Nine
It wouldn’t be The Block without a little drama, would it? With season 22 of the renovation show well underway in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, there’s already been a fair share of tension in the air, with contestants calling each other “snakes” and others threatening to walk out.
However, many Blockheads simply tune in to see the actual renovations, and some are grumbling that the show keeps pushing for more drama and extravagance for entertainment’s sake.
Viewers have taken to social media to voice their opinion on the significant change that The Block has seen over the past two decades, moving from a simple renovation show to a show comparable to Married At First Sight.
‘B—-ing between contestants and staged drama’
Fans have been complaining about everything, from the excessively big houses the contestants are renovating this year to the tension between teams.
“Wish they would bring back the old style of The Block,” one fan wrote. “This style of ‘hire for the drama’ [and] not the skill is getting old. All the contestants are doing is painting and a bit of interior design. It was far more interesting when they were dumped in a falling-down property and had to fix it while they lived there.”
When The Block first started in 2003, Channel Nine cast four groups of everyday couples to come in on a tiny budget of $40,000 (compared to the roughly $700k+ that they get now) to gut and renovate a dilapidated apartment building.
It was more about renovation skills and how they’d cope under the pressure while living in their half-done properties and learning new trades, and far less about the interpersonal fights and working on big, multimillion-dollar homes.
“I am now on the side of this show has run its course. I loved watching former contestants learn a skill,” another fan wrote.
“The show isn’t worth watching anymore. Completely out of touch.”
Courtney and Sev push back against fans who ‘like to complain’
Not everyone is buying the criticism, though.
Courtney and Sev spoke to WHO about the claims that the show has lost its way, arguing that complaints about the format are hardly anything new.
“This show shows so many amazing things and people love to watch that. I think people just like to complain and so that’s something that they’re always going to say year on year out,” Sev said.
That’s not to say they’re against the idea of a more stripped-back renovation format.
“I definitely think there would be an opportunity for that type of renovation that would suit probably the average family,” she said, adding that it would simply “run a different storyline”.
And while the eye-watering budgets and multimillion-dollar homes may feel a world away from the average reno, the pair insist there’s still plenty viewers can take home with them.
“It’s not just about reaching out to millionaires and billionaires,” they explained. “The average person gets to take what we do and implement it in certain areas of their home. You get some inspiration.”
Sev even pointed to one of her family members who recreated a bathroom using finishes she had spotted on the show.
“I can’t remember which bathroom but basically she took the exact finishes from a Block bathroom that she loved and she replicated her bathroom to be exactly [like] that one. She’s got a little special piece of The Block in her house. It’s not just for millionaires.”
