The Block: “Everybody’s welcome at our auctions”

Before this year’s Block takes a jump to the left for its Time Warped ’50s themed season, let’s take a step the right and turn back the clock to last year’s edge-of-seat auction.

Winners Omar & Oz walked away with a record breaking $1.68m profit. Another couple pocketed just $20,000 for the same 12 weeks of non-stop work. Three more were passed in at auction, which was disappointing for both contestants and viewers.

For executive producer Julian Cress it was full of TV drama.

“It was one of the most dramatic shows of the year, the equal of any football Grand Final. To see one team walk away with a record amount of money in the very first auction of the night and then to see that heartbreak that followed, was impossible to predict (by) anyone, including me,” he tells TV Tonight.

“A level of grace that I think is very rare in society today, especially amongst reality contestants.”

“It was a heartbreaking result for some of us on the crew, because we get so close to the contestants. To see people put in that amount of effort and not make money is very tough. But the grace that was shown by Tom and Sarah Jane, for instance, when they only made $20k immediately after watching somebody make $1.7 million was one of the most beautiful things I think I’ve ever seen… showing that strength of character. Their attitude was, ‘nothing was ever guaranteed and we enjoyed the experience so much that we wouldn’t trade it for anything.’ To be able to say that, in the face of that result, shows a level of grace that I think is very rare in society today, especially amongst reality contestants.”

Despite the mega-bucks paid, and an auction that could safely be described as both eccentric and anti-climactic, viewers expressed some frustration that weeks of renovation for broad audiences was in the hands of multi-millionaires.

Yet as the new season set in Charming Street Hampton East gets underway on air, Cress defends the outcome and hopes that this year’s suburban makeover might be more attainable.

“Viewers are encouraged to bid on the homes,” he insists. “The houses that we’re doing this year are probably around the $3 million mark, at best, in the market. That used to seem like a lot of money, but it’s not anymore in the capital cities for aspirational homes. I know it’s beyond the realm of possibility for a lot of people. But a lot of people are having to pay $2m to $3m for houses these days to accommodate a growing family.

“I don’t feel like anyone should be excluded from a public auction. I’m not even sure if it’s legal”

“Everybody’s welcome at our auctions. I don’t feel like anyone should be excluded from a public auction. I’m not even sure if it’s legal, to be honest with you. But having billionaires fighting over homes and paying over the odds, doesn’t make for boring television, either. They were arguing over who had the biggest bank account in the middle of an auction, and one of them was getting advice from his dog.

“Would I welcome (multi-millionaire) Adrian Portelli back to The Block auction this year? 100% I would. I mean, these contestants are working their ring out to do the best house that they can. Is Adrian Portelli welcome to come and make sure that one of them does really well? Sure. He’s not going to bid stupid money. He’ll bid up to what someone else will bid, and a bit more. So the more people that are there with the more money in their pocket on auction day, the better,” he explains.

“It’s about selling your property for the highest price”

“The Block isn’t about delivering real estate to lucky people. They’re not winning the houses. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about selling your property for the highest price. Whatever it takes to do that. Omar & Oz managed to talk Adrian Portelli into coming to the auction and bidding on their house. They played the game superbly well.”

Producers purchased five blonde-brick houses designed and built in the 1950s for the 2023 series. Three were on the market and made an approach to Nine.

“We said to the agent we’re interested if she can get the neighbours on either side to want to sell as well. ‘Come back to us with five houses and one price and we can talk,'” Cress recalls.

“What really appealed to me about these homes in particular, was that they were untouched from the 1950s. At least three of the five houses were unrenovated since the 1950s.”

“The first thing our contestants said was, ‘Oh, my God, I feel like nanna just died'”

After purchasing the homes, the Art department had a hand in ‘winding back’ the style of the other two homes.

“The first thing our contestants said was, ‘Oh, my God, I feel like nanna just died.’ It was a pretty successfully executed brief! The idea this time creatively was to try and get back to what The Block was at the beginning, which is that the contestants walk into something that is untouched, and then have to completely transform it. We haven’t been able to do that for a few years, because we’ve been relocating old houses to new sites.”

Returning for the 19th season are Scott Cam, Shelley Craft, judges Neil Whittaker, Shaynna Blaze, Darren Palmer with guest judge Marty Fox. Foremen Keith Schleiger and Dan Reilly will also be joined by 2022 contestant Tom Calleja.

The all-new cast comprises sisters Eliza and Liberty Paschke (personal assistant, 37, and integration producer, 34, VIC); parents Kyle and Leslie Cottone (firefighter, 36, and teaching aide, 34, WA); parents Leah and Ash Milton (first aid officer, 31, and builder, 36, QLD); married couple Kristy and Brett Beames (project manager, 34, and safety officer, 34, SA); and newlyweds Steph and Gian Ottavio (architect, 27, and start up worker, 27, NSW).

“It would need to be noisier in other ways”

So while this year’s construction is definitely not ‘the biggest Block ever’, Cress explains how the focus has pivoted to ensure it remains just as watchable for fans.

“One of the challenges that I think that we faced as producers, bringing the show to a much smaller scale than last season, was that it would need to be noisier in other ways,” he adds.

“So we were conscious of finding some very, very competitive people who would bring their all to it and really give us an A-grade competition. And they have done exactly that.

“They’re bloody awesome.”

The Block screens Sunday – Wednesday on Nine.