WIMBERLEY — A childhood dream came true for a brother and sister duo from Wimberley, Ian and Sage Summers, who are now contestants on the FOX TV show LEGO Masters.
The program puts together teams of two from across the United States and Canada to compete each week during brick-building challenges in hopes to win a $100,000 prize, along with the LEGO Master trophy and title.
Growing up, Ian, 22, and Sage, 20, the youngest girl to be on LEGO Masters, were big fans of the show and they knew that they wanted to try out to be on the competition when they turned 18. So, they auditioned for season four and got called back for season five after the siblings were putting their names out there by posting the LEGO builds on Instagram.
While they have been watching the show for years, the homeschooled siblings were a brick-building team long before that.
“I love LEGO because it’s an art form. You have a bunch of different pieces and everybody has the same amount of pieces, but you can create completely different things and the possibilities are endless,” Sage said. “It's just such a great art medium.”
Ian recalled that when he was young, he was obsessed with the “Star Wars” franchise and whenever he would get one of the themed sets, he would immediately tear down the spaceships that he would build, use some of the techniques and build his own creations. He added that what brings him so much joy is when he takes a piece that is intended for one thing and turns it into something else.
“That started from when I was like six or seven and whenever my friends would come over, their mom would tell my mom, ‘Hey, where did he get that set? My child wants to buy it. And she told them, ‘No, that just is out of his head.’ So, from the beginning, I loved LEGO sets, but I never had any sets intact, even as like a 7-year-old,” Ian said. “My favorite part is 100% making my own creations and building it.”
As of June 3, the teams have competed in two challenges so far on the fifth season of LEGO Masters, where the respective episodes were themed around “Star Wars” and wedding cakes.
The judges, who are known as brick masters, are looking for technical ability, color and storytelling when the contestants are building their creations, Sage explained. As opposed to building something at home, Ian said that they are having to build something that is meant for television, so they have to make sure it’s colorful and stands out in the room.
Competing on a national show can be challenging, but for Ian and Sage, they try to enjoy the moment when they are in the challenges. Additionally, competing with a sibling can also bring out the best or worst in each other, but the two figured out a dynamic that worked for them. Sage explained that they both have similar ideas and they also were big theater kids growing up, so they did a lot of improv that helped them develop quick thinking.
“We try not to think about it too much. We are like, just think you're building in your room with your sibling. Everyone's just so nice on the show that it didn't feel like it was [a] national [show],” Ian said. “It felt like you’re building with your friends.”
“Usually, brother and sister teams, they fight a little bit, but he’s my best friend, so it was amazing doing this experience with him,” Sage said.
Ian and Sage have close ties to their Wimberley community, especially as they pet sit for many, so they had a watch party for the first episode at the local library May 19. They said that they have truly felt the support from the town.
“When we were younger, Sage was obsessed with building cities and stuff. So, she would ask me to build like shops and stores from our town … So, she would say ‘I want that hair salon. I want that Mexican restaurant.’ Then, I would build it for her and we would call it Wimbrickley,” Ian explained. “This town has been really special to us for so long, like, she went from growing up playing with this town out of LEGO to the town watching her on TV play with LEGO. It was such a cool moment.”
Currently, Sage is pet-sitting full-time while saving up for cosmetology school because she enjoyed working alongside the makeup and hair people on the set of the show. Along with helping his sister, Ian is taking online classes at Liberty University with a dream of working as a LEGO designer in Denmark.
As the episodes were pre-recorded, the public will have to stay tuned to the progress of Ian and Sage on the show. LEGO Masters airs at 7 p.m. Mondays on FOX and is available for streaming the next day on Hulu.
