‘Raising my children was tough’: Shaynna Blaze’s journey from single mum to grandmother

November 5, 2026 — 5:00amTV presenter and interior designer Shaynna Blaze is best known as a judge on Nine’s The Block*. Ahead, the 63-year-old discusses the important men in her life, including her son, Jess, and her co-star Darren Palmer.Shaynna Blaze says she got her enterprising spirit from her late father, Basil.My paternal grandfather, who went by the nickname of Snowy, died when I was very young. His white-blond hair has made its way down the family tree from my dad Basil, to my older brother and now my granddaughter.My maternal grandfather, Roy, moved from Melbourne to Queensland for warmer weather and wasn’t in our lives much growing up. He was a builder who helped build the house I grew up in with my dad. He lived into his 70s.Dad was a fitter and turner and handyman who loved to build everything from scratch. He built garages, laid bricks, did the home extension – there wasn’t anything he didn’t attempt. I really got that spirit from him. We are both Aries and used to butt heads a lot because of our strong personalities. Dad got to be a grandfather and met my two kids. He was kind and gentle.Dad and I were very close until he died of a heart attack suddenly in 1998. He’d had a heart attack in his 40s that led to a quadruple bypass and went to see his heart surgeon two weeks before he died – there was nothing to indicate anything was wrong. Mum [Annette] packed his lunch for work and never saw him alive again. Twenty-four hours later we turned off the life support and were in shock for a long time. Mum was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a year later; we felt it was due to the grief of losing dad. She lived with it for 16 years and died 10 years ago.My first boss, Alan Wilson, was a big inspiration. He allowed me to make mistakes and gave me the confidence at 19 to make big decisions.Dad met Mum at a local dance – she was standing on a balcony with her sister, Dad was with his best friend. He pointed to Mum and said, “I’m going to marry that girl.” He hadn’t even danced with her yet! They eventually did dance and he drove her and her sister home. Theirs was a beautiful romance.I have two brothers – one older and one younger. As kids, we’d play outside until it was dark. It was me and the boys going to creeks and rivers, riding bikes and knocking on people’s doors and running away. As teenagers, my brothers and I fought like hell, but as adults my older brother and I are very close. He is my biggest supporter and always says he’s there for me.My first kiss happened at high school in Mitcham [in Melbourne’s east] behind the shelter shed. It was awful – I can’t say I enjoyed it.Having an older brother and being around his friends didn’t mean my teenage years were full of romance. When I was 15, I looked about 12.My first boss, Alan Wilson, was a big inspiration. He challenged me – gave me a long piece of string, as it were – to design things and come up with ideas. He allowed me to make mistakes and gave me the confidence at 19 to make big decisions with huge budgets.As I got older, I got into relationships that weren’t quite suited to me. It took me a long while to get it right. It came with a lot of learning, but I wouldn’t be where I am now if I didn’t make those mistakes.My first relationship wasn’t a good one, and I’d prefer not to speak about it. I was 24 when I had my daughter Carly and then got married [for the first time]. At 26, I had my son, Jess. By 31, I was divorced. I did marry again [to personal trainer Steve Vaughan] and we had a great relationship, but are now divorced. Nowadays, I don’t like talking about my relationships.The Block’s Darren Palmer and I first met on set and were quite wary of each other. We did a photo shoot together and it was all about the angles. He was trying to get his best angle, and I said, “Luckily, I have two good sides.” We started joking about each other. Then we got drunk at the Logies and hit it off. We talked out any fears we had about each other and we’ve been great mates ever since.Blaze with Darren Palmer on their new show, 1 Euro House.Raising my children as a single mum was tough, but seeing my son become a kind, thoughtful and generous man who is now a father is a joy.Shaynna Blaze stars in 1 Euro House on Nine and 9Now. * Nine is the owner of this masthead.Get the best of Sunday Life magazine delivered to your inbox every Sunday morning. Sign up for our newsletter.Jane Rocca is a regular contributor to Sunday Life Magazine, Executive Style, The Age EG, columnist and features writer at Domain Review, Domain Living’s Personal Space page. She is a published author of four books.Connect via X or email.From our partners