SCOTT CAM: Previously on The Block,
a great yawning divide split the Blockheads...
ELIZA: I'm gonna be pissed if Ash and Leah win more money.
LIBERTY: Same.
..when Leah and Ash won the Best On Block award.
I was disappointed that they were given it.
(GLASS SHATTERS)
I walked past and she was raging out at Gian.
OK, and I want to know what you're doing...
GIAN: I'm trying to...
..because I have things for you to pick up.
And frenemy Kristy gave relationship advice to Steph...
I'm not even angry at him.
Maybe your tone just comes across like that.
Yeah. You're a bitch deep down.
That's why I like you.
PRODUCER: You're not really friends with anyone.
Oh... Ash and Leah. Ash and Leah are genuine.
(LAUGHS)
The rest of it's fake. (BOTH LAUGH)
(GLASS SHATTERS)
SCOTT: ..when Steph became the third wheel.
Whenever Kristy and I are together,
all of a sudden Steph pops her little head up
and goes straight in for, like, a little cuddle with Kristy.
PRODUCER: It's fair to say there's a pretty big divide
between you guys and Ash and Leah.
Yeah. I think we both just stay in our lanes.
(GLASS SHATTERS)
SCOTT: And if that wasn't enough 'judginess',
there was a lot more last night for living and dining week...
A lounge room should not be 3m by 3m in a four-bedroom house.
..while Leah and Ash celebrated a second room win.
It's Leah and Ash again!
(LAUGHS)
Tonight, we're heading upstairs
for the start of master bedroom and walk-in robe week, but...
Is that half a couch?
..the work gloves are off for the open-for-inspections.
Do you only like the positive parts or the negatives?
No, no.
That's actually hideous.
I'm only saying negatives. Yeah.
(LAUGHTER)
The sisters have a real beef with their builder.
We're not having fun. We're not sleeping.
We are zombies and we're now not, like, delivering.
And a mismeasurement leaves Leah with a closet catastrophe.
Don't you guys think that when this structure came up
you would come and double-check?
Any situation where you feel there's a problem,
we need to be notified accordingly.
I never thought there was a problem. Because you didn't check.
(LAUGHS)
(GULL CRIES) (THUNDER CRACKS)
(POP MUSIC PLAYS)
We're halfway through the entire Block build
and it's a brand-spanking-new week on the Block,
with master bedrooms and walk-in robes to be completed by Sunday.
But troubles are brewing before the week even starts.
Our couples are well and truly split into two camps -
houses two and three on one side
and houses one, four and five on the other.
And last week, that little split turned into a great divide
after the girls complained to Steph and Gian
about Leah and Ash's negative feedback.
They just never, ever say anything positive.
Well, even when we won, like, last week,
when they came out of our room, they just ignore us, sort of thing.
ELIZA: Yeah.
After the Domain open inspections,
we make a real considered effort to go around to each person
and let them know some positive comments
on what we liked about their spaces.
Your room was so beautiful, guys.
LEAH: Oh, thank you. So, so, so beautiful.
And we just find that Ash and Leah don't do that so much.
Oh, my lord.
ASH: It's like Shrek's pubes.
(LAUGHS)
Ash said that the wall was Shrek's pubes.
ELIZA: It's not going anywhere, so get used to it.
Like, it's gotten to a point now we're in week five, six,
we're a bit flat and it's something that Steph noticed
and so she sort of went into bat for us and she said to Leah, you know,
"The girls feel like they need validation."
So, at this morning's open-for-inspections,
Leah has promised to give validation to not only the sisters
but some other teams as well.
Ready for the validation station? Yeah.
Validation station, come on.
Toot-toot. Come down for your nation.
It was late on Friday night I went and saw the girls
and Steph was there and I was, like,
"Actually, what's with all the rumour mill
"that we're bad winners and bad losers?"
And Steph was there and she was, like,
"Well, you know, you just don't give enough validation to everyone
"after Domain walk-arounds."
Well, we were all just discussing privately
how it's really nice when you come out of the room,
where, you know, your peers acknowledge, like,
"This was really great"
or just give you some sort of, like, you know, props for your work.
Yeah, Ash and Leah weren't doing that and we wondered why.
She's, like, "Just something nice. Think of something nice."
Here you go, Lee. Thank you.
I was, like, "What that if I don't have...
"What if there's no positives?"
Domain open-for-inspection is closed door
with your partner to share your honest, private feelings.
I think it just should stay private.
Private?
You obviously mean just you and Ash and the rest of Australia
tuning in tonight, right?
Yeah.
There's obviously been comments where, you know, Leah said,
"Oh, like, I'm so nervous for you guys to see some of the comments."
And it's, like, "Are you super nervous
"because you're, you know, rubbishing our rooms?"
I'm not worried when things go to air
because I've said it to their face. Yep.
ASH: Validation station, 8:30 sharp.
I'm going for the abuse train.
(LAUGHS) I want nothing but disrespect.
BRETT: All aboard. Good morning. Yeah.
ASH: Toot-toot. BRETT: Let's go.
Leah was super confused by it and Leah was, like,
"I don't have any time
"to be giving all of this validation to all of these people."
Like, these are your competition
and we've got our own stuff going on in our own houses.
Are you just gonna make some (BLEEP) up?
Yeah. 100%. (INSINCERELY) "I love your room."
Would you like some good ones off the top of the dome?
Thanks. (AFFECTEDLY) "I love your painting."
"And the execution was amazing. Don't believe what the judges say."
(LAUGHS) There's three.
You can have them for free. Thanks.
I love you for that. Can I come with you for Domain?
I'm just very excited. Yeah, sure. Sure.
ASH: Wowee.
SCOTT: Hand over that ticket to the stationmaster, kids,
because today's open-for-inspection is now the validation express.
First stop, house one.
Last night in judging,
Kyle and Leslie came last with a score of 20
for their living-dining area.
The judges found the living area was too small
and wondered why they hadn't removed the wall in the middle
to open up the space.
This just feels really tiny.
The judges loved their custom-made Christian Cole table
and the general feel of the room
but were not impressed by the squished-in layout.
"It's a beautifully styled and built disaster."
If anyone needs some validation this morning, it's these guys.
Let's see what their buddies in house four and five think.
Oh! Wow.
What a beautiful dining table.
(GASPS) It swivels.
That art's cool... Oh, this is so comfy.
It's really small
and the only fault of that is the architect that gave them the plans
presented a space like this.
Kind comments from their friends.
Let's see what the validation station and co thing.
Is that half a couch?
A curve, just for the (BLEEP) of it?
Is that what we're doing here? LEAH: (LAUGHS) Yeah.
I feel like they just stuck to their plan.
Like, they were given their plans
and they go, "I'm gonna go with that."
They're safe all the time.
They needed to just go in hard with something, take a risk.
Yeah.
They're gonna have to get rid of that table.
Mmm. That 100% does not work.
It doesn't. Toot-toot.
Time to deliver some validation.
The plans are not...
It's not what you have to do. No, it's not, but...
Yeah. LEAH: Is that wall on your plan?
KYLE: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, OK. Right.
Yep.
No, you don't need validation but it is nice for your peers to come out
and be, like, "Oh, I really loved that."
Like, "Loved that it was so calming"
or "Loved that I felt like I was on holiday."
Just anything, I don't know.
We've got no choice.
The round table, it's stunning.
I don't know how that's gonna fit.
It just sucks now that that wall's, like, there.
OK. Not any real validation there, but it's early days.
Next stop, house five.
With the biggest space,
Eliza and Liberty were just happy to present two finished rooms.
I don't really have much hope in this judging.
I just think we need to grin and bear what comes to us.
What came then was 27 points, putting them in second place.
NEALE: This is a perfect but timeless dining space.
SHAYNNA: I'm actually blown away.
And there was more love for the living room.
# Heading through the darkest part of the night... #
I love the aesthetic in here. I love the proportions.
This is the most generous lounge room we've seen today.
Their art's cool.
Seriously, they blow me away, like, how they just...
When you see them, like, in the state that they're in
and then you go, "Jesus Christ..."
This is awesome.
I hope they feel proud, because they were really dishevelled on Saturday.
STEPH: Well, the fireplace is obviously a standout.
GIAN: It's a nice feature.
I can't believe they got this space done.
They've dug really deep.
KRISTY: Hold on. Wait a minute.
BRETT: I don't get this.
How come they didn't get reamed for their placement of a small rug?
A square, a circle, a rectangle...
This looks cheap with everything that looks classy over there.
Uh-oh.
If Kristy and Brett ain't loving it,
it could be a bloodbath at the validation station.
Okey-dokey. Oh!
Wow.
This is amazing.
I was just not expecting this.
They were so down in the dumps... Yeah.
..by their room.
I'm, like, "Why?"
Gosh, look at that!
This is a really good style for them.
Really good.
Oh, I think they've done a cracking job.
Let's go and validate them.
That living room was phenomenal.
Yeah, because you guys were... Phenomenal.
I wish I saw it before judging
because yesterday you guys were so down in the dumps.
I was expecting something really, really, really, really bad.
I don't think the girls back themselves enough...
Yeah. ..in what they're doing.
Like, that room's sick. Incredible.
ELIZA: They love it as long as we're nowhere near them on the scoreboard.
LIBERTY: Yeah.
Alright. Good one. Thank you.
Thanks, guys. ASH: Validated?
Yeah, thank you.
Validation station tick. Let's go.
I have to go. We're still not ready. Do you want to go around?
Because people want our (BLEEP) opinions.
House three, Kristy and Brett, came equal third on 25.5 points.
They only delivered their living room,
as they moved their dining area to be part of kitchen week.
The judges felt the hotspot was the Venetian plaster wall...
That plaster finish is to die for.
..and the fireplace.
SHAYNNA: Oh, my god, it's pumping out so much heat!
That's beautiful!
ELIZA: Oooh, I love this. LIBERTY: Same.
I think it's beautiful.
Look at this wall.
STEPH: This is... tough to sit on.
LESLIE: Are you enjoying yourself? Just go all the way back...
(LAUGHS) ..in recline mode.
(LAUGHS)
Yeah, you'd probably get a good back crack on this thing.
(BOTH LAUGH)
But will Kristy and Brett's best mates
validate or decimate their room?
Oi! Oh!
I like that fireplace. Very cosy.
Stunning.
The TV on that section was such a great choice.
Yeah. Beautiful galley.
The colours are beautiful. This couch is comfy.
I like this. It just feels so rich.
No, I can't really fault this one. It's beautiful.
Also coming in equal third on 25.5 points was Steph and Gian
with their 'Japandi' styling.
Japan and Scandi... Scandi.
Did you make that up or is that a thing? No. It's a thing.
It's a thing. It's a thing.
But the judges felt they overstyled their room.
It's making my eyes go all over the place.
Oh, wow.
KYLE: I understand Japandi now.
I love this.
LIBERTY: Beautiful dining chairs.
Oh, my gosh. And the fireplace right there.
Yeah, that's stunning.
But, yeah, there's a lot of bits and pieces.
There's a lot of, a lot of vases. (BOTH LAUGH)
KYLE: I don't know, is there too many ceramics?
Like...
LIBERTY: I like it.
Yeah, I think I like this area.
KRISTY: Steph wanted honest feedback this week.
I think, like, with these cushions and then that there,
she's just got a lot of furniture and these chairs make zero sense.
BRETT: Yeah.
I think she panicked.
I think she might have missed the mark on this one.
But does the validation station think Steph and Gian have missed the mark?
LEAH: Oh!
It's actually visually beautiful.
Oh, wow. OK.
We've got bamboo. That's actually hideous.
How many...
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17...
Oh, my god. ASH: What?
17... Items?
..pots in one room.
Yeah.
(LAUGHS)
17 pots in that dining room.
You can't even blame that on the lack of sleep
because you've actually physically picked up a pot and brought it in.
You bought 17 of them and you brought them home.
That's a whack-job there.
Who the actual living
would sit in here
and be comfortable?
This is not inviting at all.
Oh, no, we've got more pots.
Can't wait for validation station.
Oh, she's in for it.
(LAUGHS) She's asked for it and I'm doing it.
(GULL CRIES)
SCOTT: It's midmorning on the first day of master bedroom week
but our Blockheads haven't been able to step a muddy workboot
into their rooms.
The open-for-inspections are in overtime
and Steph asked Leah and Ash to validate each living and dining space
to their fellow teammates.
Although Steph asked for Leah and Ash's validation,
what Steph really wants is brutal honesty.
13, 14, 15, 16, 17...
Oh, my god. 17 pots in one room.
And after viewing Steph and Gian's space
through their validation goggles...
Who would sit in here and be comfortable?
..they are now ready to validate.
Oh, she's in for it.
(LAUGHS) She's asked for it and I'm doing it.
Anyway, whatever I said on camera,
I had to go and speak it to Steph in the quad.
ASH: I felt like it was in a nursery and I had to buy all your pots.
STEPH: I know. GIAN: There was a lot of pots.
ASH: Then we're over the back, there was a pot in a pot.
(LAUGHTER) I know, that was...
Yeah, OK, I know.
We sort of stood there for a minute and said a couple of things.
The bamboo, 100%, that's... You don't like it?
No. I love the bamboo.
And those two cane chairs... You don't like them?
No, not for you.
And she very quickly had responses and answers.
"Oh, like, well, the reason I did that was this."
The cane for me something super different.
Like, I wouldn't necessarily have done it.
I still back the choice,
only in the sense that it sort of makes my couch less stiff.
KRISTY: You don't need to define everything she says to her...
Oh, yeah, I know. ..in response.
LEAH: This is why I've stayed silent.
(LAUGHS)
I'm so confused about the whole thing.
Yeah, same. I'm a pretty simple dude.
Like, "That's (BLEEP), I don't like it. Next."
Why do we need to tell everyone this?
Did the girls go in there? They might have.
No... Like, at all?
Don't you think that I'm responding to the negative things...
I'm only saying negative. Yeah.
(LAUGHS) Literally.
I just like the brutal honesty. I just love that.
Do you?
Steph's just, like, "I'm a sucker for punishment."
(LAUGHTER) Steph's, like, "Give it to me.
"I want it. I want to hear all the bad things."
I was, like, "You are...nuts."
I don't care about validation,
so I'm struggling to give it 'cause I'm, like...
I don't need to be validated by you. No, no, not validating.
You said the other night... you were, like,
"It's nice to hear some validation.
"You and Ash are the only ones..."
I was saying it in relation to the girls.
People like Lib,
they would love a bit of, you know, validation on their styling.
I personally don't.
But just walk out of someone's room and say, "Oh, good job"
or, you know, "I really liked what you did there."
Well, after Leah's thorough demolishing of their style,
it's time for Steph to step out of the rubble
and validate Ash and Leah's winning rooms.
(LAUGHS) Whoa! Whoa!
The judges gave it 29 points,
with Neale awarding them the first ten of the series.
NEALE: What I've always loved is when couples take a risk
but that risk pays off.
Yes, it's going to polarise
but, man, people are gonna wave the cash at this,
don't you worry about that.
Oh, my god. Golly, golly.
Wow. I love it.
I actually literally feel like we checked into our hotel in Coachella.
I love this spot, man. These stairs are just stunning.
But something I would never in my life think I'd pick that.
It's just wild.
I really, really dig it. Like, it's not for me.
Like, I wouldn't walk into a house and buy a house like this.
I think everything just works so well.
STEPH: Um...
I don't know about it.
The dining space was cold and the...
and the couch was small.
I can appreciate this design aesthetic, absolutely
but, like, this is not a main living room.
How many people are gonna sit in here?
To give someone a ten for not providing seating...
And that's six seats there. You need eight.
And there is so much dead space.
I don't think there is a lot of people
that that's gonna resonate with.
It's quite jarring and polarising but...
I loved the stairs.
It is so niche. It is so niche.
It's definitely for, like, a specific person.
LEAH: Totally. Yeah.
Yes, it wouldn't appeal to a lot of people, of course.
My Japandi style, it's completely offensive, you know what I mean?
(LAUGHS) Like... (LAUGHS) It is.
But it is...
You did a very good job at exploring that.
I think sometimes Steph can just say some really left-of-field comments
and you just don't know how to take it.
I will say, the couch is a little small, hey?
Hey? The couch is a little small.
MAN: Yeah. And eight dining chairs, for sure.
What I'm saying is, your space,
you actually do have the space technically...
Yeah. Yeah. ..to put the chairs.
(LAUGHS) Mmm.
So good.
Alright. Good on you, guys.
Thanks. Good on you.
SCOTT: Well, now the very awks validation station is over,
it's time for our Blockheads to focus on the master bedroom
and walk-in robe area.
All of our couples are about to move up in the world...
# Just move on up... #
..in fact, about one storey up
because they are now working on their first floor for the very first time.
# I'm the one that you want to be... #
For the past six weeks, the Nine In Six mob have been putting up frames
with Truecore dynamic steel that's all locally made in Melbourne.
So handy.
It's termite-proof, it's fireproof, it's light, it's straight and true.
It doesn't warp, it doesn't bend, it doesn't shrink
and for us on The Block, it's what we need
because it's very, very fast to install.
At house two, Leah and Ash's curvy top storey is really taking shape.
I just want to accentuate this. Yeah.
Because this is pretty phenomenal.
The master bedroom and walk-in robe,
located at the front of the first floor,
will have curved interior walls, which can be tricky to build.
But Leah is dreaming big.
Do you know what I reckon?
We do storage bench, curve it around
and then it...
Yeah. How would... (LAUGHS)
Yeah, yeah, I like it. Keep going.
Leah is planning a curved bench across the front wall,
king-sized bed and artwork.
They'll have a brightly coloured galley walk-in robe
with a stone make-up desk at the end inset into their curved wall.
And for the piece de resistance...
We are experimenting with something that I have wanted to do for years
and Ash has always said no,
so we're doing a very large curved scalloped ceiling.
It's like a fluted ceiling.
It's hard to explain. Yeah.
It's just as hard as it is to build.
Here, let me help you out with exhibit A.
Mmm. Looks terrific.
Looks tricky.
Yeah, there's lots of moving parts with this ceiling. Yep.
We need Truecore on board.
They've got to build some beams.
Have you got a bit of a solution?
Yeah, so we've sort of mocked some things up over the last week,
but this is what we're looking at now.
So you're the green carts...
are gonna run the whole way along
and then, in the corner, we're gonna create a curved pelmet.
Yeah. Nice. Alright?
So it'll run all the way around,
but that'll give you something to put your curved sections into.
Yep.
And it's gonna look sensational.
Yeah. Yes. Absolutely sensational.
Over in house five,
Eliza and Liberty haven't cemented in their master bedroom plans
and half the day is already out the window.
Master bedroom's obviously important
because the owners are the ones staying in there,
so if they don't have the best space,
they're not gonna want to buy the house.
For us, it's really about the orientation
and just nothing's working.
Maybe the only thing that works...
Oh, but then that cuts it off. You can't have it...
We're re-stumped about this, right?
The girls' master bedroom overlooks their front yard
through a large window
and has double windows on another wall.
And they're struggling to work out
where their fireplace, TV and bed should go.
And you couldn't put the bed there, could you,
'cause it's weird to have a window, like, above the...
A window there might be a little bit odd.
You can't put it there because of your doorway to your walk-in robe.
Yep.
No matter what wall you put it on, it sort of wouldn't work
in terms of, like, light coming in one way, a window being there.
You can't put TVs on certain walls, fireplaces, etc.
Can you put the TV there? Is that so weird?
And fireplace. Or would you put the fireplace underneath the window?
So, for our planning for our master bedroom,
we've asked Mandy from Beacon Lighting...
So this is the window. Is that window two?
Yeah. Where's the plans?
Mark, our builder...
Mark!
(LAUGHS)
We need you, please, if you have a moment.
J-Mac. We've asked J-Mac, the plumber.
MAN: Do you have any suggestions on the fireplace here, J-Mac?
It's pretty obvious here, isn't it? Yeah.
Well, where would your bed be? Great question.
Either... ELIZA: Yeah, that's there or there.
J-MAC: Yeah.
Leslie sat down with me and also Kyle, so those two.
But do you think it utilises...
We've got this real hangup about if we did it there...
KYLE: Honestly, we're...
Everyone was giving their opinion and there wasn't a solution.
LESLIE: Well, you can't really centre there either, can you?
On Friday, we thought we knew what we wanted and now it's...
as of a few hours ago, different.
PRODUCER: So, you've been planning this bedroom for three days now.
When you put it like that...
(GULL CRIES) (THUNDER CRACKS)
G'day, Blockheads. Shelley Craft here.
And when the sawing stops, the banter begins,
all on the official Block podcast.
Every Monday night, I catch up with contestants, judges...
Whoa! ..and all your favourites.
(YELPS)
So, join me on the official Block podcast on 9Now
or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
# What is love? Baby, don't hurt me... #
SCOTT: It's the first day of master bedroom week
and the Block is abuzz with activity.
# What is love? #
And if anyone has a lot of work ahead of them this week,
it's Steph and Gian.
GIAN: We always saw Monday as the opportunity
to kind of work out what's going where with our builder.
We have a huge space. It's humongous.
(LAUGHS)
Their master bedroom and walk-in robe is a whopping 37 square metres,
the biggest on the Block
and takes up almost half of their entire upstairs area.
Our master robe sits in here...
And goes all the way around. ..all the way around.
Our master robe will be very grand.
We've got $20,000 worth of...
Upgrades. ..upgrades.
The winner, taking home 10,000 bucks from Ford, $20,000 handbag
and a $20,000 wardrobe upgrade from Kinsman also,
it's Steph and Gian!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Oh, my god!
A few weeks ago, Steph and Gian had a Kinsman consult
and made sure they had all the bells and whistles for their walk-in robe.
We've got these beautiful leather handles...
Mm-hm. Happy to have this on the doors?
Yep. Happy to have that on the drawers?
Yes.
There's everything from revolving shoe racks
to, you know, the Hafele upgrade,
which involves, you know, textured coathangers and bag hangers.
Yeah.
And in the middle, we have a 1.8 x 900 island bench
that's got storage in it. Yep.
As well as the massive marble-topped island bench,
there's a horseshoe of floor-to-ceiling cabinetry,
with featured LED lighting and make-up area.
Their ginormous master bedroom
has room for an entire seating area, as well as a fireplace.
And they're continuing the ceiling beams
that they featured in other rooms of the house.
Or maybe not.
These beams are obviously what's gonna be interesting in here.
I just don't know how we can incorporate the beams
without bringing the ceiling down.
And do we want to compromise on the ceiling?
Well, we just need to spend some time on it
to work out how to make it work. Yeah.
Meanwhile, over at house three,
Kristy and Brett are at the scene of their lighting crime.
Last night, the judges were left in the dark
with their dim lighting decisions.
I think it's a very basic lighting layout.
All the lighting is literally sitting over the seating
and so, that...
It needs to be pushed back so it's sort of sits behind or central.
To help shed some light on a better layout this week,
they've enlisted some professional help.
KRISTY: After the criticism we got from judging,
Anton came through from Beacon - he's a light specialist.
One of the things that was suggested in our feedback was double...
Like, the double downlights.
Double downlights are really nice because you can adjust them,
so you can choose if you want one lighting up a feature wall
or one straight down.
The other really nice thing about them as well
is you can actually go for slightly, like, dimmer downlights
to create a bit more mood.
Now they're moving upstairs to their master bedroom
situated on the first floor towards the back of the house.
This week's lighting plan will need to take into consideration
the placement of their curvy bedhead,
leather chair and Venetian plaster feature wall and artwork.
Kristy wants to amp up the ambience with pendant lights and a floor lamp
but they'll need functional downlights as well.
The way that I would personally do the downlight layout
would...I would probably...
I would...still might go maybe, like, two in each corner
and then I'd definitely have one in the corner over there
for the artwork for them to make it more nice and matchy...
we just have another two there as well.
I personally hate a congested ceiling and I hate double lights
but apparently that's what you gotta do, so we just filled that bitch up.
Yeah, now, this week we have 40 double lights.
(LAUGHS) We do.
We have that many.
And we're gonna put two sofa lounges, four TVs. We're done.
Maxing out.
Well, if only they had the budget to max out this week.
Kristy and Brett have yet to win a room
but still have to re-stump and floor their entire downstairs living area.
Luckily, Brett's heard a rumour
of the riches to be had at the Mitre 10 mysterious claw of destiny.
BRETT: Playing the Mitre 10 claw.
Everyone's keeping this very quiet, very on the down-low,
so I've caught wind that it's here and I want to win a big prize.
The claw is a weekly lucky dip for the Blockheads...
ASH: 500. Oh, that's awesome.
500 bucks.
..where they can win a booby prize
or money to help pay for their Mitre 10 orders.
BRETT: I want the pig. We have pugs at home.
'Pig the Pug's the best book ever.
It's on his little fat butt. Oh, get up.
That's it.
Oh, when pigs fly, baby!
Whoo-hoo! Yes!
Oh, five grand!
That's actually massive! Whoo-hoo!
We had $5,000 off of our order,
so we've just halved the price of all of our downstairs stumping
and that is huge to the budget.
(TOOLS WHINE)
It's late afternoon
and in house five, the girls have finally settled on a layout
for their bedroom
if Sam from Aluplast can change the size of their window.
They want to make a window smaller
so they can fit a king bed and two bedside tables.
Very anxious about the window situation and narrowing it
but the Aluplast guys have really come to the party.
So we've got -420, which will give us exactly 1000.
If they can change the window size,
they're planning to continue their house colour palette
of terracotta and blue, seen in the bedlinen, rug, chair and artwork.
The walk-in robe will have white enclosed cupboards and grey shelving.
Hate making the window smaller but it was all we could do.
Oh, yeah. And it's still nice windows.
Still 1000. Yeah.
1000 is still big window anyway. Yeah, great. Great.
Very high. Great, great, great, great!
As another day draws to a close,
Leah and Ash are heading out of town for their Ford getaway.
We are heading away to Daylesford,
to Hotel 'Bellazino' to meet Scotty for dinner.
It's Leah and Ash again.
This is our prize for winning last night.
ASH: Pumped for this.
Wow.
Look at that.
Yeah, sick, eh? How cool!
Daylesford was beautiful. That hotel was a lovely place.
Oooh-la-la! Beauty.
How good is this!
A little nudie-rudie arts, isn't it?
(LAUGHS) Ooh-la-la.
(LAUGHS)
Not only is it an ooh-la-la hotel...
Oh! Hey!
..but I left the ten grand mooh-la-la prizemoney under their pillow.
And I had promised them another surprise at dinner...
Cheers, mate. Oooh.
Great to be here.
..after they scored this season's first perfect ten
at last night's judging.
And the surprise is dessert. Oh, OK. Yeah.
Then he whips out the Arnott's Big Bikkies tool box.
Big Bikkies. (LAUGHS)
And we opened it up and it WAS bickies.
Oh. Oh...
More bickies. Oh, we...
Oi!
At the bottom was big bickies, you know.
Big, fat stack of cash.
(LAUGHS) That is $10,000.
Because we got a ten.
If you had have got three tens last night...
Holy! (GASPS)
..you would've got $40,000 last night.
If you won and you got three tens...
That's... 40 grand.
Mmm.
I was gonna say 30 and I was, like, "Where did you get the 40..."
And I was, like, "Ah-ha. I get it."
She does the budget.
(GULL CRIES)
SCOTT: It's day two of master bedroom and walk-in robe week
and in house five, the mood is tense.
Eliza and Liberty are worried their relationship with builder Mark
is crashing and burning
after the girls received some short and not-so-sweet texts overnight.
This is where things became a little bit fractured with our builders
because, like, we voiced how we're struggling
and the sort of response was,
"Under no circumstances will we be plastering
"even if it's, like..." Mmm.
"..desperate times."
LIBERTY: And I was sort of a bit taken aback by that.
Like, we'd literally just finished a conversation
where we were, like, "Just letting you know,
"we're prioritising plasterers.
"We've called about 20 people."
And it's like they think we're not taking that seriously.
It's, like, "Just so you know,
"I know you're headed towards the cliff.
"When you start falling, we're not grabbing you.
"Just so you know."
So I sent them a message when I left here
and I just asked if we could have a plan by 8:00.
Then at least I can forward-plan for the next day.
And they still weren't 100% sure, so I just said,
"Look, going forward, it's almost a non-negotiable
"that we need a plan before Monday
"so that we know what we're doing and we can work efficiently."
"It's a non-negotiable that you have plans to us a week in advance,"
so essentially, like, on Monday,
we have our plans for next Monday's room to them
and unfortunately that's not the way it works.
While this is the first series
where the Blockheads have known their entire house schedule,
the inexperience of the girls has been their Achilles heel,
with no room wins and a dwindling budget.
Knock, knock. Sorry to interrupt.
I didn't want to push you last night
but I just know that if we can get more of a structure
and a plan together for our rooms,
it'll save you girls so much more time.
OK, but I feel like there was push, a lot of push.
Like... Yeah.
And I feel like, for us, this experience, we're not having fun.
Yeah. We're not happy.
We're not sleeping.
And when you leave, we do another 12 hours of work.
We are zombies and we're now not, like, delivering.
At the moment, we haven't done anything in that room.
It's two days down now... Yep.
..and we've not done a thing. Yep.
If we were to have a plan earlier...
That's not gonna happen.
So, is that something you can work with?
You can't find an hour or two the week before...
Well, we can, but then there needs to be an understanding
that something else will have to give.
# Welcome to the madhouse... #
Back on site, after their luxurious overnight stay at Daylesford,
Leah and Ash have crashed back to reality,
as they've discovered the Kinsman wardrobes for their walk-in robe
are just too darn big for the space.
# Welcome to the madhouse. #
Leah and Ash have ordered floor-to-ceiling Kinsman cabinetry
for their walk-in robe.
With no room for error,
the measurements needed to be spot-on.
Our ceilings were 100mm lower than what they should be.
They got dropped for some reason.
Yeah, there was a compliance issue, Truecore had said.
While building house two's steel frames,
Truecore had to reduce the upstairs ceiling height to 2700,
down from 2800 specified in their original plans.
Our cabinets were ordered at 2800... Yep.
..so, straight away, they were too tall to even fit in the ceiling.
Mmm. Big oversight here.
I don't know who by.
Definitely not gonna cop that one 'cause...
(SIGHS) But you've got...
Like, I keep telling you contestants, all you guys,
you've got to cross-check everything.
On a Friday? But no-one does.
Hey, Brycey. Hey, I'm just here with Leah from house two.
MAN: (ON PHONE) Yeah.
Apparently their wardrobes are being built at 2800
but we've only got a 2700 floor to ceiling.
Yeah, well, they gave us the measurements to work to...
No, I didn't ever give the measurements.
That's what we signed off on. No, I never gave the measurement.
I went to Kinsman many weeks ago...
Oooh, I love that.
..to design laundry, kitchen and walk-in robe.
We can also do you dove grey.
OK.
I designed all three of those in one day,
so there was information overload.
And you have your measurements. Well done.
(LAUGHS) I'm prepared.
We'll just get you to sign off on the master wardrobe.
Where we come from, we deal with cabinetmakers all the time.
They always do their own measurement,
so I just truly didn't think
that that was something that we had to do.
But on The Block, things happen so fast
you can't leave anything to chance.
Builder Ash and Leah have renovated five houses,
so you'd think double-checking all measurements
would be absolutely something that they had to do.
Let's see what Bryce from Kinsman feels
about the whole 'measure twice, cut once' thingy.
2800.
Finished floor height to finished ceiling heights.
Leah, that doesn't make any difference now.
Too late. Yeah, I know that.
I'm just saying. This is Phil from Kinsman.
Yeah. He's on the phone.
He found the 2800 from these plans and that's what he's designed it to.
Yeah, but you also gave us those measurements
to work to in the first place.
This wasn't built.
This has been built for two weeks up here.
Dan was saying "Why didn't you measure?"
and I thought, "OK, well, I didn't really think we needed to,"
so I guess that's misunderstanding number one.
Hold it, hold it.
Let's dust off the Block rulebook and check the rules.
Here's that thingy I mentioned earlier.
Ye shall measure twice and cut once.
Will they never learn?
Don't you guys think that when this structure came up,
you would come and double-check?
Bryce can't be here every day. How are we gonna double-check?
You, as the contestant, as the builder...
We signed off on something. If you guys were nervous about...
If you guys ever second-guessed the plan,
then we all should've been reconfirming.
You're throwing this all back on us when you're the actual contestant.
You've got a builder on site.
The responsibility to sign off is your responsibility.
We work to those drawings. I just remember them...
If there's any situation where you feel there's a problem,
then we need to be notified accordingly.
I never thought there was a problem. Because you didn't check.
(LAUGHS) Like, you do that in the real world.
You obviously get your plans... Yeah.
..and you cross-check on site physically.
You missed that step... No. When...
..and now you're throwing it on Kinsman.
Dan was just, like, falling it back onto me,
which I'll take that a little bit,
but what I cannot stand
is when there is zero ownership on the other side.
Do you understand, like, there is a chance you could've picked it up?
It's your project.
You're responsible for this project. Yeah.
Alright?
So, as far as I'm concerned, the ceiling height is whatever it is.
The joinery is built.
Probably the simplest solution
is to just delete the top row of cabinets...
Yep.
..which will bring it back to 2300...
Yep.
..and they'll just have to do a bulkhead above that.
Far out.
Poor old Brycey. He just wants to come and install.
Coming up...
Ladies and gentlemen, my special guest is here.
It's judge Marty Fox!
..the Blockheads' not-so-favourite judge...
Nice to see you all. (CRICKETS CHIRP)
..as he puts their living rooms through the Marty wringer.
This is a bit different. Yep.
I think this is probably a little bit too heavy for the room.
And that needs to go.
I can't give it a ten because of that fireplace.
He's probably in his little... safe little pocket...
Oh... "Let's sell houses.
"They're all white 'cause they're easy."
(GULL CRIES) (THUNDER CRACKS)
# I-I-I got this feeling, yeah, you know... #
SCOTT: It's late on day two of master bedroom week
and in house one, Kyle and Leslie are thinking bigger is better
for their master bedroom.
We deleted a wall, so there's no longer a rumpus upstairs.
There'll just be a landing when you come in
and we've actually extended the master because it was small.
After copping a serve for their tiny-sized living room last week,
Kyle and Leslie don't want to make the same mistake again.
For our master bedroom this week,
on the back of the comments about the size of the living room,
we're essentially opening up that wall to the rumpus room
and that whole space will now become part of the master bedroom.
They'll be using that 11 square metres of space
to create a retreat area.
And I tell you right now,
if we didn't do that, I can guarantee, come Sunday...
The comments would've been "Too small for a master bedroom."
The bedroom will have their cosy seating area
and feature a soothing palette of whites and creams
with bold art pieces.
And the hero, a rendered blade wall with a curve.
We've got Peter to build a wall out from there
which is gonna feature an arch above the bed.
We were supposed to do it at the same time. Go again.
Peter from Truecore is gonna build a wall out
and it's gonna have an arch in it.
(LAUGHS) (BLEEP)
(BOTH LAUGH)
Behind that arched bedhead wall,
their walk-in robe will have white cupboards with simple white handles,
plus a make-up table and matching white stool.
We've got robes all on this side and then we've got robes here,
with a space in between for a make-up mirror.
While Kyle and Leslie are feeling good about their wardrobe plan,
next door, Leah and Ash are trying to solve the problem
of making theirs fit.
Their pre-ordered cabinetry was 100mm too tall
after new ceiling heights weren't passed onto Kinsman.
Bryce suggested deleting the top row of the cupboards
but Leah wasn't on board with that idea,
so her builder Rob has come up with another plan.
You should do no kick so that you've got your 20mm carpet
and then we just come up another ten and that's the bottom...
Yeah. Yep, yep.
So you've just got a shadow line around your door. OK.
Normally with cabinets, your kick is that piece that...
ASH: Sits at the bottom. It's 100mm. ..sits at the bottom.
So we came up with a really good solution to drop the kick.
Which is what we do anyway on all our high-end jobs.
We don't have a kicker. High-end. Hear that?
How good's that! 100mm. Eugh!
So we were, like, "Oh, look, we'll just get rid of the kick
"and then it'll be fine."
Yep. That should fit like a glove - in a high-end wardrobe.
How good are we at solutions!
This is the thing, right? I'm loving it.
I'm really loving it.
With the biggest master bedroom and walk-in robe this week,
house four know they are in for some long nights ahead,
so Gian heads to Kennards for some inspo...
Stop it.
..so they can work on their master bedroom at night.
You can get the fluff out of the way
and you can adjust them wherever you need it. So good.
Meanwhile, Gian's better half, Steph,
is out with Leslie and Liberty hunting down some plush bedding.
We'll take one each.
This is genuinely putting me to sleep, laying on this.
Oh!
But there seems to be less choosing and more snoozing.
Wait, I don't have a pillow. Oh!
I'm in the middle. But I don't have a pillow.
Have you ever felt more comfortable in your life?
It's perfect.
And yours truly is filling up the Aldi trolley
for a surprise barbie for the Blockheads.
Wagyu beef sausages.
It's like feeding strawberries to pigs, but we'll get them.
Ah, there's nothing like a barbie.
And you know what, swanky sausages might not be the only surprise.
Is it now or...? You can eat.
OK. Oh!
I thought there was gonna be an announcement...
Did you say sausages were ready? Mm-hm.
When Scotty hosts a barbecue, you always know something's coming.
He doesn't just do it just for the hell of it. Something's coming.
We're getting ready for a challenge at this point.... Yeah. ..mentally.
T sauce. Great.
Scotch fillet there.
He started the barbecue, old Scotty Cam,
and then he was, like, "But wait, there's more."
I've invited a very special guest to our barbecue tonight.
CONTESTANTS: Who? Oooh, you're gonna love it.
They're going to love it, because it's their favourite guest judge.
Who can forget these truth bombs?
Well, I appreciate the boldness.
But does the boldness bring in the biscuits?
It's a little bit... For me, a little bit bland.
Bland.
It just seems like they have missed the mark on who the buyer is.
The finesse in the styling, it seems very juvenile.
LESLIE: And the special guest was...
Ladies and gentlemen, my special guest is here.
It's judge Marty Fox!
(LAUGHTER) MARTY: How we going?
Jeez, what a reception, Marty. Nice to see you all.
Hi, Marty. Having a barbie.
Hi, Marty.
You know when, like, you're having a really good time
and hanging out with your friends
and then someone brings their friend that nobody likes?
(BOTH LAUGH)
It was kind of like that.
Hello. How are you? MARTY: Good to see you.
Hello. Eliza.
BOTH: Mwah.
We had had a shocker day with all of the conversations, etc,
with our builders,
so this could not have come at a worse time for us
because we have made it very clear
that Marty Fox is not our favourite person. ELIZA: Not for us.
LEAH: Nice to meet you. BOTH: Mwah.
Definitely the quietist I've seen Leah for a while.
(LESLIE LAUGHS)
(GULL CRIES) (THUNDER CRACKS)
(WESTERN STANDOFF-LIKE MUSIC PLAYS)
SCOTT: I'm hosting a barbecue tonight
and I've invited judge Marty Fox along
to give the Blockheads some all-important insights
into the real estate market face to face.
It's judge Marty Fox!
CONTESTANTS: Hey! How are we going?
But not everyone is happy to see him.
At the moment, he's not a very popular person.
I think everyone's quite scarred from his comments.
This isn't hitting the mark from a buyer's perspective.
They're sitting in a lane that is very dangerous.
We've got Moroccan, we've got New York.
This is a bag of Skittles. It is all over the shop.
I don't know what colour I'm looking at here.
I think the styling is so bad
that had it had it have been empty, I would've been happier.
I just don't appreciate his big-dog comments without constructiveness.
What a reception you just received.
There was a real cheer in the room, wasn't there?
(LAUGHTER)
'Cause you are a hard taskmaster on the judging, aren't you?
So I thought I'd bring Marty along so he can have a chat to you all
about how do you get a ten off Marty Fox.
It didn't really bother us seeing Marty in that sense
because Marty's on our train. (LAUGHS)
The craftsmanship is superb. Their vision is clear.
We've had no negative feedback from Marty Fox,
so I was very delighted to see him, actually.
They really get it. SHAYNNA: Mmm.
I mean, you can just see how their marketing will come together.
Ask any questions you like, 'cause you want to get a ten, don't you?
CONTESTANTS: Mmm.
Well, I'm looking forward to giving a ten... Yeah.
..but it comes down to doing a perfect room.
Every single room really counts
and when you put everything on the line,
you need to think of materiality, floor plan,
the marketability of the room,
you know, how will that room resonate to a buyer
in the marketplace?
And I look at those things, I add those up
and that's where the scores come from, particularly in this market.
Have you seen our living-dining areas?
I haven't seen anything. OK.
So if you want some live feedback, I'm here.
Can you give us a score? Alright. Let's do it. House one.
Last week's living and dining was judged by Neale, Shaynna and Darren,
so this is Marty's first look at the rooms.
All this feedback that we got
had nothing to do with the design and the style of it.
It was our space and how limited it was.
MARTY: Your finish is always stunning.
You know, your materiality is on point.
But if this was a living space for a home on this land in this area,
with the bedrooms that you have, this is extremely compromised...
Yeah.
..because if you looked at the square meterage,
it's essentially comparable to that of a two-bedroom apartment.
Yeah.
So that just needs to be your biggest rectification.
His comments have always been fairly positive
with our spaces and stuff like that,
so I didn't really feel like we needed to pick his brain
a hell of a lot.
What's great about your house is that it doesn't feel gimmicky
and that's what a lot of people can fall into the trap of.
They're doing things that really won't stand the test of time...
Yeah.
..and your style, your palette, your tones, everything that you're doing
really fits that Melbourne market.
I mean, I love your style.
I've judged some of your rooms really well.
BOTH: Yeah.
We love Marty. (LAUGHS)
Marty's on the Steph and Gian train,
so we were definitely excited to see him.
Beautiful finish, great tones.
Look, all in all, he liked the style.
The carry-through of the beams, you're staying consistent.
Yeah. And the market loves consistency.
You're a strong mind... Yep. (LAUGHS)
..and you want to stick to what you're doing
and I admire that as well.
I mean, look, having feedback from Marty saying "Keep doing you,"
"it's working" is always validating, I think.
(HORN TOOTS) It was a good comment.
Alright. Ah.
Wow.
It actually went really well.
Honestly, he came with great positive feedback.
It's got a really nice soft feel, you know.
Yeah. It's quite calming.
We've actually heard that. So, we did hear the calming comment.
This is quite an interesting sort of piece...
Yes. ..in the hallway.
I love the thinking of that, by the way.
Yeah. It's different.
It actually gives this area a bit more personality
and makes it feel more open to what is to come.
Yes. OK. Great. I think that's really important.
He liked our decisions to create the flow with the fireplace.
He was very positive about it.
A couple of bits of advice. Yep.
I think this is probably a little bit too heavy for the room. Sure.
And that piece of artwork needs to go. Yes.
I think a landscape that's got that sort of reddy tone through it,
to pick up and lift everything that you've got in here would be...
Amazing.
This is great. Awesome.
Awesome, man. Love the feedback.
PRODUCER: Turns out he's a nice bloke after all.
Yeah. I mean, I didn't mind him.
Kristy's off him.
Clearly Leah's got beef with him. (BOTH LAUGH)
Yeah, so, this is obviously the big...
Yeah. ..conversation starter.
Yeah.
Would I personally do the pink fireplace?
Yeah. No.
Have you tied it in and does it feel like a very deliberate move? Yes.
Stuff like this obviously you've got great scores this week but...
Yeah.
..it's got to translate, you know, into you actually winning The Block.
He's, like, "Oh, wouldn't have done the pink wall."
I would and I'd do it again. Yeah. Sorry, Marty.
What would you have scored this? What would have I scored this?
Look, for me, it's probably a nine.
It's a ten. For me, it's a nine.
I'm happy with that, Marty. Yeah.
If you're gonna give me a nine, that's brilliant.
But do you know why?
The marketability to the actual buyer is where, for me...
Yeah. That's what you're looking at. Yeah.
I have to. As a person that's got 15 years in the game... Yeah.
..on the real estate side,
I can't give it a ten just because of that fireplace.
That's all.
He's probably in his little safe little pocket of...
Oh...
.."Let's sell houses that are all white because they're easy."
"You can't sell that." What, you can't sell...
Oh, Ash. You're being... You can't sell awesome?
You're just going too far now. You can't sell awesome? OK.
Oh, wow.
So is it a good "Oh, wow" or a "Oh...wow"?
This is a bit different.
We've asked Marty for his feedback
and as per usual, he gave us his honest feedback.
This really works. Yeah.
The furniture choice around this... Yep. Mmm.
..probably doesn't. Yep.
I mean, imagine an amazing semicircle couch here.
Yeah. It would go really well.
Yeah.
Constructive feedback this time at least,
just about orientation of our room, styling, etc.
Oh!
I've got this as one of my tables in one of the offices.
Do you really? I do. I love this table.
I can just see this hosting some amazing family dinners.
Mmm. Great entertaining.
My big win here for you guys
is just that you toned it down a little bit.
Yeah.
The boldness in choosing that fireplace deserves a great score.
If I could do a 0.25, I'd do an 8.25.
Lucky you weren't on the scoreboard this week.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah?
We got three nines, baby. You had three nines? Yeah.
It was so annoying that he was nice
because we honestly wanted to hate him.
We wanted him to be a bully, we wanted him to be awful
but we actually quite like him, annoyingly so.
But also, we think that he'll be kinder to us now
because he knows us.
No. I think you're delusional if you think he's gonna ease up.
I think we're gonna continue...
or he's gonna continue to grind our gears.
(SIGHS) This life is not for me.
VOICEOVER: Tomorrow...
I truly despise every second of this.
Master bedrooms take their toll. (SQUEAL)
None of this is fun to me!
I hate every minute of it. I'd rather die than be here.
"I'd rather die than be here." (LAUGHS)
And, friend...
It was a game play to be friendly at the beginning.
The rest of it's fake. (LAUGHS)
..or frenemy?
Steph is very easy to get into her head.
I can suggest something and it will eat her away.
Sneaky mind games begin.
You're clearly messing with her.
PRODUCER: Are you? Yeah.