The Block on Channel 9 –We cannot stress this enough – this is one explosive episode of The Block.
Celebrations go sour, tears flow, expert advice is given (and eagerly received) and somewhere amongst all that, the Blockheads turn their attention back to renovating their master ensuites.
We start with a dramatic revelation – it’s 10pm on Thursday and no one is up painting. Instead, our Blockheads are indulging in some fun. They’ve finished the Domain challenge and the DJ in House 1 is throwing down some bangers.
It’s ironic that House 1 is hosting this rager in the small living space that they copped such harsh feedback about. That same room has flexed into nightclub mode particularly well and we can only imagine House 2 are devastated their first bathroom wasn’t considered as a venue.
The girls have headed home, exhausted. They swap margaritas for a fireside chill and Steph decides to join them. Noticing they’re gone, Leah pops around to try and convince them to rejoin the fun.
But they can’t be swayed and instead, head to bed. Good thing really… because a short time later, Kristy starts looking for Leah.
“Where the f–k is your wife, bro?” she drills Ash.
Hunting for her Block bestie Leah, Kristy eventually finds her at the sisters’ place and she’s furious.
Kristy and the girls recently had a heated clash and she sees this house visit by Leah as a major betrayal. “Why the f–k are you here?” she asks Leah.
Noting how heated Kristy is, Leah heads back to House 1 to attempt to diffuse the situation. Kristy follows, with a head full of steam.
“She seemed really angry,” Ash reflects, adding Kristy then approached him and said, “Just seen your wife. She’s dead to me.”
Welp. 
Leah says she found the situation extremely awkward. “It was dead out of line,” she says. She’s most relieved the girls had gone to bed and avoided Kristy’s ire. “I don’t even know where that would have gone,” Leah finishes.
In the cold light of the morning after, Leah is shaken by the encounter. She muses that she doesn’t have anyone in her life that would typically treat her in such a way. “You do not speak to friends like that,” she notes. “It was almost like, the nail in the coffin for me this week.”
Leah’s been hearing everyone else’s take on Kristy and Brett and now she’s experienced that version for herself. “It just was a lightbulb for me,” she says. Ash adds that no one else has been spoken to in quite the same way.
“Tough revelations,” Leah admits to Ash and her sister Ellie, who is in town visiting the couple. “I’m just annoyed that I lost myself… a little bit… ’cause that’s not who I am back at home.”
“I do not want other people thinking that that’s me,” she stresses.
She isn’t the only Block contestant waking up pondering over the evening’s antics. Sisters Eliza and Liberty note that Kristy has “cooked herself with everyone.”
They’re also astonished that Kristy blew up at Leah. “Her only friend!” breathes Eliza.
“The hole is so deep there’s no ladder long enough to come back from it,” she adds, noting there had once been an opportunity for Kristy to try and climb said ladder. “And now the ladder has been removed from the hole. It’s on fire. It’s ashes. It’s dust. It’s in the wind, it’s gone.”
We would like to know more about this hole so we send in hosts Scott Cam and Shelley Craft to get the goss and also find out if anyone is actually working on an ensuite this week.
The sisters immediately deliver on the dirt, telling the hosts they are not mates with House 3 and have a tumultuous relationship with House 2. They share exactly what went down after judging last week, when Kristy confronted them about what she believes is “special treatment.”
“It essentially insinuated that we’re cheating,” says Eliza.
“In everyday life, we wouldn’t associate with people that treat other people like that,” adds Liberty and hmm, that’s the second time tonight we have heard a very similar sentiment.
Afterwards, Eliza and Liberty tell their producer that the “secret” behind any help they may get is actually very simple: they have “great relationships” with people because they’re built on mutual respect. “I promise you Kristy and Brett,” says Eliza. “If you start giving people kindness, you will get so much more out of life.”
We’re sure they’ll be thrilled with the suggestion.
Speaking of House 3, Scott and Shelley have turned up and Kristy confirms she is feeling “very green”. She reflects on how great it felt to win the vote of coveted potential buyer, millionaire Adrian Portelli, during the Domain Buyers Jury.
His respect was great, but it didn’t come with any prize money attached and that’s now an issue. “You’re in a bit of strife,” Scotty notes. Turns out that as well as the hole Eliza mentioned, House 3 are also in a big one financially.
Kristy notes they have exactly what they planned to have left at this point, which is $21,000 for the remaining four weeks. We’re unsure why this is a point she is trying to make because that does not sound like very much money.
The two were probably hopeful for a cash injection from a win, but at this stage they’re yet to score a single room win. Shelley consoles them that at least their home is consistent, and Kristy seems no less green than she was when they arrived.
Next door in House 2, Leah’s sister Ellie has been roped into Scott and Shelley’s walkaround meeting at House 2 and the second Shelley asks what it’s meant having family around, Leah bursts into tears. “It’s grounded me,” she says.
Now Ellie is crying, as she reflects on how proud she is of her sister and then Shelley goes out in sympathy. “Don’t Shel,” Scott warns. “If you cry, I’ll start crying.”
Scott makes a superb Jack Thompson joke about sisters and showerheads and we’re going to let that moment speak for itself.
Steph and Gian are still buzzing after their Domain Listings and Buyers Jury challenge win and $50,000 prize. A bonus of their winning is a special fancy lunch at Grossi Florentino, where they’re joined by Shelley and Alice and Nicola from Domain.
Forget small talk over oysters, the strategic and ambitious couple waste no time asking exactly what moves they should make over the remaining few weeks. They’re eager to deliver the biggest impact possible and eagerly soak up all the expert advice about landscaping, creating flexible spaces, including depreciating assets, sustainability and adding solar panels.
It’s exactly the same small talk we have at our own Champagne long lunches. Uncanny.
Back at The Block, Ellie and Leah have dried their tears and Ellie is ready to head home and flee the drama. As Leah drives her sister to the airport, talk inevitably turns to Kristy and everything that’s been unravelling.
Ellie admits she would have liked to have seen Kristy apologise. “You’re meant to be friends,” she notes.
Her sister safely flying home, Leah returns to take on her ensuite renovation (we hope). And in a spectacular post–night–out–awkward–morning–after situation, she runs smack bang into Kristy.
They hedge around one another for a minute, before Leah walks inside. “I don’t know how to navigate a friendship where we really, probably don’t share the same values,” she says sadly.
She’s still stunned Kristy is not seeming to experience any sort of regret.
That’s because Kristy is not experiencing any sort of regret. “Everything’s completely normal,” she says, adding she and Leah are straight-shooters. “If we had a problem we’d rough it out.”
For her part, Leah ponders if Kristy is privately and internally experiencing some self–awareness. But blissfully unfazed, Kristy is actually just experiencing some Maccas drive–thru. “They’re good fries too,” she sighs happily.
As she’s merrily munching away, Leah is now sobbing over the realisation she’s just had that she needs to confront Kristy and Brett. “They genuinely don’t think that their strong opinions are wrong and it’s going to be me as a friend, calling it out,” she says. “It probably will be hurtful.”
“And I think they’ll be really shocked by it,” Leah says, wiping tears from her eyes.
That appears likely, because as she’s grappling with these thoughts, Kristy and Brett are musing about the “calm and peaceful” day they’ve had.
We’re now spinning.
As the hours tick by, Leah’s resolve to address her former best mates is increasing. She’s realised it is her who needs to change the situation they’ve all found themselves in and there’s no better way to do that than by confronting Kristy and Brett with some cold hard truths.
Leah admits she has avoided her true feelings so as not to revert to thinking about her kids, but she’s now allowed herself to go deep and sit in them, and she is not finding them comfortable at all.
“It’s not funny jokes anymore,” she tells Ash. He acknowledges they like Kristy and Brett as people but things have taken a turn.
Leah also points out that she and Ash have laughed along with the jokes, or simply remained silent. “We should be calling it out,” Leah says and Ash agrees. “Both of them have been saying things that have gone way too far,” she says firmly.
“Not saying something … actions speak louder,” Leah adds.
“This is literally not a) who we are and b) this is so not how we would ever want to be perceived,” Leah says and Ash nods.
“My kids … they idolise me,” he says wryly. “I came on here to show them they can do anything, not that they can be mean. I think of myself as a role model for my kids and I’m not here to set a s—t example.”
“It’s really now up to me to stand up for what is right,” Leah finishes. “It’s just going to be awkward, and uncomfortable and a potential real loss of friendship.”
We’re tipping all of the above.
The Block on Nine and 9Now – airs at the special time of Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on Nine and 9Now. Catch up on all the latest episodes on 9Now.Â
This recap has been used with permission from Channel 9
Special thanks to Lulu Wilkinson at Nine.
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Link to Lulu’s full recap including with extra video content and info HERE
The Block on Channel 9
About The Block
Get ready, Australia. The Block, the number one renovation reality program, returns for an incredible 19th season on Sunday, August 6, at 7.00pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.
Set in the family-friendly Melbourne suburb of Hampton East, the new series features five houses designed and built in the 1950s and located on the aptly named Charming Street. These grand old dames are now aged in their 70s and way overdue for a contemporary update.
For the first time in Block history, host Scott Cam will be providing contestants with the full renovation schedule ahead of time this season. So get your cameras out, Blockheads, it’s photo time.
Adding to the year of Block firsts and amping up the stakes at play during the 48-hour House Decider Challenge, contestants will be seeing all finished designs of the houses on Day 1. Who will prevail and get the house of their choice?
Not only will they get the schedule and designs up front, but in another first, they’ll receive their entire budgets as well.
However, the Blockheads will soon find out that it’s not all smooth sailing when renovating an original 1950s home – structural issues, extreme weather events, and a mountain of demolition will test our five keen couples every step of the way.
Plus, The Block’s state-versus-state rivalry will be amplified by the sheer closeness of the houses this year. Who knew being able to peak into your neighbours builds would cause such tension?
The couples in contention are: sisters Eliza and Liberty Paschke (personal assistant, 37, and integration producer, 34, VIC); parents Kyle and Leslie Cottone (firefighter, 36, and teaching aide, 34, WA); parents Leah and Ash Milton (first aid officer, 31, and builder, 36, QLD); married couple Kristy and Brett Beames (project manager, 34, and safety officer, 34, SA); and newlyweds Steph and Gian Ottavio (architect, 27, and start up worker, 27, NSW).
Real estate expert Marty Fox isn’t the only new addition to the lineup this season. The formidable foremen Keith Schleiger and Dan Reilly will be joined on site with the fan favourite from last year, Tom Calleja.
The nation fell in love with Tom and his wife Sarah-Jane because of their work ethic and relatable marital bickering, and he jumped at the chance to work with Scotty and come back as this year’s official Block plumber.
The designs of the amazing homes in this series again come from The Block’s resident architect, Julian Brenchley.
At stake is $100,000 for the overall winner of The Block, on top of any profit the five couples can all make on the critical auction day. Plus bragging rights for the winners’ state.
Since premiering on Channel 9 in 2003, Australia’s richest reality program has awarded a total of $32,592,807.65 in prizemoney.
The Block – on Channel 9 and 9Now
Media Release – Nine
TV Central Nine content HERE
