Children are competing in LEGO Masters Jr. to see who the best builders in the USA are. Stella and Chelle won the celebrity stunt double task, in which they launched a mini Jordin Sparks across a chasm in a LEGO chameleon car. In this interview, the duo explain how they came to pair up for the show, what their favourite build challenge was and share some secrets from behind the scenes.
After five seasons and several specials in which adult LEGO fans compete to build the best LEGO models, children are getting a turn in LEGO Masters Jr. The winning team will get $50,000 and a massive LEGO trophy, so the competition has been fierce. Episodes air on Fox every Monday at 8 p.m. ET/PT, then arrive on Hulu the following day.
Close friends Stella and Chelle have been building with singer Jordin Sparks. In the first episode they constructed an epic diorama inspired by the Disney classic The Little Mermaid, in the second episode they launched a chameleon car across a massive gap, then in the third episode they will put together an uncommon common room inspired by Harry Potter.
Stella and Chelle took time out of the school day to share stories from their time on LEGO Masters Jr. …
Blocks: What was your first ever LEGO set?
Chelle: We were looking through old photos before this interview and my first ever LEGO set was a Friends beach set. I started with LEGO bricks when I was around two.
Chelle: Same. Mine was also a beach LEGO Friends set, a turtle with like a little palm tree. And that was pretty much it.
Blocks: Could each of you tell me how you started building with LEGO bricks creatively?
Stella: When I was really little, two or three, when I actually started with LEGO elements, all of mine were hand me downs, so I never had the sets. My first actual set I got was when I was seven. So I’ve been building without the books for a long time.
Chelle: I don’t even really remember. I just remember always trying to make little cars out of stuff. If I found wheels, I tried to make a car.
Blocks: What sort of cars were they? What did they look like?
Chelle: They looked like a mess. Whatever pieces I had, I’d make something. I made a mosquito car once, and I made some other cars.
Blocks: How about you, Stella, what kind of stuff were you building with your brick bin?
Chelle: Like I said, I looked through old photos and a lot of the ones I used to make when I was really little were little villages. I’d make a lot of little houses and I do a lot of landscapes.
Blocks: Do each of you have an all-time favourite build that you’ve created that you’re super proud of?
Stella: My favourite MOC, my own creation, is something me and my brother made over almost a year, this really big mountain. It is a whole mountain landscape scene. There are cave systems that go through it, there are a bunch of trap doors, a waterfall and a river, it’s really cool. We’ve added a ton of small details that I absolutely love.
Chelle: To be honest, I don’t MOC that much. I usually like instructions because it’s scheduled building. But if I just say my favourite one, it would be out of Stella’s collection. She has a little family tree and I think it’s so cute.
Upgrade your LEGO hobby! If you take out a subscription to Blocks, the monthly LEGO magazine, you’ll get each issue first and at a discount, plus other perks including a free digital subscription and the chance to win LEGO prizes every month.
Blocks: Do you have a favourite set that you’ve built Chelle?
Chelle: I have a giant Harry Potter Hogwarts Express train that is hanging up on a shelf in my room. And it took a while, but it looks amazing and I really love it. It’s a very cool set.
Blocks: Is that the super detailed version?
Chelle: Yeah, there’s a lot of detail in it. My dad dropped it when we were moving and I had to rebuild it again.
Blocks: Is he ever allowed to touch your LEGO builds now?
Chelle: Not again. Nope.
Blocks: How did the two of you decide to team up for LEGO Masters Jr.?
Stella: I actually was the one that started with the audition process, then when they wanted teammates, I actually asked my brother Sam first, because I do LEGO building with him. But the cut off was they had to be nine or older. Sam was eight, and the people at Fox were like, “we’ll make an exception if he’s big and expressive.”
We go, I ask him – and note that he is an introvert, big time. We’re like, “Sam, do you want to be on LEGO Masters Jr. with me?” And he says, “not at all.” Chelle was my next guess. I absolutely love her. We work well together and she’s just like, the geekiest, amazing person ever.
Blocks: What’s your memory of that Chelle? Does that sound about right to you?
Chelle: I remember my parents walking up to me and they asked, “hey, so Stella got this opportunity to go on a TV show and they were asking for partners, would you like to go on?” I didn’t say a word. I started jumping so fast.
Stella: It was honestly a great decision to go with Chelle. I couldn’t imagine doing anything we’ve done with literally anyone else.
Blocks: Stepping into the build room, onto the set for the first time. What was that like? Can you remember the feeling of that?
Stella: I thought it was awesome. We had to stand behind the doors before we walked in. I was fan girling because I love the show so much. I watched every season, every episode, multiple times – I love LEGO Masters. I got so excited that my feet went completely numb, so I was like, “guys, I’m going to pass out right as the doors open!” But it was really cool. I thought the brick pit was awesome.
Chelle: I walked in and it was like a little fairy tale for me. It was something I saw on TV, which I wanted to do since I was a kid. I had finally got to be on TV and this is what it looked like behind the scenes, then I saw those bricks on the wall, and I was like, “oh, alright, we’re getting to work. Let’s go.” I was so excited.
Blocks: What was meeting the Brickmasters, Amy Corbett and Boone Langston, like?
Stella: I had always wanted to meet Amy, like, I just think she is so cool. It’s really cool to see another female that does something I want to do – I would love to do her job. Well, not take it, but do her job with her – how about that? But it was really cool to meet her. In the first episode, they caught me being really, really excited to meet her, I was jumping up and down. She is super sweet.
Both of them are – Boone’s really nice as well. I feel like I’m leaving that part out.
Chelle: I love Boone. He was so sweet. He was the perfect type of person to encourage kids to do what they love to do, he was there to push us to go a little further and see what we could do, to test our limits. That was really interesting.
Stella: They were both really nice and sweet, I liked them.
Blocks: You had another person on your team – Jordin Sparks. Was that a big surprise that that you had a celebrity joining you to build?
Stella: They didn’t tell us we were getting celebrities. Chelle, did you know who Jordin Sparks was? I didn’t actually, at first.
Chelle: I didn’t, no, but now that I know who she is, I listen to her music and it’s really good.
Stella: Me too, when she first popped out, I was trying to be super excited. I was like, “oh, she looks really sweet, but I don’t know who this is!”
Chelle: Oh, yeah, she was an absolute sweetheart. I’ve never met someone nicer than her.
Stella: She was awesome. After a film day, some of the nights she came to dinner with us afterwards, she would hang out. We still send her birthday cards and Christmas cards, she responds to our texts, she’s super sweet.
Blocks: Did you teach her a thing or two about building with LEGO bricks?
Chelle: To be honest, I think she taught herself because she built herself in that episode where we made our celebrity stunt double cars. She did an excellent job with herself, I’m proud of her for that.
Stella: Being honest, I’m not great at building people, I can do animals and buildings but people are not my thing. I’ve tried a bunch of times and they just don’t look human. They turn out like little blob creatures.
Blocks: What was it like building against the clock? When you build things at home, you can take as long as you need to, but on the show you’ve got this time pressure and looming deadline for each task.
Stella: The show was super fun, but that was one thing I did not like. It was there ticking down and kept giving me anxiety, which is really funny now, because at home we’re trying to watch Season 5, but I can’t watch it because the time bothers me so deeply. Every time my parents turn it on, I’m like, “no, stop,” and I have to go into a different room.
Chelle: It was a little stressful for me. But other than that, I was alright. It was just something I had to do within a scheduled time.
Blocks: That’s a good balance for a team, right?
Stella: Chelle’s always been good at balancing out my perfectionism crazy and her always being calm going. It’s a good balance to have.
Chelle: We’re opposites and it’s best if you use that in teamwork, which we did. Teamwork is this thing that will make you succeed in life.
Stella: They say opposites attract for a reason.
Blocks: We know that you’re part of the Disney build, from the first episode, the stunt challenge build from the second episode, and the Harry Potter build that’s coming up. Of those three, which one was your favourite to participate in?
Chelle: I think the car-meleon, the the celebrity stunt double one. We did win [so no] surprise [in a way]. But it was interesting. And it was in my zone because it was a car.
Stella: I’m going to have to agree with Chelle. I think my favourite was the car one. I just loved all of the little details we added and that it did so well, because I was so surprised when it didn’t completely explode just by the force of being pushed up the ramp. Because Technic is not my strong suit. I love just building with bricks and adding small details. Then we needed Technic and I was freaking out, but it held together.
Blocks: What was the thing that surprised you most about LEGO Masters Jr. and your experience on it?
Chelle: The people and the friendships that we made. I had so much fun with Zak, Ajay, Zoe, Max, Vincent, Hudson, Will and Crosby. They were all so sweet and it was perfect, because we all got along together amazingly. We all just played games, we made our own games up, like LEGO brick bomb.
In the brick bomb game we would fill a bunch of 1×1 pieces in a little box thing that we made, then we would say, “brick bomb,” throw it on the floor and it would shatter. I don’t know why it was so fun, but it was amazing.
Stella: No, we built a LEGO box and put LEGO bricks inside, we play like hot potato. Then someone would scream, “brick bomb,” throw it on the ground, and everyone would dive to clean it up as fast as possible. That was what it was.
My mom has videos of it and we looked like little monster children. We had downtime between filming and being on set, we’d have lunchtime and stuff for activities. For activities to do, they brought us more LEGO bricks. They were like, “yes, they’re on a LEGO set and they’ve been doing LEGOs all day. What could they play?” [laughs]
Chelle: Actually, bricks?
Stella: Sorry, LEGO bricks!
I think everything was surprising. I didn’t even think I was going to get on. When I did, every part of it was so surreal, meeting all these amazing people that I’d always wanted to meet.
It’s a small detail that was surprising, which is super random, but the tables were the same tables that the adults used and they were too tall for all of the kids. You’ll see people sitting up on tables or standing on chairs because we were all too short and couldn’t reach so they brought step stools out because Chelle was the only one tall enough. That was genuinely surprising because it didn’t feel like they knew that we were going to be short because we’re kids.
LEGO Masters Jr. airs every Monday on Fox, then is available from Tuesday on Hulu.
Support the work of Blocks by purchasing your LEGO sets via our affiliate links, and if you want to get new LEGO set announcements straight to your inbox, sign up to our free newsletter. Of course, if you really want to upgrade your LEGO hobby for the true insider experience, take out a subscription to the monthly LEGO magazine for fans.