SCOTT: A few days ago during backyard week...
It's an $80,000 landscape out there for 35 grand.
It's a lot.
..an accusation by house two...
Do you mind if I go and ask for an audit on your backyard?
..did not go down well with their neighbours.
Well, no, you don't get to go around and treat people like that
and then also go,
"Well, I'll also have your Block Bucks."
I'm taking my Camerich Block Bucks back off Leah.
(PHONE RINGING)
SCOTT: And Leah felt the full force of Leslie's retaliation.
Unfortunately, we cannot deliver all of those items for you.
It was Friday.
That was all my key furniture items.
There is nothing dirtier
than taking back a deal
and also doing it behind your (BLEEP) back.
Dirty, dirty, dirty.
SCOTT: But house two pulled it together for judging.
Choosing to hold onto their gnome...
Save it till next week, buddy.
..they missed on the win...
..by half a point!
It's Steph and Gian.
(APPLAUSE)
SCOTT: Tonight, with the auction just days away,
the final week begins.
Getting a facade right is so important.
SCOTT: You only get one chance at a first impression.
The first thing that you're going to see
is a massive thing to get right.
SCOTT: Another reason to go hard, the Mustang Mach-E,
which will go home with the winning team of front facade week.
Swap the gnome for keys to a Mustang.
SCOTT: There are two gnomes in play for the big car prize this week.
One belonging to Leah and Ash...
(LAUGHS) ..and the other belongs
to Kyle and Leslie.
For now, anyway.
And then it was, like, "Can we sell it?"
(LAUGHTER)
Boys and girls, let me teach you a lesson
in how to really (BLEEP) up in the last week.
(LAUGHTER)
SCOTT: Buckle up, people.
You are in for one hell of a ride this week.
Be a dick and I'll be a dick back.
(SEAGULL SQUAWKS)
(THUNDER)
SCOTT: This is final week of The Block 2023.
Our blockheads have just seven days
to complete the front garden and facade,
and everything else left inside the house.
# Closing time...
This is our last...
The last moment to finish what we've done.
There's no more weeks after this.
So, what happens?
I've been sooking for the last three weeks
about wanting to go,
and now I'm, like, I kinda don't want to.
It's pretty sad.
I don't want it to be over.
# Closing time...
SCOTT: But one team who do want it to be over is house five.
When the scores came in at HQ last night,
Eliza and Liberty came dead last
with the four judges criticising
the concrete in their backyard.
I don't like it. Is it finished?
That's what is - what we call burnished concrete.
There's a lot of it.
SCOTT: It just feels cold and harsh.
They're really concerned
your prospective buyers will feel the same way.
MARTY: This, for me, is...
It's a disaster.
I've seen enough, guys. I'm sorry.
It's confronting not getting one single positive comment.
Like, we literally did not get a single positive comment.
Hey, guys. How are you going? You're alright?
(BLEEP) No good?
What's wrong?
We'll talk later. You right?
Chin up, mate.
It hit us so hard because we put our absolute heart, soul,
mind, bodies, blood, sweat, and tears into it.
ELIZA: I just can't even be here.
I feel really...
I just feel really low.
LIBERTY: I know. Same.
ELIZA: We feel like the judges' comments,
it was painful to us to sit back and listen.
We just felt disappointed in them and the process and everything.
Waking up and, you know,
having to do the Domain Open for Inspections,
like, everything just feels a bit too raw.
The decision was made
that maybe it wouldn't be beneficial for us to do it.
I'm really sad I couldn't be there to support our contestants
and see what they'd done in that moment.
I was just pretty selfish and, like, I don't know.
I was just P I felt like I was drowning.
SCOTT: So, while the girls take a breather,
the rest of our teams are cracking on
with this morning's Open for Inspections.
Steph and Gian spent over 70 grand on their backyard,
the most money spent by any team,
and the judges loved every single cent of it,
awarding house for the win with a score of 38 out of 40,
including a perfect ten from Shaynna.
I want to swear.
(LAUGHS) Then swear. I want to swear
because this is so F-ing good.
SHAYNNA: It feels so phenomenal.
MARTY: It's unbelievable.
It's just amazing.
I've just never been so passionate about a backyard.
The fact that the judges saw that gives us lots of confidence.
So, yeah, lucky for us, we scored a ten and also took the win home,
so that's 20 grand for us. (CASH REGISTER RINGS)
Wow.
Welcome to tranquilly.
(LESLIE LAUGHS)
KYLE: How they didn't get more tens...
LESLIE: Yeah.
It's really an oasis.
ASH: It is. There's so many plants out here.
LEAH: It's beautiful. There's so many plants.
Um... I'm kind of not blown away by it.
You're not blown away? Like, it's good.
It's finished very well, it's very nice, it all ties in
and everything's good, but like functionality-wise
and what they could've done, especially with their budget.
LESLIE: Like, a sauna. Where do you get off having a sauna? Honestly.
This is stunning.
They should have got tens on this alone.
Oh! Devo!
(SIGHS) We need a padlock.
SCOTT: The judges loved Ash and Leah's backyard too.
They would have won had they used their gnome.
Instead, they came second by just half a point,
scoring a total of 37 and a half out of 40.
It's very calming.
You know, like, it's got those beautiful areas.
It's got that whimsical sort of pathway over to the fire pit.
There's a lot of usable space here. Just gorgeous.
MARTY: And you can see buyers lining up.
Yep. This is so liveable.
It is. It does flow.
BRETT: Because the kitchen is so small, it did need P
it's an extension on that. 100%.
GIAN: It's very... It feels very good.
GIAN: It feels very curvy,
which obviously is the theme of the house.
Mimics the house.
The proportions are right in here. Like, it's very usable.
Every single zone is usable.
I really, really like it. Yeah.
Oh, this is cool.
LESLIE: Nice.
Nice.
(CHUCKLES) Also nice.
I don't know why house two
was too worried about the grass on the other side of the fence.
They obviously had a great idea.
It was executed well. Like...
Yeah, they've got a fantastic backyard.
I think, for me, it's just...
OK, that's enough of the compliments. Um...
Like, no, it is. It is.
It's an amazing backyard. But it's just...
It's annoying that they had so much focus on what we were doing.
What a shame.
Camerich chair's nice.
Yeah, it's a big lounger, hey?
Oh, look. We should get some money from this sale
because you can hear the calming water effects
from our water feature.
(RUNNING WATER) (BELL RINGS)
It sounds nice when you're up here.
Adds to the tranquilly in here, you know?
Adds to the tranquilly of their yard.
That's definitely a bonus. They should put it on the brochure.
SCOTT: Over the fence at house one,
while the judges loved Kyle and Leslie's pool,
they felt it wasn't very family-friendly
and awarded house one third with a 33 out of 40.
This is incredible.
Look at these steppers.
From a marketing perspective,
buyers will just say, "I've got to see it."
But from a practicality perspective, if I had my kids here,
I would be stressing of the kids falling off left right and centre.
Hmm, this is what's been happening over the fence this week.
Yeah, look, can't say I'm loving it.
The grass is horrendous.
GIAN: Oh, wow.
STEPH: I mean, this is amazing.
GIAN: Look at the steps!
This is probably what he meant about a trip hazard. Like...
STEPH: OK, you could actually fall down there.
Imagine falling down there. Very nice on the eye though.
It's a wild space. Like, honestly... Unreal.
..as a selling point for this home,
I think, to the buyer, this backyard has a huge appeal for it.
I think it will sell really well.
If you're into it...
..good on you.
SCOTT: House three's backyard did not fare well with the judges.
Coming in second last with 28 points out of 40,
guest judge, Dave Franklin,
saw little to like about their space.
I don't know what to say.
I'm actually a little bit bored here.
It's not really giving me anything at all.
I hate the pebble. That's not lush.
The pool is the best part about this backyard.
There's not much else I can say.
SHAYNNA: A lot has let it down.
House three.
Oh, nice.
I don't hate the pebbles. I mean...
KYLE: Maybe it's just the colour.
I don't mind them but there's lots of them.
LEAH: Looks better than what it was,
but that was just a big pile of dirt,
so, I guess, like, anything's an improvement.
House three, unfortunately, seems a bit like a DIY job.
What the hell's this?
Like, what is that?
A nothing thing.
A bit of moss and grass.
But you're right, it is very DIY.
That space.
STEPH: It does feel rushed and not really thought out.
I don't hate it. No.
LEAH: Our last Domain Open for Inspection.
How good.
SCOTT: After copping all that criticism from the judges,
the girls' backyard came last
with a total score of 27 points out of 40.
It's a big door.
STEPH: I really like this area.
I think this is really nice.
Nice beautiful table, so they've brought in the warmth.
KRISTY: I like the colours.
Good little station.
STEPH: The fact that they did integrated. It's like a big win.
I think it's awesome. That's a big win there.
BRETT: Oh, this opens up good.
LEAH: Oh, wow. How bright and sunny is this?
Nice. This is so fresh.
What's wrong with the concrete?
Genuinely, it's on the record. I love burnished concrete.
Yeah, same.
Oh, house five, we loved.
They had all the zones, they're ticking all the boxes,
they've got all the spaces. I don't understand
why we got fixated on a burnished concrete slab.
We like burnished slabs. We have one at our house.
SCOTT: While the blockheads loved house five's backyard,
the girls, however, can't get past the judges' comments.
LIBERTY: We're just (BLEEP) off.
ASH: What happened? About what?
ELIZA: I actually can't even talk P I can't even talk about it.
Yeah.
It's just been a lot.
Like, we just obviously received really brutal feedback last night,
and now, those comments are out there
and potentially detrimental to the sale of our house.
The damage has been done.
We've got the judges there, like, standing there,
like, we... That's...
A lot of the feedback was things that were out of our control,
ie, putting concrete down.
SCOTT: Last week, the girls' plan for extensive decking
was rejected because of the height of their house.
Did you hear? We're not allowed decking?
That was something we were just old.
We were concreting that. Right?
Because that was something that we were always doing
because of your height restrictions and you couldn't do a deck.
Cool.
SCOTT: Restrictions meant there was not enough clearance
below floor level for a deck,
so the girls went for a concrete slab
and what they chose to put on top of the slab,
be it decking or tiles, was up to them.
So, they opted for a burnished concrete finish.
We've come up with a plan, the best we can with what we've got.
Concrete was not a decision that we made.
LEAH: Yeah.
We just find it frustrating
that, yeah, we've been critiqued on a lot of things
that were out of our control.
When the judges have said, like, "This is (BLEEP). This is..."
It'll jeopardise the sale of our house.
We didn't have a choice.
Why - I wouldn't. If I was watching The Block and I saw that,
like why in a million years would you want to buy our house?
It won't jeopardise your sale.
Or even come to our house. I wouldn't even come to our house.
They were really focusing
on the fact that they thought that the sale of the house was...
Jeopardised. ..jeopardised
and I could see they were spiralling into a big deep hole.
Yeah, they took it really hard.
It will not jeopardise your sale. I feel... I feel like it will.
It won't. They - they'll...
Genuinely, I if I watched The Block and I saw that, I'd be like,
"Why would I even go to that house?"
Oh, no. You're overthinking this.
How embarrassing. It's like humiliating. We look like fools.
I have burnished concrete at my house.
I love it. GIAN: I like burnished concrete.
I wouldn't do anything different. That's it. Like, back yourself.
There's nothing wrong with it and then move on.
Four experts in different fields are saying it's not nice.
Like, we need to be realistic here. We didn't get one positive comment.
We didn't get one single positive comment.
The comments were scathing.
They essentially, in not so many words,
said we jeopardised the sale of our house through those choices,
the choices we didn't get to make.
But then you probably could've decked on top if you really wanted.
No, that wasn't an option.
I think it's the lack of awareness in the options that they had
because they could have put decking on it and that's what they forgot.
PRODUCER: Can you do that? Yeah, you can put decking on a slab.
Yeah. Why not?
That wasn't an option. That was not an option.
We were like, "Is this the only thing we can do?"
And it was made very clear,
it was the only thing that we can do.
You've got to push back and you've got to...
Yeah, try and go for what you want to do.
(BLEEP)
You're going to do an incredible front yard and prove them all wrong.
Yeah?
ELIZA: I don't like being like this
but it's like someone's put a dagger in our hearts.
(SIGH)
I just really don't want to be here anymore.
I just want to go home.
(SEAGULL SQUAWKS)
(THUNDER)
SCOTT: It's the final week of The Block
and today is also a public holiday,
so things are a little quieter than usual around here.
Today was a weird one.
The Block's either, like, full pelt or ghost town,
and being a public holiday, it was a bit of a ghost town.
SCOTT: But with auction day around the corner,
getting the front facade and yard looking top notch is crucial
because first impressions count.
BRETT: Look, frontage and facades
are a massive part to get right on your home.
It's obviously the first thing that you're going to see,
it's that street value.
It's that pulling up to be, like, you know,
that lovely home space
where P I think it's a massive thing to get right.
SCOTT: Back in the very first week,
our blockheads chose their houses based on the facades.
This is house one.
Oh, wow!
(UPBEAT MUSIC)
Lovely.
SCOTT: This is house two.
(LAUGHS)
SCOTT: This is house three.
It's great.
It's really beautiful.
SCOTT: House four.
Oh, I like that one. Wow!
Yeah, these are stunning.
SCOTT: And this is house five.
Nice.
So exciting!
SCOTT: Well, this week, the front facades of the houses
will finally be brought to life.
Within architecture, getting a facade wrong
is detrimental to the way in which you feel
when you enter a space. The streetscape is so important.
SCOTT: Weeks and weeks ago...
Hello! Hey.
How are you? Good.
..with the help of architect, Julian Brenchley...
I've come to show you a couple of the finishes
that we're starting to discuss.
..and the team from Colorbond,
our blockades were introduced
to the materials that will clad their home.
The batons are vertical.
Yep. Yep.
The Balmoral weatherboards are horizontal.
OK.
OK, so you're kind of getting a bit of a textual response,
rather than a matte look across the whole facade.
SCOTT: House four's classic Hamptons look
will be created with James Hardie board and batten
and weatherboards with a Colorbond roof in Matt Monument.
The way you feel is something we always talk about,
so you have to evoke emotion through materiality,
so it's everything that you're doing on the inside
and then this whole other layer.
Super important.
SCOTT: And in front of Steph and Gian's facade
is their front yard,
the biggest on the block this year.
The PGH stone-clad fence, which matches the chimney,
will have three gates
with a series of pathways leading to the front door.
Being able to create multiple entries into a space
creates a sense of warmth, welcoming,
it's an open home,
so that's a very obvious and architectural thought process
that I'm trying to convey in this front yard.
But because we did backyard last week,
a lot of the front yard had been used as a storage pile
by Nine In Six to continue a lot of the roofing and cladding,
so for us, Monday being a public holiday,
the only thing we really wanted to achieve
was having the front yard as clean as we could get it.
Yeah, let's do it.
SCOTT: Down the road at house two,
Leah and Ash have got big plans
for their front garden and facade this week.
We got first pick of the houses
and we wanted house two,
and we just P now, it's coming to a point where it's all on us
to make it really look like how we...
Yeah.
..what we fell in love with from day one.
SCOTT: House two's angular garage in basalt grey
will offset the soft timber curves of the first floor.
And this will be the Colorbond roof for the garage as well.
Oh! Is it that finish? That matte?
Yeah, yeah, that matte finish. That's so good. I love that.
Yeah, it's such a... It's got... Basalt matte, yeah.
SCOTT: And in the front yard,
mimicking the curves of their first story curved facade,
there will be curvy garden beds,
a curvy driveway with a turntable,
and a 3-D printed curvy front fence.
So, go hard.
We go hard every week,
but this week, we'll go as hard as we possibly can,
leave nothing in the tank.
# Just bring your A-game...
I reckon we can knock out upstairs and down.
You reckon? If you come in, I need your help.
Let's do it.
Get the dustpan,
dust down all the stairs. Yeah.
Yeah, we're feeling pretty good
about where we're going and what design we have
and how we're going to pull it off, and we've got a gnome, so...
SCOTT: For two weeks in a row,
Leah and Ash chose not to use their gnome.
We've got a couple of gnomes to play.
Leah and Ash.
I told you that I was saving it and I'm a man of my word.
SCOTT: You're saving it for the Mustang?
Save it till next week, buddy.
SCOTT: Weeks ago, I announced the prize for the final week.
This awesome piece of machinery, the Mustang Mach-E.
Last night was so close.
We could have thrown our gnome at it, but...
Hmm.
(SIGHS) We may be kicking ourselves we didn't get a bit of extra money,
but I thought, let's hold the gnome for the car.
Yes.
Oof, yeah.
It'd be nice.
Swap the gnome for keys to a Mustang.
Perfect.
SCOTT: But Ash and Leah's plan to take home the Mustang
might be foiled by the only other team in possession of a gnome,
Kyle and Leslie in house one.
SCOTT: Last week, during a Block Buck swap session...
LESLIE: Better swap some Camerich 'cause I know you were after some...
I would love some Camerich.
..Leslie gave Leah her Camerich Block Bucks.
Yay!
SCOTT: But after Leah and Ash questioned Kyle and Leslie
about their backyard budget and threatened an audit,
Leslie took her Camerich Block Bucks back.
MAN (ON PHONE): What can I do you for?
I just wanted to revoke my Block Bucks swap
I did the other day with house two.
MAN (ON PHONE): OK. Not a problem.
I do get to do that
because you don't get to treat me like that
and then take the dollars that I'm giving up to you.
SCOTT: But Leslie didn't tell Leah...
Unfortunately, we cannot deliver
all of those items for you on Saturday.
My entire furniture on a Friday afternoon - poof, gone.
..and Kyle and Leslie are still bitter.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
When we were getting our morning coffees with Tina,
we were talking about the gnome.
Why won't you be close?
KYLE: We don't have the money to do anything.
We don't have the budget at all.
What am I going to do with a gnome?
Give them your gnome.
Have you asked?
Have you asked if that's a thing?
I sort of went, "Oh, well, maybe we could..."
And then it was like, "Can we sell it?"
This is great.
Oh, guys. (LAUGHS)
This is... This is gold right now.
OK? Absolute gold that's happening at McCafe.
Well, one of the options is to sell the gnome to house four.
I think Steph and Gian have won the most amount of money ever
and so why not try and help them win the car as well?
And then maybe somebody else won't be able to win it.
(LAUGHTER)
Boys and girls, let me teach you a lesson
in how to really (BLEEP) up in the last week.
(LAUGHTER)
Hey, it's the last week.
(LAUGHTER)
And we apologise because we've become these people, but...
I don't apologise for anything.
OK, cool. (LAUGHS)
When did you... No, I didn't think of that.
You know what? That is totally happening.
I'm more like...
Be a dick and I'll be a dick back.
(SEAGULL SQUAWKS)
(THUNDER)
I do like it when people push the boundaries,
so I'm always open for something new.
Yeah.
SHELLEY: See how our all-stars, Dan and Dani,
rate the blockheads' rooms
when they award their weekly Champs and Chumps,
exclusively at The Block website.
KYLE: I like that idea of giving them our gnome for cash.
SCOTT: On the final week of The Block,
house one's Kyle and Leslie have just hatched a cunning plan
to sell their gnome to Steph and Gian
in the hope it will make them some much needed money
as well as shatter Leah and Ash's chances
of winning this week's prize,
the all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E.
(GLASS BREAKING)
I was a bit peppy in my step, actually.
I went down the street, ran into my neighbours at house three.
Brett, you're going to love this, OK?
Are you joking? Can you listen?
But - no, listen.
We were just like...
I said, "Oh, my god. Imagine if I could sell the gnome."
And they went... (GASPS)
For how much? I don't know.
I'm just going to ask Papa
how much money he's willing to pay for it.
(KYLE LAUGHS) BRETT: I love you.
And then I went to the source of the money themselves
and said, "Hey, ever thought about this?"
So, I don't know the technicalities of this,
but say you had extra money and you wanted to buy our gnome...
And if you didn't, then I'm going to find the technicalities
of what happens if you pass a gnome on.
OK.
We can explore that.
Can we?
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
This morning, Leslie plants a seed
and she says, "Hey, obviously, I'm a bit tight for cash this week."
"How would you feel about buying our gnome off us?"
"Just some food for thought."
And we go, "Hmm..."
"That's interesting."
"Interesting proposition."
We'll see how that goes.
Because I just... No.
You know, we just want to make sure you've got the best chance...
Love that. ..at the front.
Love that.
But also, if you could just check your budget. I mean...
Yeah. ..any sort of...
No, for sure. I get it.
So, it's definitely something to consider
and definitely for the right price.
I mean, it will help you guys.
And it will help us
and also I don't need the gnome. But that would be an amazing...
Yes, it would.
Could you imagine?
"Sorry, we're just going to play our gnome."
They would lose their mind.
That's a masterstroke from you, Les.
But we've got to work it out, but yeah.
Gian was like, "I'll call the Cayman Islands right now..."
(SPEED DIALLING TONES)
"..and I'll get back to you"
"on how much we can pay you for your gnome."
This is funny. Is it?
This is funny. It's ha-ha funny or ha-ha funny?
(LAUGHS) No, it's ha-ha funny.
(LAUGHS)
I'm just imagining the faces.
I'm feeling like it's funny ha-ha, ha-ha for everyone else.
PRODUCER: You are? Yeah.
Probably not for house two though.
It's probably not going to be funny.
# Take me out...
SCOTT: Being the very first night of the final week,
I've invited all our blockheads to the very last winners' dinner.
# Take me out...
So, tonight, we're going to dinner with Scotty
and opposed to, you know, a Ford getaway,
he's actually invited the whole Block family,
so all five couples are invited to have some tea with Scotty.
SCOTT: Oh! Hello!
Hello, Scotty! You got me at a good time.
I've just finished preparing all this.
(LAUGHTER)
Putting it down. How are you?
Good. Now, did everybody come?
No. No girls.
Girls have had a bad day.
They have. Never mind. Sit down.
Unfortunately, Eliza and Liberty won't be coming
just because they're feeling a little bit down in the dumps
after last night's judging feedback and look, understandably so.
It's Dave Franklin's fault, isn't it?
(LAUGHTER)
Give them enough time to kind of get some sleep,
recharge the batteries. Yeah, but...
We really wanted the girls there as well
because we know full good and well
that the other couples don't really speak to each other,
so we're the ones that are going to be carrying these conversations.
It's going to be a little awkward.
PRODUCER: OK, let's break this down.
House three aren't talking to house two.
House one isn't talking to house two,
and the only house that house two is talking to is house four
who are about to buy a gnome
to completely (BLEEP) them over on Sunday.
I don't think P yeah.
In a Morgan Freeman voice.
(ELECTRONICALLY DEEPENED VOICE) It was at this point,
house two realised they'd (BLEEP) up.
(LAUGHS)
Hey, gang, it's wonderful to see you here. Thanks for coming.
I know you're really busy
but I thought it'd be a great opportunity
for us to get together for maybe the last time
in a dinner environment.
(STRAW SLURPS)
GIAN: And there was just crickets. STEPH: Crickets.
It was a bit awkward.
But also could be an opportunity to rekindle some friendships
and leave The Block on good terms as a group.
And we're just sitting there like, "So... What's everyone doing?"
Now, we do have one small piece of business today.
Big bikkies!
Well, firstly, $10,000 cash from Ford.
Oh, thanks, Scotty. Can you pass it down, please?
Thank you very much. But for those P has anybody here not got a ten?
Oh, me!
Well, for those who haven't got a ten,
when you get a ten, you get this...
STEPH: Big bikkies! ..big bikkies!
(LAUGHS) Big bikkies from Arnott's
and Steph and Gian, can you come up here and sort this out?
Yep.
Can we just back up because I didn't know it's a thing
that you get the big bikkies tin and your money's in it,
it gets delivered. (CASH REGISTER RINGS)
Oh!
10,000.
Honestly, it's like someone taking you to the lottery office
and, like, cashing in their winning lottery ticket,
making the champagne and just making you stand in the corner.
(LESLIE LAUGHS)
KYLE: "Why do I need to be a part of this?"
(LAUGHS) (BLEEP) Whoop-ti-do. Good on ya.
Scotty, can I speak to outside for a second?
Yes. Yes, yes, yes.
Let me get my beer.
Oh, hello. What's happening?
What is happening? What is happening?
Well, since they're gone...
(LAUGHS)
Tell me.
So, we're thinking of potentially...
Selling... Buying...
..Kyle and Leslie's gnome
to use this week.
That's never happened before!
I know. And you've got the coin?
Yeah.
And this is not a ten grand week. I know.
There's a car, right? So...
That we can take home, I guess.
That Mustang Mach-E, yeah, is exactly what we are after.
You come up with a market price,
I'm giving you the tick of approval to do this.
It's never been done before and imagine having a secret gnome.
You're not to tell anyone, are you?
No. No.
Well, Kyle and Leslie have already told the girls
and Kristy and Brett.
We did not speak about it with anyone else,
but Leslie and Kyle have spoken to Kristy and Brett about it
and the girls.
PRODUCER: But you haven't told Leah and Ash?
We haven't told Leah and Ash about the gnome.
No.
SCOTT: But what about
when I go behind the board next Sunday night
and I go, "Oh, now, Leah and Ash, do you want to play your gnome?"
And go, "Oh, and Steph and Gian, would you like to play yours?"
Oh, my god. I'm a bit frightened about doing that.
I'm frightened. I'm very nervous.
I'm worried about that as well.
(SEAGULL SQUAWKS)
(THUNDER)
SCOTT: It's six days to front garden and facade reveal
and the end of The Block...
# I've left a good job in the city...
..and after a quiet Monday public holiday,
the tradies are back in force.
('PROUD MARY' BY TINA TURNER CONTINUES PLAYING)
Big week, Keithy.
Last week, mate. Massive week.
You think about the contestants,
so they've got their front yards.
They've got to do defects,
they've got to do the garages,
they've got to do the hallways,
and then they've got to do the staircases.
It's like a five area week.
Yep. It's a big week.
Yep. Yeah, I'm glad it's them and not us, mate.
Yeah, same.
SCOTT: Yep, that's right.
All interior spaces and defects that need to be completed.
That means rumpus rooms, powder rooms,
stairwells, and garages.
It's a new day and a new attitude for house five
who have shaken off yesterday's post-judging meltdown
and are keen to rip into front yard landscaping.
Monday was tricky because all the feels were still there, so raw.
I locked myself in my room and like -
at 4 PM, was comatose until five.
I woke up at 5 AM.
I think sleep was just, for me,
like, the only thing that was going to reset us.
It's good to see your beautiful smile back.
Yeah, we've got to...
New day.
We're not going to get this time back.
We have to just keep going and I really want this to still P
like, I want this to still be a product of us,
which is never giving in, so that's what I'm going to do
and I want the owners of this house to be really happy
and that means still giving every ounce of everything
to make this the best place it can.
So...
..we go forth and conquer.
(LAUGHS)
SCOTT: Eliza and Liberty
will be presenting their front facade and garden,
garage and house entrance for judging.
With so much to do, the girls are wasting no time
hitting up The Block Shop for some art pieces.
Got quite a lot of spaces this week
where we need to have artwork,
so jumped on The Block Shop website
and picked heaps of pieces.
I reckon I picked about five or six.
Look how cool that is. Yeah, that's amazing.
Oh, my god. It's got a little echidna. A cute is that?
SCOTT: Next up, Liberty is on Hipages
in search of a cleaner.
Home cleaners.
I feel like I'm going to need an army.
Cleaning kitchen, living room, outdoor area, windows,
oven, barbecue, carpets.
Jesus. Done.
SCOTT: With the house interior on track,
attention turns to the exterior of their front garden centrepiece,
a big tree.
One thing that we want wanted for our front yard
was a mature, established tree,
which was going to be a beautiful, like, centre feature
of the front yard.
Dom at The Plant Runner has helped us out with this.
He is a legend in the plant department.
We got a bit crucified with our backyard this week.
Oh, really? Oh, no.
Hopefully, we can fix it up for you on the front. (LAUGHS)
Well, exactly, and so, they've told us
we need a bit of, like, colour and...
Yeah, OK. Some autumn colours. ..height and things like that.
Have we got a bit of a landscape design already?
A little bit. It's not... That's alright.
We're still kind of going through it.
Yeah, that's a good way to work, I think.
SCOTT: I'll take it from here, Ryan.
House five's front door
is actually located down the left side of the house.
At the entrance, you'll step up to a large deck
with seating and plants.
Out the front, house five's first floor
will be clad in Colorbond Blue Gum Grey
and contrast nicely
with the warmth of their timber and brick ground floor,
all of which they chose eight weeks ago.
Because I'm really excited
about this new blue gum colour. That is stunning.
It is amazing in the matte finish.
Which ties in really nicely with your existing bricks.
SCOTT: House five's landscape design
consists of an arbour and seating area,
the lawn and border plants will provide the greenery,
and hopefully, a mature tree will be their star feature.
So, how about I give you some options?
'Cause you want to make an impact. Yeah, yeah, totally.
If you're going to spend the money, you want to get a...
You may as well do it well. Yeah. There's a Ford Mustang on the line.
Is there? Oh, cool. Well, this might get you over the line.
If we win this, we win a Ford Mustang.
You'll take me for a drive? Yeah, absolutely.
(LAUGHS) Yeah, cool. OK, let's make it happen.
So, we were looking at different options.
We talked birch trees and all sorts of things,
but we landed on a beautiful cherry tree.
It's going to be so beautiful.
It's going to have these white blooms.
Our magnolias are going to flower
and the front yard's just going to be glorious, so I'm so excited.
SCOTT: So, it's high spirits for house five,
but the same can't be said for house one.
After going over the figures last night,
despite the pending sale of their gnome,
Kyle and Leslie's financial situation is dire.
The plan this week, like off the back of last week
and really, sort of, I guess,
putting all of the dollars out the back, was very simple,
but I've done the numbers.
We don't have enough money.
SCOTT: Last week, Kyle and Leslie gambled
and threw everything they had into their backyard.
KYLE: We put, like, a heap of our remaining budget
into the backyard in the hopes to get close enough to use the gnome
and then obviously, we'd have more cash for the front.
It wasn't a gamble that paid off in the end.
SCOTT: Having spent $41,000 on their backyard,
they only have five grand to spend on the front,
which was gifted to all the teams from Weber last week.
You've got $5,000! Hey!
Hey, you beauty!
SHELLEY: And breathe.
$5,000 for your front yard. Lovely.
Kyle and Leslie's last hope is selling the gnome to house four
for what they hope will be $10,000,
potentially tripling their budget,
allowing them to get their landscaping off the ground.
Their plan for the front yard was always quite simple.
A lawn area surrounded by established plants,
an arbour at the front door
that steps down to their turntable driveway.
House one's barn-like exterior
will be clad in Dover White Standing Seam
with a Colorbond roof in Monument.
Dover White's one of their newest colours on the market.
Extraordinary... I love it, yeah.
..in that it's flat
and has a whole dynamic range during the day.
As the sun goes over, it creates shadows,
different colours of the white itself.
SCOTT: Luckily for them,
all houses have received
the cladding and roofing free of charge,
which is a relief for Leslie who was counting every dollar.
I guess we P yeah, just working out with Troy moneywise
what he's going to need.
It's literally probably labour,
$2,000 worth of plants,
and the deck...
..which is probably 12 grand.
Maybe ten.
Troy's sitting at, you know, ten to twelve.
Ten's probably stretching it to sort of get the front done.
But we don't even have that.
We're short about five to seven K, to, like, finish the house.
It's actually a horrible feeling.
I actually didn't know what we were going to do.
I don't know who can work this week.
Because I don't know what P we don't have anything.
Like, I need a P yeah.
Out of the 12, most of it's for the deck.
The deck, yeah.
The rest is P this is all easy.
Easy. Like, if I had a clean run at this, I would do this in a day.
Yeah.
But we don't have a clean run.
I will leave so you're not having to pay for anyone here.
I'll get out of here,
but because it's Tuesday,
I've got to put the order in for the plants
by close of business, realistically, today,
so I can get them here Thursday.
Yeah. Yeah.
OK.
Look, I'll leave you be.
Call me later.
So, yeah, Troy and the boys have decided to go home
and it's not a great feeling,
but I think it's just compounded from, like, the whole 12 weeks
where you just sort of go like P
yeah, you just want to have a crack,
but, you know, you haven't won anything since week one
and you've won like a BOB and all that sort of stuff,
but again, that money, I put aside for landscaping and that's gone now,
so yeah, I don't feel great.
Like, I'm feeling pretty...
Yeah.
(EXHALES)
Yeah.
(SEAGULL SQUAWKS)
(THUNDER)
# Wish we could turn back time...
SCOTT: With just days remaining
to complete the insides and the outsides of the houses,
final week panic has certainly set in on The Block.
# We're stressed out...
It's crazy to think there's, what, like five days left
of, like, full throttle of action, and then that's it.
It's scary.
# Alright...
SCOTT: And foreman, Dan, is in the thick of the chaos.
# Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da...
Finally, the scaffold's coming down between houses four and five.
Now, the girls have been complaining for weeks about this,
but today is the day,
so now, we can start cladding the rest of their house
so they'll have plenty of time
to keep painting that Thursday, Friday hopefully.
SCOTT: There's plenty of energy and noise across the block today
as the landscapers get to work
bringing these piles of dirt to life.
# Welcome to the jungle, we've got fun and games
# We've got everything you want, honey, we know the names...
SCOTT: But not at house one.
Their landscaper, Troy, and his crew
are in the process of packing up and heading off.
Until Steph and Gian
work out how much they'll pay Kyle and Leslie for the gnome.
(BLEEP)
SCOTT: House three also have no landscaper
after letting last week's landscaper go
and deciding to go it alone with their build team.
We did decide to part ways with our landscaper.
It just didn't gel, there was early concerns
and they just continued throughout the week.
SCOTT: During backyard week,
Kristy and Brett had multiple issues with their landscaper.
Lack of plants, super slow paving, and then this arrived.
What the (BLEEP) is it?
Looks like a big pile of (BLEEP).
Oh, I don't want to have to yell at people.
So, going forward,
we will be looking to do most of the landscaping ourselves
with our building team.
SCOTT: But Kristy has now realised they actually need a landscaper.
Just not really backing myself when it comes to landscaping.
I don't know anything about landscaping.
I don't know what looks good.
It's just beyond me, the whole outside areas.
Hey, how are you? Good. You?
I'm panicking.
So, your boys are doing your front or you've got people?
I'm just like hitting people up
and now, they don't have third-party. I'm like P
because they're like their own P do they need WorkCover?
I don't know.
And it's like doing this on a Tuesday for a Saturday reveal.
It's my own fault and I've only got myself to blame,
but like in the same breath, it doesn't...
Oh, look, I would say Troysie probably would be happy to help.
Really?
Maybe just today and maybe tomorrow to see what you can get done.
Alright, do you mind if I go talk to him?
Oh, my god. No. Please. I just want to...
I'm going to go find a hole to crawl in.
I think it just shows how nice a people Kyle and Leslie are
that they've seen that we're in a scramble
and it is a big competitive week and they were happy to let him help.
SCOTT: So, with the all-clear from Kyle and Leslie,
landscaper, Troy, heads over to house three,
and it doesn't take him long to come up with some ideas.
Your guys with the deck
could maybe be a little bit more creative
and we come out a little bit more... Yeah.
..so you get that indoor-outdoor, so you do get that dual zone...
Sure. ..and then you could grass all this,
treeline it all up.
I would probably steer clear of the paving.
OK. Then Tuesday, get a concreter
to do some featured concrete,
like, exposed aggregate like your driveway
because that's one person, one job, one day.
Yeah, right.
SCOTT: Starting with their existing plan,
Troy has suggested they extend the deck out
to create an outdoor living space and ditch their idea for paving
and go instead for a fancy concrete pathway.
That will look good and save time.
This garden will complement their beautiful dark timber facade
designed by Block architect, Julian Brenchley.
The roofs that join this from the lower levels
will be in this Colorbond Matt Monument.
Lovely. Great.
Alright, so you're going to have this really mad facade
going out there. For sure.
So, the cladding that we've got up against the Colorbond
that the architect wanted,
along with having Troy involved this week,
someone's going to love this home.
All I really need
is, like, someone to, like, help us with the plants and soft gardens.
Yeah. I can order all your plants for you.
Troy's going to help us out and assist,
so he's coming to save the day.
He's already came in with like a lot of help
about what to do here, save time, save money,
all of those sorts of things,
so we feel so much better
that we've got something in place now.
SCOTT: Next door in house two, Ash and Leah's landscape team
are already cooking with gas.
So, is not their front yard that's weighing on Leah's mind.
The recent breakdown of her relationship with Leslie.
The Leslie thing doesn't feel right to me.
It didn't feel right last week.
That's why it knocked me about so hard.
It came out of nowhere.
I don't think us questioning
whether or not something's being done fairly,
like, was enough to retaliate in a really brutal way.
I really do want to talk to her about it...
How are you?
..and sort of get a bit of an understanding
of why that all went down.
But Leslie, I really...
Oh, there's no car.
Are we right to have a little quick pow-wow?
Yeah.
I feel like last week, I tried my best
to come at that in not a personal way at all.
It was just based on the info that we had,
I was like racking it up, going,
"I don't think this is fair."
Then I just thought Troy might've just been,
like, yeah, throwing a bit of his own money at it.
I was quite open to the chat
until Leah decided she wanted to reminisce about the week and why,
and I went, "I don't want to talk about last week."
I cannot make this more explicitly.
I don't want to talk about last week.
To be honest, I don't P look, that was the most horrendous week
and it's probably going into another horrendous week
and I don't want to go over and back and forth.
But in P from our point of view,
you said a number, you said 40 grand.
I don't know if the quote is reasonable.
I just couldn't fathom...
She started going through the thing again.
"Oh, it's just 'cause you had said this"
"and then we started tallying materials."
It just went on and on and on.
We came and just said, "Do you mind if we ask Troy some questions?"
Well, that's not how it went.
Like, we didn't have a back-and-forth conversation
because I do think that you just talk over people
when you don't necessarily like the answers.
Oh, I disagree with that.
On Friday afternoon, the bomb hits me
because you've taken away my Camerich
and I was very personally hurt from that one
'cause I thought...
..taking away my whole furniture order, that was...
That's a bit different if I knew that you'd placed an order.
My thing was just, like,
"I just don't want anything to do with any of this, with them."
"I just - I'll take my thing back."
"Leah can have her Freedom"
"and I just want to just be left alone."
Like, that took me to a really dark place,
like, with the whole Camerich thing.
I think she wanted an apology from me as well.
I didn't feel the need to apologise and I didn't.
PRODUCER: But you're not sorry?
No, I'm not sorry.
No, I'm not sorry for the way that I felt,
I'm not sorry for the way the week went.
Like, look what they've done to us. Like...
It killed me on Friday.
It killed me,
and what disappointed me the most
was I didn't hear it from you
and my delivery was just cancelled.
Poof, gone, and it hurt.
(CRICKETS CHIRPING)
I apologised many, many times, and there was nothing from her.
Blank.
I couldn't believe it.
Yeah. I don't want it P to be honest,
I just left that in last week
and so, I'm happy to, if that's what the intention is
is that we just... Yeah.
..are amicable and everything in a group setting,
then I'm absolutely, like, that's - I'm happy.
Yeah, I just wanted to catch you this morning
to yeah, apologise,
and yeah, I just wanted to definitely say sorry...
Thank you. ..and, um...
Yeah.
Are you happy to leave that like that?
Alright, OK. Alright.
See you, Leslie. Thank you.
(TENSE SOUNDTRACK)
There was absolutely no apology from her whatsoever.
Yet she wants to go ahead and be amicable.
Right.
I'm not just going to sweep anything like that under the rug.
So, her little plan of being amicable,
it's not going to work for me.
(SEAGULL SQUAWKS)
(THUNDER)
# I'm gonna build
# Castles
# From the rubble of your love
# I'm gonna be...
SCOTT: The final Tuesday on The Block 2023 is nearly over,
but before close of business...
Just because we're obviously going into the last week,
just hoping you can send through
an invoice for last week's work through Xero.
..Gian is keen to establish
exactly how much money he has to play with.
Backyard week.
Amount.
15,000.
Done.
All done, mate.
Awesome. Thank you. No worries.
SCOTT: That brings house four's budget for the front yard
to $35,000.
The girls have allocated 30,000
to their front yard.
Leah and Ash plan to spend 20,000.
Kristy and Brett have 15 grand,
and the team with, by far, the least amount of money to finish this week
is Kyle and Leslie with just five grand,
and after a failed attempt by Leah
to patch things up with house one,
Kyle and Leslie are making their way to house four
to hopefully sell their gnome to Steph and Gian.
Where are you guys off to?
Oh, Steph and G's place.
Just wheeling and dealing, you know?
PRODUCER: Your motivation for selling the gnome
to Steph and Gian. What's the motivation?
Look, I can't do anything with it, you can do something with it.
Kind of thing and obviously, we needed the money.
I think, for me, it was more like
I don't want Steph and Gian to lose the car
based on Leah and Ash winning it with the gnome,
and then we'd run the sums and it just became about the money.
SCOTT: And those aware of the impending gnome sale
are weighing in on what it might be worth.
I think a gnome... So...
A gnome's minimum should be ten grand.
We wouldn't sell it for less than ten.
I was going to say $15,000.
They have the money.
I have said this and Kristy has said this, week in, week out,
Steph is a great game player.
She knows what she's doing. A great game player.
She pleaded poverty when she has 180 grand of prize money.
(CHUCKLES)
(DOORBELL RINGS)
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
STEPH: Um, OK. How much do you want?
GIAN: How much do you want and then what can we give you?
Yeah, look...
For us, it's kind of like how much do we give
to then potentially be in the running
to use the gnome... Correct.
..but what if it doesn't even get us close to it?
That's what I'm finding hard.
PRODUCER: How much did you want for the gnome?
I wanted ten grand for the gnome.
We wanted ten grand for the gnome.
We would love to give you... We can't P I'd love to give ten.
..ten. I know, I know.
We would love to give you ten. But genuinely, the thing with us
is we were either going to go in with, like, two features
that are going to be, like, hero pieces for our front yard
and we're either going to do one and this
or none like if we use ten.
So, you still want something in your front yard that's...
It's a feature piece. That is - that the judges
are going to walk in and be like, "Oh, OK."
"This is worth winning."
Because otherwise... Otherwise...
Otherwise, it becomes redundant.
Like, we're going to pay for a gnome
that we're not going to even be in the running to use
if we don't end up spending the money to do.
Yeah, that's very true,
but at the moment, it's a two horse race.
Let's be honest. No, no, definitely.
Only if we got the money that we've got, right?
And that's it. So, for us, it's kind of like this weird...
That's why it's hard.
The only thing with this is
Ash and Leah have been holding this gnome for the Mustang.
They want the Mustang over anything.
I think they have been planning their front yard from the start
because Ash has wanted this car forever.
That's why I just know that they are very well planned.
And they've really jeopardised some wins,
really, to get this Mustang, which kind of goes against
what Steph and I believe should be done.
Totally. Because you're not thinking about your end buyer.
You're thinking about yourself. But at the end of the day,
we thought let's buy this to give us a crack at winning something.
So, what did you come up with?
We can give you five.
PRODUCER: How much were they offering?
Five. Five.
PRODUCER: That's a steal. Yeah.
Absolutely.
We are not willing to spend any more
on something that is, you know, for us,
because we don't want to jeopardise the sale of the home.
Yeah, we don't want to take away any of the key elements
of our front yard to fit in the gnome.
If that works, it works. If it doesn't, I get it.
I get it. No, I...
We said, "Could you crunch the numbers again..."
"..on your little calculator?"
We said that we P eight was probably ideally
where, you know, bottom line for us.
Can we give the other stuff above the five?
So, yeah, if it's five
and 2,000 of Freedom or 1,000 something else.
Whatever. Like, I can help you get to where you need to get to.
Are you happy?
Are we going to shake on it?
To do it? Yeah.
I'd rather give a hug, but it's fine.
So, we've sold it.
Did we get what we wanted for it? No.
Did we sell it at market price?
No.
But look, were we in a position to...
Negotiate. ..negotiate? No.
Not really.
But, like, Kyle did say, we have to have the first drive in the car.
You guys can have the car for a bit.
(LAUGHTER) Drive it up to Sydney.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
Now, we're in a position
where everybody but house two knows about the gnome.
PRODUCER: But you're not going to tell house two?
No. No.
PRODUCER: Are you planning on telling Leah and Ash?
No. No.
Well, no.
Oh, anyway.
We've just got to stay out of it.
It's not really any of our business.
We broke up with them.
It is not our place to tell them.
Interesting though that everyone's holding that information back.
Mm-hm.
(LAUGHTER)
SCOTT: Tomorrow night, the girls confront their builder
over a crippling budget blow-out.
We had seven and a half thousand
and the bill just came in for 19,000.
Robbie, you're taking it seriously.
Oh, I think I'm taking it very (BLEEP) seriously.
SCOTT: Scaffold scuffles...
So, we haven't started with the deck?
No. Why?
There's a scaffold in the way still.
..holds up work for Steph and Gian...
I'm just really pissed off at the situation.
Yeah, so am I.
Absolutely has impacted our chances of winning.
It's, yeah...
(BLEEP)
It's just slack.
..and tragedy rocks house two.
LEAH: Oh, god. What's happened?
Ash, what's wrong? (ASH CRYING)
LEAH: Please tell me. Ash, what's happened?
Captioned by AI-Media ai-media.tv