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The Block shuts down filming

Nine can sustain weeks, but not months, without The Block filming.

Nine reality juggernaut is The Block is the latest to suspend production as the coronavirus pandemic creates havoc.

The series has been filming for several weeks in Brighton.

The Age reports building work on the site continues, however, with around 40 builders and tradies to continue working to create extensions at the rear of the five properties.

Executive Producer Julian Cress said he was juggling the economics with contestants potentially stranded for an extended period from interstate family,

“On one hand, we have a huge number of people who rely on us for their livelihoods – crew, tradies, builders and so on. On the other hand, we have contestants who have come from all around Australia to take part in The Block, and the advice is becoming more and more dire each day, with looming threats of lockdown,” he said.

“We wanted to get out in front of [a potential shutdown], not get stuck behind it, to get our contestants safely home for a short period of time, we hope.”

There were also inherent risks in contestants visiting multiple suppliers across the city.

Nine programming director Hamish Turner tells TV Tonight, “How long it goes for is out of our hands. We hope it doesn’t go for months. We’ve got the ability to go without it for weeks but if it goes into months that would cause possible headaches down the track.

“At the moment we’ve got the ability to present what we said we would at the beginning of the year.”

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