HERALD SUN

The Block’s model contestant Elyse Knowles leaves glamour behind.

LEADING Melbourne model Elyse Knowles has swapped stilettos for steel-capped boots and swimsuits for tradie shorts as part of her Block makeover.

Tomboy Knowles and her partner, Josh Barker, are among the contestants making over five weatherboard houses that have been relocated to The Block site in Elsternwick.

“It is definitely not the glamorous life,” Knowles said.

“I’m happy to be a tomboy, I like getting my hands dirty.

“We have been living out of a porta-toilet, have a portable shower which is centimetres deep in mud when you first get in there, you trek across the back of the property in your boots when you first get out of the shower, there is no high life here.

“But I definitely don’t care, at all, what I look like.”

Knowles and Barker joined the Block not long after finishing a major renovation on their own Melbourne home.

“It has seriously been the most crazy experience, I have never worked so hard in my life,” she said.

“We are happy that we can have this adventure together. I think it has made our relationship stronger.

“We know where we stand, we help each other out and we stay up all night painting together, so we have plenty of time to think and plenty of time to talk.”

While Knowles is looking forward to a break after finishing The Block property, Barker, a carpenter, has other ideas.

“Josh just told me as soon as we finish here we need to buy a house and do it again, he has all these ideas,” she said.

“I was like: ‘Are you serious?’

“I need at least two weeks off, I need a debrief, I need to chill out and I need to do nothing.”

The Block launches on Channel Nine on Sunday, July 30 at 7pm.