These Milwaukee siblings built their bond through LEGOs. Now, they'll be competing as a team on 'LEGO Masters' Season 4.

Brick by brick, brother and sister Paul Wellington and Nealita Nelson built their bond through LEGOs.

Now, in adulthood, they reconnected through these tiny plastic pieces. But this time, on TV.

The siblings, who grew up on Milwaukee's north side, will be sharing their brick-building talents with the world on "LEGO Masters" Season 4, which premieres Thursday night on Fox.

"It's something positive," said Nelson, who's still a Milwaukee resident. "A lot of times, there's a lot of negativity going on around in the city ... It's great to see people getting out of the city and doing stuff positive with their lives. Little kids that might see (the show) might be like, "Ooo! I want to be just like them!"

Wellington also wants to be a role model for children, especially those of color, he said.

"There's not many Black people in the world of LEGO," said Wellington, who moved to the Cincinnati area last year.

"I think it's a great chance for people, Milwaukee people of color especially, to see that 'Hey, there are people who work with LEGOs, work with toys, things that are pathways to be successful, you can be on TV, you can be someone who everyone knows."

How this season of 'LEGO Masters' will work

"We've gathered the 12 best LEGO-building teams on the planet," actor and producer Will Arnett, the show's host and executive producer, said in a sneak peek video on YouTube.  

The 12 teams of two will go head-to-head with "infinite possibilities and an unlimited supply of LEGO bricks," according to the show's description.

This season's brick-building challenges are "so epic" and will include Cirque du Soleil, remote control vehicles and a volcano, Arnett said in the video.

"It's a family-oriented show that really brings everybody together," Nelson said. "They give you an assignment on what to do, and then you just kind of execute the assignment. And if you don't execute the assignment, you might get sent home."

The teams who impress the judges the most progress to the next round. During the finale, top teams will compete for $100,000, the title of LEGO Masters and a LEGO trophy. Plus, they will see their final build transformed into a set, which will be displayed at a LEGO flagship store, a news release said.

About the Milwaukee team, their connection to LEGOs

Wellington, 32, has been building with LEGOs since he was 3 or 4 years old.

The first set he ever got was a city. He's been constructing buildings with plastic pieces ever since.

"It was a way for me just to express my creativity after a long day at school or working in summers," Wellington said. "It was a way to come home, relax and focus on building whatever I wanted to. There was no constraints ... It was kind of an escape from everyday life."

Wellington, a Rufus King High School graduate, went on to earn his bachelor's and master's degrees in architecture from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

He's a social media specialist for the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library. He previously worked for the Milwaukee Public Library, and even constructed the Central Library out of Legos at one point.

One of Wellington's best-known LEGO builds was his microscale city called "Brickville," which lasted from 2010 to 2014. It spanned 68 baseplates, which are 10-inches-by-10-inches each. The massive build — which grabbed the attention of the LEGO community — was displayed at the Brickworld Chicago LEGO convention three times, he said.

Wellington has also been featured in the book "The LEGO Architect" by Tom Alphin for his model of the National Congress of Brazil by architect Oscar Niemeyer. That work, along with Wellington's microscale rendition of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple were highlighted by the same author in Brick Architect.

Wellington is an author himself. He wrote "Black Built: History and Architecture in the Black Community," which showcases the role African American architects have played in the past and encourages young people to pick up that mantle for the future.

He also co-founded MKE Black, an organization and app that highlights local Black businesses.

With Wellington always being into LEGOs, Nelson, 24, has been around them her whole life.

"He was already like way ahead of the game by the time I got here," Nelson laughed. "But he showed me how to play with them."

Wanting to be like her older brother, Nelson got into brick building, too.

"I really looked up to him," she said. "So, I kind of just did what he did."

She ended up falling in love with how she could show her creativity through builds, and how there were "no rules."

Nelson, who also attended Rufus King, went on to the Milwaukee Career College to be a dental assistant. After spending some time as a drivers ed teacher, she now works at a Milwaukee hospital as a tech.

Making it onto 'LEGO Masters'

After coming across Wellington's LEGO creations on Flickr and Instagram, 'LEGO Masters' encouraged him several times to apply for the show, Wellington said. In 2022, he went for it.

"I never thought in a million years that I would ever apply for the show, then let alone actually make it to the show," Wellington said. "It's just really incredible to be among really great builders who are on the show, past and present as well, and be in the ranks and recognized for my contributions to the LEGO community."

By competing on the show, Wellington — who has been building in microscale for about 20 years — wanted to prove to himself that he could build other things besides small cities and architecture, and in other scales as well.

"It's really for myself to say, 'Hey, I'm not just a one-trick pony,' " he said. "I can build other things."

It was also a way for him and his sister to reconnect, in the way that they used to as kids, he said. That's why he chose her to be his teammate.

"We haven't really spent as much time as we did on the show together since we were kids," Nelson said. "That part was amazing."

In February, they traveled to Atlanta for filming. And, Nelson said she went through "almost every type of emotion."

"This is literally my first time on TV," Nelson said. "I was just super excited. I'm going to be just smiling all the time."

In true brother and sister fashion, Wellington and Nelson both expressed that they didn't always see eye-to-eye on the show. But they overcame those moments and enjoyed the quality time they had together. Nelson noted that she wouldn't have wanted to do the competition with anyone else by her side.

"I'm really super-excited for the whole world to see, and also just to represent Milwaukee," Nelson said.

How to watch 'LEGO Masters' Season 4

The fourth season of "LEGO Masters" premieres at 11:35 p.m. CT Thursday on Fox. It's airing later than usual due to the Green Bay Packers game being broadcast locally on Fox. After this week, "LEGO Masters" will air at 8 p.m. Thursdays. The episodes will also be available on the Hulu streaming service the following day.