NEED TO KNOW
- Courtney and Sev won the first challenge; Rick and Tayla finished last and faced harsh judging.
- Rick pushed back on judge Alice Stolz calling them “not worthy,” saying the criticism was too harsh on his daughter.
- Fans slammed the judges as overly negative and criticised Courtney and Sev’s win for being budget-driven.
There was everything to play for during the first challenge of The Block, with the teams told that whoever’s guest bedroom was the best would be granted first pick of the houses to renovate for the rest of the season.
Despite having a shorter week than usual and restricted working hours, all five teams were able to finish their room in time for the judges.
Courtney and Sev, the commercial site manager and commercial interior designer, were victorious with their efforts and scored the highest points, while father-daughter duo Rick and Tayla were at the opposite end of the table, copping some pretty “harsh” critiques from the judges.
Judge Marty Fox said there were three features in the guest bedroom that he liked.
“The carpet, the wardrobes and the door to leave,” he said during the episode on August 9.
Overall, the judges felt the room was “bland” and “void of emotion”, with Marty claiming the room wouldn’t sell in its current state, and judge Alice Stolz making an even bigger claim.
“I don’t think these guys are worthy of The Block,” she said.
It was one of several comments that have fans complaining about the judges, but none were as unhappy with the feedback as Rick.
He told WHO that the “constructive criticism” would have landed better with a kinder approach.
Rick struggled with the judges ‘putting his daughter down’
The builder defended Tayla, saying she had done well with so few interior design skills.
“You know, when you’re standing up there on judge day and they’re putting your daughter down like that, it’s a bit hard to swallow… it probably could have been worded better,” he told WHO. ” It was a bit hard to take as a father standing next to your daughter and copping that criticism.
“But they’ve got a job to do, and they say how it is,” he said.
Despite the disappointing result, Rick said he was adamant it wouldn’t dampen their spirits, so the pair went home and had a glass of wine and “all was forgotten”.
“We didn’t take it home and dwell about it like the other guys did.”
Fans aren’t happy about who won the first challenge
Many fans were unhappy that Courtney and Sev won after blowing so much of their budget on the guest bedroom, with fans saying it’s easy to win when you throw money at the problem and don’t consider all the other spaces that still need to be renovated.
“I’m also so pissed off that the girls won,” one said, while another said they shouldn’t have been able to win after spending $18,000.
“Everyone could have spent that amount to try and win,” she said.
Fans were also shocked by how harsh the judging was during the first week, with many saying they were “unnecessarily” mean.
“Marty needs to go. This is supposed to give the contestants guidance, not just [be] negative!” one viewer said, while another called Alice’s feedback “awful” and “brutal”.
It seems the judges are not here to mess around this season, and will be letting the teams (and us) know exactly what they think.
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