The Block’s 2026 season might not even be over yet, but fans are already looking ahead to next year.
Channel Nine recently revealed the location for next season, and it’s a pretty major departure from this year’s new-build homes. Contestants will head to Sunbury, Victoria, where they’ll transform three historic buildings at the former Jacksons Hill psychiatric hospital into five family homes. Nine has promised an ambitious heritage restoration.
It’s a huge project, and viewers clearly had some thoughts about how the network should approach it.
An “open letter” was penned to Channel Nine with a few demands for next season, and the conversation snowballed with their complaints and suggestions. Fans took aim at everything from casting and the design brief to AI, the challenges and the wider production of the show.
So, what exactly do The Block fans want to see changed in 2027?
Fans want a casting shake-up
The open letter, which was posted on Reddit, didn’t hold back, calling for Channel Nine to bring in a new casting director for 2027. They also urged producers to cast contestants with more renovation experience, particularly given the historic buildings they’ll be working with next year.
“Please employ a new Casting Director to avoid this season’s debacle.
“And please ensure the cast have some experience, so they do not ruin those beautiful historical buildings, and show them the respect they deserve.”
The post was signed off with: “This season’s anguished viewers.”
It certainly struck a chord, with another viewer later calling for the show to be handed over to a “completely new team”.
The design brief has confused fans
From there, the Reddit discussion quickly moved beyond casting and into the design direction of the show. One viewer took aim at this season’s “quiet luxury” brief, questioning whether the five finished homes risk becoming too similar.
The viewer argued that the location was the only truly “luxe” element. They suggested the end result could simply be five cookie-cutter multimillion-dollar homes sitting next door to each other.
Interestingly, it’s a criticism that echoes something contestants have noticed themselves. Speaking to WHO, House 2’s Chantel admitted the brief didn’t always feel consistent as the competition progressed.
“Each week, the brief definitely changed. I think initially they wanted, you know, bright, light, white, but all of the rooms started looking too similar and I don’t think that would have looked really good on TV. So I think we were the only ones that committed to the neutral, which I was always going to do from the start, even without the brief,” she admitted.
“Then the other rooms at the other houses did start to implement some colour to progress with the judges’ feedback and stuff. So, yeah, it definitely did change every week.”
So while fans are debating the design direction from home, it seems the contestants were feeling some of that uncertainty too.
And then… there’s the AI
AI technology has featured heavily throughout this season, and it didn’t take long for viewers to have plenty to say about it.
“And cut the AI slop while we’re at it,” one viewer wrote.
For anyone who has watched this season, the comment needs very little explanation. AI has been sprinkled throughout the episodes, from talking animals and animated characters to AI-generated music and some truly bizarre visual moments.
Channel Nine has defended the creative choice. The show’s post-production Executive Producer, David Barbour, told WHO that AI is being used as “another creative tool” to add humour, personality and energy to the show. But that explanation hasn’t exactly stopped the complaints. Some viewers clearly feel the AI additions are distracting from the show rather than adding to it.
Another Reddit user went considerably further, calling for producers to “get rid of” almost everyone involved in the show’s creative direction.
“Get rid of Scotty, the judges, the AI, the editing team and fire whoever has been making these changes from a cannon.”
Interestingly, the contestants themselves have had a very different reaction to the AI additions.
WHO previously asked the cast what they thought about the new feature. While they acknowledged the reaction from viewers, several contestants said they actually enjoyed it. Jolene described the additions as “quirky and funny”. Adam said the AI-generated songs and graphics made the show “a bit more fun”.
Rick also admitted he didn’t mind the AI, despite acknowledging that viewers weren’t exactly loving it. Tayla was even more blunt, telling fans to “stop being so ridiculous” about it.
Reddit viewers may be calling for the AI to go. But the contestants actually living through the chaos don’t seem quite as keen to see it disappear.
Fans want a wider shake-up
By this point, the Reddit thread had evolved into something of a wishlist for the entire show. Viewers called for changes to everything from the weekly challenges and advertising to the stores contestants are allowed to shop from.
“Get rid of the irrelevant challenges, keep the adverts on-topic and for the love of god let them buy from other stores,” a fan commented.
Another viewer wanted a complete overhaul of the team behind the scenes, taking aim at what they described as the show’s “crusty out of touch” leadership. “They need to hand the show to a completely new team. Same old crusty out of touch ‘leadership’ giving us AI slop and shitty casting.”
So, by the end of the thread, it wasn’t just the casting that viewers wanted changed; they had essentially drawn up a renovation list for the entire show.
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