Each year more than 45,000 couples apply to be contestants on Channel 9’s The Block, one of Australia’s highest rating television shows.
The 2025 return sees The Block mark its 21st season along with its 1000th episode.
Over the years we have seen the drama escalating and this year host Scott Cam told Have a Go News he wanted to make sure the show was more family friendly.
“We decided we needed to get back to some family values for the show – and we wanted to get back to that and we have,” said Cam.
“This year we cast it a little bit differently with contestants. They are a little older and we looked for more resilience, no laziness and no nastiness – we have a great team – they are all there to build and design.”
The build is in Daylesford which is about an hour and half west of Melbourne. It’s a gorgeous country town renowned for food, art and culture, popular for weekend getaways and its well known for its spa and mineral water.
In another first for the show this year will see the homes built from scratch.
“Each couple has a slab and a frame, and they have to fit out the frame inside and out and every house is identical – it’s the same footprint – and that means the contestants have to showcase their design skills, their construction skills and maybe bring in a secret weapon to stand out from the crowd,” says Cam.
It’s a coup for Western Australia with two of the five couples coming from our great state.
Married police officers from Newman, Britt and Taz have travelled a long way to be part of the show.
The couple are parents to two children and say while they haven’t fully renovated a house yet, they’ve done plenty of projects on their home in Newman and before that in Perth.
“I would say we could be classed as amateur renovators,” Taz said.
Britt added: “We have done lots of things ourselves like window bench seats, paving and landscaping, but never something like the scale of The Block.”
The other couple are geologist Han (Hannah) and marketing analyst Can (Candice). Through their families they have both been exposed to construction and real estate.
Han loves getting on the tools, thanks to working with her father for years, where she helped him renovate houses.
The couple are currently renovating their own home, a Californian bungalow, in Perth.
Scott says he is really happy with the calibre of contestants and Western Australians should be proud with two teams being a part of the show.
“Well, I think WA you are going to love your contestants this year, you have two sets of them – you are going to have a great series for WA – you are going to love the whole show – you can barrack for them and be on the right team,” he said.
Scott did clarify that saying that doesn’t mean our teams will win.
Building a home in 12 weeks is nothing less than stressful and this year there will be time constraints which will see all-nighters outlawed and the building site locked every night. This means time-management skills from the contestants are a must, or some rooms won’t be completed in time.
Cam said that audiences have a lot to look forward to with a range of new products being showcased.
He said he was particularly fond of the new appliance which can make a six pack of beer cold in 20 seconds.
“I think people will love the designs and the new products and the secret weapons and they will love the concept of the village.
“We have built a shopping village on site which is home to a Bunnings, a Chemist Warehouse, a Block shop, a McCafé and a nursery – so we have a little main street for everyone to use.”
“There is so much to enjoy with the great designs and ideas, new products, great colour schemes and new concepts with colour,” said Cam.
Every style, design and product are available for people to buy on The Block website and replicate what they love in their own homes.
There is a lot to look forward to in this 21st coming of age series of the show.
“There will be less drama, more family values and I have some great contestants who have great family values as well as me and I have a big announcement to make about my family during the show as well,” said Cam.
The Block airs every Sunday night at 7pm and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 7.30pm or catch up on 9Now.
