Glenn Knight, left, and his teammate Jake Roos. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
GEORGE SHIERS
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Pahiatua resident Glenn Knight is one of the contestants on Lego Masters New Zealand, a “national brick-off”, which premiered last night on TVNZ 2, hosted by comedian Dai Henwood.
The show originated in Britain and had since had 13 further adaptations as it took over the world brick-by-brick, with the first series of New Zealand’s version premiering last night.
Contestants were let loose with 2.5 million bricks as they competed in building challenges judged on aesthetics, technical ability, and storytelling.
Knight teamed up with his friend Jake Roos for a chance at winning the grand prize – a Lego trophy, two Fiat 500 Lounges, and $25,000 in Warehouse vouchers. If won, the prize would be split between the two of them.
Knight said being on the show was challenging, but he would do it again in a heartbeat.
“It was hard work,” he said.
“It was draining; there were long days where we were pouring everything into it, and we’d come out emotionally and physically drained. But I loved every minute of it.”
Knight said he had Lego as a kid but grew out of it until he was gifted a Formula 1 McLaren car and pit set as an adult.
“I built and rebuilt it about 10 times.”
He later joined Wellington Lego User Group [Well-LUG], a group for Lego fans of all ages that build together and organise shows. It was through this group he met his teammate Roos.
“It was his idea to go on the show. We put the application in, went through auditions, and got on.”
Knight said the task for the audition was to create a Lego model of how the two met, and they decided to create a fictional meeting in Trafalgar Square.
“And then we found out in January we had been accepted and had to fly up to Auckland,” Knight said.
“It took a while to set in. It was a mixture of over the moon and terrified.”
Knight was under a strict order from TVNZ not to let slip any spoilers, but he said the show was fun and had a wonderful cast and crew.
“It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but it was an incredible amount of fun. It’s just one of those bucket list things.
- Lego Masters NZ premiered last night on TVNZ 2 at 7.30pm and continues at the same time tonight.
