Skye Wheatley is facing the kind of reality no TV edit can soften: a half-finished Gold Coast mansion, a long-running renovation nightmare, and the end of her eight-year relationship with partner Lachlan Waugh.
The former Big Brother contestant has been documenting the saga since the couple bought the rundown acreage for $975,000 back in 2019. What was meant to be an ambitious project quickly turned into a money-draining grind. Wheatley has never sugar-coated it, calling the renovation a “f***ing disaster” and admitting that “everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong.”
The financial strain has been clear. Reality TV star Wheatley says the project has ballooned to an estimated $5 million, far beyond the property’s original cost and the combined value of two loans—$800,000 first, $400,000 second. Even with that investment, the home still isn’t finished. Contractors remain on-site, and Wheatley says they’re now at the stage of needing a “builder’s clean”—a line that says more about the scale of the work than any progress update.
The house itself, dubbed La Casa Grande, was designed to be a Spanish-inspired showpiece: walnut cabinetry, stone benchtops, raked ceilings with exposed beams, curved openings, and sweeping terraces. Wheatley and Waugh, drawing on his shop-fitting background, tackled much of the interior work themselves, even restoring the pool to resort-level quality. But vision doesn’t always outrun reality, and the strain of the build ultimately ran parallel to strain in the relationship.
Wheatley confirmed the split on her podcast with I’m a Celebrity co-star Callum Hole, keeping the announcement brief but clear. Despite the breakup, she says both remain committed to finishing the property.
What comes next for La Casa Grande—and for Wheatley—is still unfolding, but one thing is obvious: this story isn’t a glossy renovation reveal. It’s a woman standing in the middle of a life she’s still rebuilding, walls half up, beams exposed, and the future under construction.
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Last modified: December 5, 2025
