 players from seven countries – a mix of homegrown and international winners and finalists from Australia, Canada, China, Finland, Sweden, the US and New Zealand – will tackle extraordinary challenges. This includes seeing if Lego can fly, building a car with a dash of 'movie magic', creating lifelike objects for a Chinese restaurant, and creating a monster from ancient civilisations. There's also the introduction of the 'magic brick' – a coveted large, glowing block that teams battle for to gain immunity from elimination in the next challenge. And TV personality Sophie Monk will return as special guest in four episodes. Returning Australian builders include fan favourite and season-five winner Owen, teamed up with Gabby, who came fourth in season three; season-one runners-up David and Gerhard (known as 'G'); Henry and Cade, champions of season one; and Trent and Alex, who have come close to victory more than once. Loading The overseas teams include Dai and Jiayuan, from Lego Masters China; Oskari and Aura from Finland; New Zealand runners-up Emily and Sarah; and sibling duo Paul and Nealita from the US. There are also best friends and Lego Masters Sweden alumni Vidar and Albin; and Nick and Stacey, the first Canadians to win Lego Masters USA, who did so in their Lego bow-tie and hair bow respectively. 'These are all the best of the best,' says Blake, who won the 2022 Gold Logie for most popular personality on television. 'Not only has everyone built on the show before, the only people that haven't won are people that are back here because they just missed out. They're the elite.' On the day I visit the studio, which is housed in a hangar-style building at Disney Studios in Sydney's Moore Park, teams of production staff are sorting used bricks on an upper level while, below, a large bank of multiple screens shows 25 camera angles of the contestants, all metres away, constructing against the clock at their workbenches. The set, a red and gold Chinese restaurant, complete with tables and chairs, fills the end of the room. The teams are hunched over, building intently, and the sound of murmuring and clicking bricks fills the air. Every so often, someone will sprint to choose from 4 million bricks in the Brick Pit. Blake and McNaught hover between the tables, quietly observing between chats, jokes and advice with teams off- and on-camera. For all the fun of Lego Masters, the pair know how their presence can affect contestants. 'You have to be cognisant of how much pressure they're always under,' Blake says. 'They want to put their best foot forward, the clock is always ticking and there's a real skill to what everyone's doing on the show, I never want to be flippant about that. 'But I still believe it helps people be at their best if you can keep a slight amount of cheerfulness in adversity. It keeps a pep in their step.' As one of the world's leading Lego brick artists, and the only Lego certified professional in the southern hemisphere, McNaught understands his influence. Loading 'My job, obviously, is to be a judge, but also I want them to be the best possible Lego builders they can be,' he says. 'In some instances there's still 90 minutes on the clock, they've done 95 per cent, they've got capacity to finesse, make it that little bit better. 'In other instances, it's 'hang on a minute, we've just gotta get you over the line'. So you have to juggle both of these.' After seven seasons, Blake says one of the challenges of Lego Masters is coming up with new build quests. 'I think we will have done close to 100 challenges by now,' he says. 'Everything's new. You have to keep getting more and more creative to keep it novel, and that becomes the challenge. But that's all right. That's what happens with any creative process that's seven years in.' In the past week, McNaught has already banked four ideas for future seasons. 'Once you've got your Lego brain on, it's all, 'What about this wild thing?'' he says. There's no doubt McNaught has a Lego brain. But what about Lego fingers? Does building trigger injuries? 'Absolutely yes,' he says. '[Just] working with your fingers for eight hours here is really hard. For instance, Gabby isn't used to operating with the big bricks she's using today, so her hands are throbbing. But it doesn't take long to get match-fit.' McNaught himself has some 'pretty gnarly arthritis' in his hands after manoeuvring Lego for years. 'At the end of a long day my knuckles swell,' he says. 'No different to a bricklayer or a chippy.' Brickman's tips for Lego enthusiasts with aching digits? Learn to use both hands, rest them alternately and have a long break afterwards. What about mini ice baths? 'That's what I do,' McNaught says. Blake is excited. 'Yeah – 'Bricks down, guys!'' he says, jokingly. ''Come to the centre now. I want your hands in the ice baths!''
