Hamish Blake looks even weirder than usual on his hit show Lego Masters Australia. He’s out as DC Comics hero Lobo, the chains around his waist clatter, his face covered in heavy, cracking makeup and, perhaps most surprisingly, he boasts a pillowy six-pack he calls “my doona abs”.
“This season is all about the theme, so it’s just about the top,” Blake says on set. “Today I feel like we’re working in Movie World, just walking around and dressed up as superheroes.”
Lego Masters Australia judge Ryan “Brickman” McNaught is also fully dressed, like Guy Gardner from Green Lantern. “I’m going to go shopping later in Pitt Street Mall and hopefully get some loose change,” he jokes.
It’s all part of filming for the “DC Heroes” week, which will be part two Lego Masters Australia: Bricktacularthe upcoming eighth season of the reality competition series. The new season features four special event episodes, each focusing on a different franchise. Lord of the rings, Blue (which Blake has a special soft spot for since he’s animated the characters) and Jurassic World he’ll also get the Lego treatment at the hands of talented returning cast members.
Blake is excited about the idea as he knows from experience how difficult it is to put these types of sessions together. “It’s very difficult to get permission,” he says. “It’s not just a matter of going, ‘Hey, we’re going to do a Star Wars episode’ and then later, George Lucas goes ‘cool’. It’s months to make sure everything is fine. So I love that we can do four of these worlds in a row. It’s two things we know and love to connect: Lego and copyrighted assets!
The big thing about the upcoming series is that instead of pairs, for the first time it will be three-person teams fighting for the top spot. While on a different reality show, dropping someone else onto an already established duo can be a source of tension, so that’s not the case here. Lego Masters Australiaafter all, it has become popular family viewing for its gentle, feel-good vibes.
“The competition is high, but the animosity is low,” explains Blake.
“We don’t have a lot of disagreements to be honest, because we’re a good kind of show,” says McNaught. “Given that they’re all past competitors, they know a good idea when they hear it, so there’s no arguing about ‘my way is better than your way.’ We ask you to build it on a bigger scale. Three people (persons) give them the power to do that.”
On set, it’s quiet during the eight days of construction except for the sound of Lego bricks hitting each other. Players have a lot to choose from: 4 million blocks are available in the Brick Pit. This year’s crown has just arrived, adorned with miniature figures of artists and workers that McNaught creates each year and finishes the week before. For the 2026 edition, he wanted something to show that the teams are three so it is divided into three parts with a special surprise inside.
“I’ve recreated a studio inside a cup,” says McNaught. “The running joke is that it’s always been inside, nobody’s ever seen it.”
When Blake joins McNaught in an off-camera make-up room, the pair share a comedic camaraderie that mirrors their on-screen chemistry, easily interjecting one another’s reactions. Blake, however, openly admits that when the show started in 2019, he had some reservations.
“Before I knew Brickman, I was told there was this guy, Brickman, and he was a great builder,” says Blake. “In my head — and I wasn’t trying to insult him — I was like, well, chances are this guy’s never been on TV, he’s probably not going to be good on camera, so I was thinking of ways to avoid a lot of Brickman talk.” Both he and McNaught burst out laughing. “Then we met and got on really well. When Ry started, he was in his normal self and he was a normal person. That was amazing. Getting to make friends outside of the show was also a huge bonus.”
Their partnership has had an unexpected benefit for Blake, who has come to rely on McNaught’s engineering expertise for his famous bi-annual cake night, where Blake pulls a whiskey-fueled all-nighter to bake whatever birthday cake his kids ask for – no matter how difficult the task.
“For 75 percent of the cakes, my kids have asked for something that’s impossible for a cake, and I thank God that I found Ryan, who is so wonderful,” says Blake. “If we’d never met and done this show, I think cake night would have taken three years. Unfortunately, my cake-making strategy is five days away. I’ll go, ‘Hey mate, can you make a model of my son as a robot and he has to chop and support his weight and have a blade in his arm?’ And then Ryan, who’s in the middle of a million different things, will always go, ‘Okay.’
For McNaught, the show has provided an interesting lens on changing the way Lego has been perceived over the years. After leaving a stable career in IT to follow his passion for Lego, he became a Certified Lego Professional in 2011 – a title that got him repeatedly pulled over at customs, convincing airport staff it was no joke.
“I’ve been involved in Lego for a very long time, and it was still classified as a children’s toy,” says McNaught. “But two catastrophic events occurred that changed the way Lego bricks are viewed. The first was The Lego Movie (year 2014). It made it almost normal and brought it into the general consciousness. The second thing was (this) television show. It was a great game, to make it right, especially for adults to go, ‘What?
“For me, someone who has always loved Lego, to see that happen has been amazing.”
Lego Masters Australia: Bricktacular premieres at 7pm on July 5 on Channel Nine and 9Now.
