10, and he relocated with his mother and brother Chris, to the Gold Coast, in Queensland. His paternal grandmother, called Nanna, was a volunteer surf-lifesaver on the NSW Central Coast. Having left high-school in Brisbane at age 15, he tried his hand at cabinetmaking, and modeled beachwear part-time. Durie got his showbiz start in his teens as an exotic dancer in the Australian all-male revue troupe called Manpower Australia. Durie's agent introduced him to Manpower Australia, a touring dance troupe best known for its male dance performances and for its dancers' distinctive physical attractiveness and sex appeal. For seven years, Durie toured internationally with Manpower Australia, acting as manager, and also as principal dancer, performing acrobatics and trapeze acts to large audience venues in Las Vegas, NV. "I was the lead performer and designed the sets and costumes" he says. Durie notes that while Manpower Australia was perceived as putting the risqué into risky, the shows were highly professional acts that even his grandmother was comfortable with. The timing was ideal, as "The 1960s, 1970s and 1980s in Australia were very chauvinistic and the female body was overexploited", as he explains, "There needed to be social change." Retiring from Manpower Australia at age 26, Durie made up for his early exit from schooling by completing a four-year horticultural and landscape design course. Landscape design and television hosting Durie founded the landscape design company Patio Landscape Architecture and Design in 1998. In 2002, Durie registered the Australian business company, JPD Media & Design. Within a few short years, he made hosting appearances on Australian reality show DIY television programs. Durie was the main host and the lead landscaper on the garden makeover program Backyard Blitz, on the Nine Network - created and produced by horticulturist Don Burke - from 2000 to 2005. Don Burke, whose production company recruited Durie in 1999 to front Backyard Blitz , describes him as a "born showman". Durie was the host on the TV renovation show The Block, on the Nine Network. The original The Block TV series first ran for two consecutive seasons in 2003 and 2004, hosted by Durie. In 2007, Durie participated in the 6th Australian series of Dancing with the Stars, in which he was eliminated in 7th place, on 17 April 2007. In 2007, Durie hosted Australia's Best Backyards on the Seven Network. The show was a lifestyle garden program, similar