Sisters’ dreams come true

Walking through the famous doors into the Big Brother house was the beginning of a life-changing experience for Rockingham sisters Katie and Lucy Mercer.

The former Living Waters Lutheran College students, quickly dubbed the Sugar Sisters by fellow housemates, spent 10 fun-filled weeks in Australia’s favourite house and won over fans with their bubbly personalities and positive attitude.

Katie, 22, said the sisters had both been huge fans of the show for years and felt very lucky to survive eviction for more than two months.

She said the pair had made lasting friendships and had chatted regularly with fellow contestants since they were voted out on October 2.

“It was just amazing when we found out we were going to be on the show — we were running around screaming when we got the call,” she said.

“It was so hard not being able to tell anyone that we were going into the house, but it was great being able to represent Rockingham — we kept making sure we talked about it all the time.

“I think it was the second day that Tim and Drew started calling us the Sugar Sisters and the name just stuck.”

Katie, a nurse, said she missed boyfriend Andrew Robinson during her 10 weeks away. She said he visited their family home every day to watch the show with her parents Gillian and Wayne.

Younger sister Lucy, 21, said the girls simply told friends and family that they were heading off for a two-week holiday and expected they would be evicted in that time.

She said the pair had always loved Big Brother, even touring the house while on a family holiday and telling each other from the comfort of the diary room chair that one day they would make it onto the show.

“Everyone was so friendly and welcoming and Sonia Kruger was amazing,” she said.

“She kept making sure we were OK and telling us we were doing well.”

Lucy, a student teacher, said it was easy to forget the cameras — and the girls’ parents back home in Rockingham — were watching.

She said her mum and dad, Katie’s boyfriend and the girls’ collective best friend Bek Gooderson had been watching from their Anchorage home when she kissed housemate Caleb.

She said the pair most enjoyed taking part in the spray tan task and could not believe they recorded their own single as part of the in-house band, Hot Pants.

“It was crazy because we can’t even sing and we recorded our own single in the house!” she said. “We keep saying when we are old ladies we will say to each other ‘remember that time we were on Big Brother’.”

At press time, the pair were to return to the Gold Coast to take part in the show’s grand finale.