The Block on Channel 9 – Welcome back to one of the last room reveals this season, fellow Block lovers!
Tonight we get a chance to see how the teams have fixed their Rooms of Doom, and finished their final bathrooms… so let’s get stuck straight in, shall we?
“This week was a disaster,” declares Kristy, definitively.
She and husband Brett have been tackling their studio bathroom. In order to redo the room, they decided to rip down the feature tiles, compromising the waterproofing membrane in the process.
Foremen Dan is taken aback by this result.
Site builder Aidan is similarly stunned by how the process has unfolded. “I actually don’t know what to say,” he says, miffed.
“That’s a $30,000 mistake right there,” confirms Dan.
It feels important here to clarify that Brett is actually a tiler by trade.
The Blockheads work into the wee hours, rallying to finish the mammoth task of presenting multiple spaces.
So they’re less than impressed when they’re woken very, very early to take part in a surprise challenge.
“It better not be physical,” moans Leah.
It’s actually very physical because thanks to CommBank, the contestants have a chance to take part in a penalty shoot out, hosted by two Matlidas, Chloe Logarzo and Elise Kellond-Knight. Go the Matildas!
They teams are playing for cold hard cash and it’s just as entertaining as you imagine it might be. Eliza’s skills have to be seen to be truly appreciated.
“I brought shame on to the sport of soccer and I apologise to the Matildas for that,” Eliza says, embarrassed.
Foremen Keith and Dan act as goalies and Keith cops a whopping deflection to the face, courtesy of a powerful kick by Brett.
“Wrong foreman,” quips Kristy.
We do really appreciate the reactions to the deflection however…
And it should be noted on the record that Keith saved the goal.
Everyone head back to site with some cash in their pockets, ready to get stuck back into finishing their rooms.
That’s all except for Kristy and Brett. Who decide to forgo fixing their problematic studio bathroom and go to the footy instead.
Brett is fed up with hearing everyone’s opinions on what he should have done differently when it came to redoing the space at all.
He says he’s happy to wear the terrible result of tearing off the tiles.
“Everyone’s got their genius ideas now that it’s done and they’re all presenting them and it’s like, ‘Hey, shut up, don’t care.'” he states.
Over at House 5, Eliza is still struggling to get her head around basic building terminology. She can’t understand why builders use millimetres instead of centimetres when they’re working out distances, explaining to her builder that she needs to mentally reference a 30cm ruler to work out how long things are.
This is the most relatable thing Eliza’s ever said and if you didn’t think of the mandatory-issued 30cm school ruler you had as a child, you’re the only one.
Next door in House 4, Gian is just as frustrated about measurements, but he’s well aware of exactly how many millimetres are causing him grief. His shower screen is off by a mere few millimetres and we see ‘tough Gian’ in action.
He politely states the installer simply cannot leave until it fits.
And they calmly work through the problem and fit the screen.
Please take a moment to appreciate ‘tough Gian.’
The Blockheads work through the night… all except for Kristy and Brett, who head to bed, their studio bathroom still in shambles.
When morning comes, they’re just as over it as they have been for the last few days.
“I’m here because I am telling myself I need to be here,” Brett admits. He says his spirits are low. “Completely over it.”
The girls are taking a very different approach, eager to maximise every second they have. “You don’t want to walk away early thinking there might be one more crumb on the floor,” Liberty explains.
It’s time for Tool’s Down and everyone’s knackered. “Such a shame we didn’t finish this room,” Kristy says, surveying the mess around her. Brett puts the finishing touches on a post-it note for the judges and we can’t wait to read how they explain this.
But for now, it’s time for judging. The Blockheads are thrilled to learn Neale Whitaker is back… so let the feedback commence!
House 1: Kyle and Leslie
There’s not a Block fan on earth that isn’t hoping Kyle and Leslie get some positive feedback this week.
The pair have stayed within budget, spending $23,898 this week. That included redoing their living room. They opened up the area and addressed many of the judges’ concerns the first time around. “It’s stunning,” breathes Shaynna Blaze. Darren Palmer agrees the proportions feel much better.
“Now, this feels generous and open,” Neale adds. “It feels beautiful.”
Upstairs, the pair’s bathroom is deemed “very grown up.” But Shaynna ponders whether the two could have built a separate toilet space altogether. She doesn’t like the way the bath and toilet are positioned and notes you can see the toilet from the bath.
Leslie suggests Shaynna simply close her eyes. Kyle questions why they seem to be the only team who are criticised for having a toilet and bathroom in the same space.
Darren, however, agrees with her and says that Kyle and Leslie seem to make great decisions but don’t lay them out well.
Neale says he doesn’t feel the bathroom makes a big impact overall, at all.
House 2: Leah and Ash
The team in House 2 spent $26,118 converting their work from home space to a fourth bedroom and taking on their last bathroom.
Shaynna immediately says the bedroom is a huge success.
The judges feel the room is grand, stately and warm.
“This is perfect,” Shaynna adds, explaining the space feels as though it belongs to the overall house.
The judges are surprised at the “muted” choices the usually bold couple made in their bathroom, but they appreciate them nonetheless. Shaynna thinks the space is elegant and likes the mix of textures.
There’s one main functionality issue, which is that the basins are too small for the space, heightened by the length of the taps and the fact the face level storage isn’t inset.
But overall, they feel the room ticks all the boxes.
House 3: Kristy and Brett
Boxes were not ticked in House 3.
The three judges are appalled by the redo room. Darren opens the door, takes one glance at the shambles, and says simply, “Nope.” He firmly closes the door.
The team spent a total of $28,603… and clearly, that wasn’t enough.
Shaynna spots the post-it notes and immediately crumbles them in her fist. She tosses them in the bin and says, “I don’t want excuses.”
We will never know what the pair wrote. 
Spying the unfinished tiling work, Darren quips, “If only they knew a good tiler.”
“Please tell me [Brett’s] not a tiler,” Neale says.
“He’s a tiler,” Darren confirms.
Darren is flabbergasted that any tiler has pulled the tiles out, knowing what the kick on effect would be.
“What we’ve ended up with is a disaster,” says Neale. He is astonished that with just two weeks to go, House 3 presented a room in such a state.
Darren is flabbergasted that on a week where the team also presented another bathroom, they couldn’t pull this one off. “They had the labour, they had the skills, they had the knowledge not to make this mistake.” Instead, the redo room has turned into an ‘undo room’.
Reading the judges’ comments aloud, Scott Cam is also taken aback. He tells Kristy and Brett the feedback they received from the judges for their redo room was simply to change the arch. He questions why they did anything major at all, knowing full well the state of their limited budget.
Kristy interjects: “We didn’t know that you didn’t have to do a redo room.”
Scott says they needed to do something, but they didn’t need to go as far as they did. They could have simply tiled over the top of the existing arch, or changed just the tap wear.Â
The upstairs bathroom is a close replica of their master ensuite, but the judges are disgusted to find the room is also unfinished. The sink and toilet aren’t plumbed and as Neale says, “I’m certainly not going to touch anything because I’m worried it’s all going to come crashing down.”
The next second, he kicks the doorstop off the floor. “Oh dear,” he sighs.
“Disappointingly unfinished,” Neale says, shaking his head. The room is also not clean and clearly rushed.
“It is chaos, you can feel it,” Shaynna observes.
“Brutal feedback,” Scott notes.
Kristy fires back; “Well, all of those things were out of our control… besides the painting and the cleaning.”
But Brett seemingly doesn’t agree. “We’re gonna wear that on the chin,” he says quietly.
“You’re in control,” Scott says firmly to the pair. “You are totally in control.”
Brett reiterates they’ll own the disastrous week. Kristy remains in stony silence.
Scott outlines again what exactly was in their control and how they can handle it differently and Brett agrees. “We dropped the ball this week and we’ll wear it,” he adds.
“Just to be clear, it’s not out of your hands,” Scott says, one final time.. and let’s just say we never want to get in trouble with Scotty, ever.
House 4: Steph and Gian
Flush with cash, Steph and Gian were only too happy to spend a whopping $55,930 on their final bathroom and redo room, which like Kristy and Brett, was also a bathroom.
Their ensuite was originally described as being like a ‘quarantine facility’, so they’re relieved when they get much better feedback this time around.
Shaynna says the space is so luxe, it makes her think of a high-end day spa. However, she isn’t impressed with the lack of storage.
Darren adores the styling and Neale admits he simply loves it.
The Jack and Jill bathroom the two present seamlessly connects the two kids’ bedrooms. The judges immediately compliment the face level storage they used in this space, and query why they weren’t also in the first bathroom.
The judges love the variety of texture and Darren calls the room, “glorious.”
“It’s the most luxurious kids bathroom I’ve ever seen,” Neale says… and that turns out to be both a compliment and criticism. The judges do feel the space doesn’t entirely suit a small-sized child, noting the height of the towel racks are very high.
They also don’t think the lighting is entirely functional.
However, they do all adore the beautiful space.
House 5: Eliza and Liberty
The sisters spent $28,665 redoing their studio space and finishing their last bathroom. The judges are relieved when the see the huge changes the pair have produced in the studio, and love the way they integrated the art TV with their statement wallpaper.
All their choices are given a big tick, although the judges are confused by the orientation of their room. They suggest flipping things around to open the space up, and have it lead out to the backyard space to deliver a perfect poolside cabana look and feel.
The girls wanted to do something different and fun in their bathroom and that’s exactly what they deliver. Their “jumbo terrazzo” tiling is admired and Shaynna loves that the space will grow from a kids bathroom to suit older audiences too.
Darren is impressed the two have pushed out their colour palette and enjoys the brassware they used. Shaynna believes it feels “joyful”.Â
But Neale however, says he isn’t loving everything about the space. He likes some choices but feels the styling is tokenistic and calls the towels “dreadful.”
“All I want to do is pull out the styling items and say, “Eliza, Liberty… please forget it,'” he says.
However, they all agree it’s a standout bathroom.
And the verdict is…
The scores start dropping and given their relatively good feedback, Kyle and Leslie are hopeful they’ll be able to use their gnome this week. So, when they see a 7.5 from Darren they’re stunned.
“Are you joking?” asks Leslie.
It’s clear that it’s between Houses 2, 4 and 5 and with not much wiggle room between them, Scott asks Leah and Ash if they want to play their gnome.
But Ash wants to say the gnome for the upcoming front landscape week, where the teams will be competing for the Mustang. As close as it is, he’s willing to risk a room win for a potential new car.
…And by just half a point, Eliza and Liberty are declared the winners!
The final scores are:
House 1: Kyle and Leslie – 23.5
House 2: Leah and Ash – 27
House 3: Kristy and Brett – 18.5
House 4: Steph and Gian – 26
House 5: Eliza and Liberty – 27.5
The girls are absolutely floored. It’s their third room win of the season and they’re beyond thrilled.
With just two weeks of landscaping ahead, all the teams are relieved to learn they’ve got an extra $10,000 from CommBank to wrap up their spaces.
But how did Leslie and Kyle feel about coming at the bottom of the ladder yet again? Check out the exclusive video post-judging to find out…
The Block on Nine and 9Now – airs Sunday 7.00pm and continues Monday to Wednesday at 7.30pm on Nine and 9Now. Catch up on all the latest episodes on 9Now.
This recap has been used with permission from Channel 9
Special thanks to Lulu Wilkinson at Nine.
Link to 9Now HERE
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