Breaking news: A male human has feelings.
Last night, a man on TV cried his eyes out. In front of two other men.
Andy from The Block (no relation to Jenny) couldn’t hold back the flow of tears brimming in his eyeballs and he wept. More accurately, he sobbed like a distraught person on the brink of a breakdown.
And the open display of emotion completely freaked the hell out of the two grown men next to him.
It was a verbal spray from foreman Keith and Dan (who for some inexplicable reason has ‘Foredan’ embroidered onto his jacket) about the constant mess of the renovating virgin’s apartment that caused the waterworks.
But boy did they backtrack after seeing how upset Andy was. The tears triggered an avalanche of apologies. “Sorry mate, we’re not trying to upset ya.” “You’re right, c’mon buddy.” “We’ll try and help ya whenever we can.” “Chin up, mate.” “Sorry, buddy. Chin up.” “We don’t want any more tears.”
At that moment, they would have pretty much given him the shirts off their backs if it would have turned off all the emotions.
Because there is nothing more uncomfortable than a grown man crying, apparently.
Of course, the haters came out of the woodwork, jumping on all social media platforms to ensure everyone knew Andy was soft.
(It should also be noted that NRL player Johnathon Thurston struggled to hold back tears as he accepted his fourth Dally M Player of the Year medal last night. He cried after being handed some metal on a ribbon necklace but no one’s telling him to eat a spoonful of concrete.)
But, there were also just as many people sympathising with Andy.
For me, these are the take-home messages from last night’s public blubber:
Renovations are pretty much the most stressful thing you can do.
Especially when you’re being filmed 24/7, you’re renovating an entire room every single week and being harshly judged for it and you’ve never renovated before. It’s easy to see how the sleep deprivation, the pressure and the never-ending list of things to do and things that can go wrong could be completely overwhelming and get even the most chipper person down.
There is something extra hard about renovating with a partner – it’s one of those make or break moments in a relationship. Whitney previously said on Instagram: “Being able to get through the block is the biggest challenge in our relationship and we are working great together as a team!”
If you don’t believe that, just try painting a house with your beloved.
Sometimes, all you can do is cry.
Men break down too.
Real men cry. And, when they do, people can find it disconcerting.
But it’s lovely and natural and sometimes necessary. And releasing all that pent up worry, frustration, anger or sadness feels damn good. Even if it is in public.
Andy wasn’t ashamed of his moment of perceived weakness, telling his partner, Whitney: “I kind of broke down again in front of Dan and Keith. But that was alright, it needed to happen.”
What a man.
Crying often gets results.
People are often accused of putting on the crocodile tears to elicit sympathy or get a desired result because everyone knows that crying can be damn effective.
When I went to Sydney airport on my way home from a ten-month overseas jaunt, I was told my ticket would only allow me on an ‘international’ flight back to Melbourne, not one of the 20-something domestic flights going that day, and that I would have to come back tomorrow.
I protested and then, out of tiredness, homesickness and sheer exasperation, I cried. Before I knew it, I was on the next flight home. (Thanks, Qantas.)
After Andy’s mini-breakdown last night, Keith and Dan went from berating him to draw up a colour-coded schedule to keeping him on track.
Because there is nothing more uncomfortable than a grown man crying, apparently.
Top Comments
the schedule would be gruelling to say the least - and the producers need to pigeon hole personalities pretty quickly for us to have any interest in them to keep us watching - that said, Andy IS a chippie and should/could be much more hands on even if it's not with a drill, he would understand the way a site works and that money runs out pretty quickly if you are paying trades to do things you/the couple are more than capable of doing. But l don't see Whitney doing much site work either, surely the 'women' aren't all off shopping every single day for every single moment but that's a lot of what we are shown ...oh that's right, gotta get the never ending store promotional shots and product branding for the sponsors and advertisers who pay for the shindig
So if a guy needs to cry and let it out after being put through the ringer day after day by an unrealistic building schedule then let him! He'll get his act together soon, Whitney will find her groove and once they do, l think they will have fabulous apartment
God, my heart went out to him. I'm even getting tears in my eyes thinking about. Straight away Whitney and Andy became my favourite couple and Andy's public display of emotion made me love him even more. IT IS OK TO CRY! The moment did make me a bit uncomfortable though, just the way he tried to hide in his jacket, poor love. I could almost see his cogs turning, probably wishing his mum was there! And I'm not saying that in a jeering way, I'm saying it from someone who knows that feeling..when you feel so overwhelmed, you become a child again and think of your mum (or someone who loves you unconditionally) and you can't stop the waterworks.
I'm a fellow blubber and was so touched. I loved the way he could own it and joke (without a sense of shame, I'd like to add) about it later. What a man! What a beautiful soul!