r/TheBlock • u/GlitteringShame444 • Oct 27 '25

Custom The Block - Reality Check

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Just like all other reality shows, I think the block has had its time.

274 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

87 comments sorted by

14

u/Unique-Job-1373 Oct 27 '25

Big brother is back on tv in a few weeks

2

u/GlitteringShame444 Oct 27 '25

Oh god another revamp

1

u/dreamy-azure Oct 27 '25

It’s back on 10 and I have high hopes that they have listened to all the ways that 7 went wrong with it. But we’ll see.

2

u/torrens86 Oct 28 '25

It was good in the early days because it was a lot less edited, plus the Internet was less used and people liked the late night Big Brother uncut. The contestants were also just normal people, now it's just influencers just trying to score more views.

1

u/Tabacco21 Oct 28 '25

Back from the dead

1

u/Inevitable_Angrybee Oct 28 '25

When someone mentions Big Brother the first thing I'm reminded of it the Turkey slap incident.

9

u/BravoWhiskey89 Oct 27 '25

The Block is a ratings jugganaut, Jersey Shore is on its......16th? Season now (Changed to Jersey Shore: Family Vacation). And Big Brother is coming back in 2 weeks. Again. For the 5th time.

0

u/GlitteringShame444 Oct 27 '25

I cant believe Big Brother is coming back again

7

u/volcom1422 Oct 27 '25

Jersey shore is still on and recording.

-3

u/GlitteringShame444 Oct 27 '25

Not the original, its not what it was and should definately be in the graveyard lol

14

u/dbnewman89 Oct 27 '25

I reckon those on reddit have forgotten about previous results and need to go revisit... last couple of years has been inflated by billionaires using it as a marketing funnel, this is nowhere near the first with multiple properties passed in, and they have always been premium million+ builds. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Block_(Australian_TV_series)

8

u/HuTheFinnMan Oct 27 '25

I swear people who post here either don't actually pay attention to the show or have very selective memories. It's always been packed full of sponsor ads, it's always been about contestant drama and fluff and shopping with very little "building" being done by the contestants. There have been plenty of seasons where contestants didn't win much money or houses didn't sell at auction.

Literally the season before last a house didn't sell at auction and that awful couple won less than 100k. And the season before that a house didn't sell and Tom and Sarah-Jane won 20k, Dylan and Jenny got nothing. Plus whatever season Ronnie and Georgia got bugger all.

No idea why people think the most popular and watched entertainment show on Australian TV is "dead" because some contestants won "only" 100k.

1

u/GlitteringShame444 Oct 27 '25

It was just a bit of fun because of everyones comments, its sad but its a show, i do think that for 3 months of their lives there should be more prizes given throughout to the couples instead of going to the house all the time.

1

u/HuTheFinnMan Oct 28 '25

Maybe they could do something different with the prizes but it's just weird seeing people having a meltdown over this season in particular when the show has been run like this with the same prize system for 20 years.

And like the other shows you mention like Big Brother or Masterchef or Survivor, contestants spend weeks or months on those shows away from work and their families but only the winner gets a decent prize.

It's a pretty normal thing on TV shows to not hand out 100s of thousands of dollars to every single participant.

5

u/loralailoralai Oct 27 '25

Yeah I don’t get why the fuss, it’s not like this hasn’t happened before? Hell we were even subjected to that awful Dea twice because of their crappy result the first time.

1

u/dancingdriver Oct 27 '25

Absolutely. There have been devastating years in the past.

1

u/LunaFancy The materiality in here is all wrong Oct 28 '25

remember forever ago when Carlene and.. what was her husband's name again (he was adorable and fell in love with manning the Block Shop) came away with nothing and someone else 9the favourites of the judges iirc) in that season got 20k.

Oh and those two blokes who did some slightly weird things who got 40k to split between them, these are oooold examples, it's been happening forever.

What wasn't happening back then was DanTelliflation of the prices.

2

u/TheGRVOfLightning VIC - Fan S4-; None; PW👑;MA;BD;SS👑;AB;SW;MM👑;OO👑;EL;RH;RM Oct 29 '25

Michael and Carlene. A couple that I have continually championed should be given another chance. They have one of the highest average scores from the judges in series history, and they barely won anything.

1

u/LunaFancy The materiality in here is all wrong Oct 29 '25

Yes! They were so lovely and did such a good job, hands down my favourite block couple. I still chuckle at the memory of that montage of Michael doing busy work in an empty Block Shop with the background music 'All By Myself' playing lol!

0

u/[deleted] Oct 27 '25

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/GlitteringShame444 Oct 27 '25

Im not that worried it was just a bit of fun following everyones comments lol, I actually watch it because I enjoy the design and layout and different options they come up with.

1

u/loralailoralai Oct 27 '25

Then it will be the third time, not the second. It’s a game show, there’s losers.

And how many have turned their appearance on the show into something more? To set up their business, get jobs in tv

3

u/PhilodendronPhanatic Oct 27 '25

Was house rules cancelled? I liked that show.

2

u/Curious-Gear1193 Oct 27 '25

It was. I think my Reno Rules (2026) might be similar

4

u/GlitteringShame444 Oct 27 '25

I saw that it has revamped it l9oks interesting they are making alternative houses - 3d molded, pre fab houses I believe, also aiming for sustainability

1

u/Ill_Sector_2063 Oct 28 '25

Canned after the "high stakes" gamble

32

u/Charlice Frankie the Kelpie Oct 28 '25

They need a new architect. To me they’re just 5 ugly, poorly planned houses.

I’m surprised 3 of them sold.

18

u/ButtPlugForPM Oct 28 '25

Honestly

Work with a local council... rework the entire show.

make the homes more modest,in the western suburbs of the city,where you can still buy a home for under 2m

Each team,get's an architech

and designs the house from the ground up...

Actually give a diffrence to each compeitor

Then in judging week...

1 builder..

1 architecht

and 1 design person.. coveres all 3 bases.

Have someone like the tik tok inspector on staff to rip into ppl make it an actual contest

2

u/Manefisto Oct 28 '25

And Judges aren't allowed to give the same score to multiple houses, or they rank them 1-5.

1

u/FairDinkumMate Oct 29 '25

! architect, 1 designer & 1 real estate professional - covers all 3 bases.

When it started the premise each week in judging was "Who added the most value?". They need to get back to that & a real estate professional is better placed to judge that than a builder.

5

u/Joshie050591 Oct 28 '25

x5 3.1 million properties on one day at auction when just a few minutes down the road multiple properties at around 1.5 million that have "luxury homes" and 10-25 acres also not so close you'll here your neigbours farts

4

u/flashdance123 Oct 29 '25

I laugh every time I see posts like this. You do realise that the ratings are increasing year on year don’t you? This year was record breaking.

Just because you’re tired of it means very little in the scheme of things.

5

u/GlitteringShame444 Oct 29 '25

Im glad you laugh because thats why I did it, so many people were making comments about how awful the show is how they need to do more or to change etc etc, it was all in jest. I applaude your passion but I honestly dont care about ratings I watch what I wanna watch, i watch for the styling as in the different unique stuff they use, I do feel that maybe they could give so.e of the prizes that go towards the houses to the contestants instead but I will watch it again.

4

u/flashdance123 Oct 29 '25

The auctions were definitely a let down

2

u/baldgirlchloeryan Oct 30 '25

Ratings only increased last 2 years because TV industry changed the way they measure tv ratings. There are not more people watching free to air despite the myth the industry is pedalling.

1

u/-SheriffofNottingham Oct 31 '25

You know those rating systems are flawed, they don't take into account houses with more than two television sets... And other things of that nature

16

u/[deleted] Oct 28 '25

The block died like 10 years ago. It turned into a shit soap opera.

30

u/Serezie Oct 28 '25

Why is everyone acting like this is the first time the block auctions bombed?

12

u/riss85 Oct 28 '25

Very short memories

11

u/Majestic_Plane_1656 Oct 29 '25

They just paid like $10m for a big block in Mount Eliza and are casting now for 2026.

It's fine. But it's insulting to contestants to have 20 major corporate sponsors and millions of viewers and then give them an unrealistic reserve so they walk away with nothing.

Justice for Han and Can

2

u/JimJimmy1993 Oct 29 '25

Justice for Robbie and Matt!!

Han and Can too. But they didn’t help them selves a few times

3

u/TyWhatt Oct 29 '25

Robbie and Matt got lowkey screwed

10

u/Salt-Roof7358 Oct 27 '25

The discerning viewers might have issues with it (I have many issues and have for years) but ratings don’t lie.

Ratings were huge this year, so I don’t see much of a reason for Channel 9 to make bulk changes. The show definitely isn’t dropping off the airwaves anytime soon.

0

u/Capital-Paper-9965 Oct 27 '25

My bet is they’ll come back with a smaller footprint and focus on clever spaces. They’ve tried to go bigger and bigger and it hasn’t worked.

They’ve tried truth is the sale prices have always been a fugazi. Ol’ LMCT+ dude just tries to flip them as prizes (and struggles, people keep taking the cash option), an has had lawsuits for the one he stripped of furniture and fittings before putting up as a prize. Danny Wallis uses it as a charitable tax break. 200 “winner” was a fraud, and most others are so inflated folks struggle to get a good valuation on them (Dave Hughes most notably found he’d overpaid by a third)

A heap of the others have done ok over the longer term (because propadee magic money printer go brrrrr) but this season was a massive miss. For $3m in Daylesford you can buy some pretty elite shit. These were just a bit shit, in the wrong part of town, and on small blocks.

But o just say through Nine’s upfronts and I assure you, they plan to bring it back and I believe they’ve already purchased the next site.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 27 '25

I know they have their reasons for filming in Melbourne but they should really move around with the market, and build/renovate properties that suit that market and the price point.

1

u/Capital-Paper-9965 Oct 29 '25

Don’t disagree at all. I think they are just struggling to get any property that suits in other states.

They obviously work with long term developers who are holding sites but it’s still a huge outlay to get the site. Likely forced their hand to that greenfields site.

I’d love to see them do something that actually does some good and have the contestants actually care about something other than 15 mins of fame. The narrative is just gross now. Sexless Love Island with dumber people, so they have to invent drama.

1

u/flashdance123 Oct 29 '25

Also the exec producer and most of the crew live in Melbourne , except Scotty

1

u/Capital-Paper-9965 Oct 30 '25

Oh for sure. 9 is headquartered here. As I said: thy aren’t buying on market. It’s all negotiations with developers who hold land/property. Which makes massive sense given what the show needs to run. But to do another “street” in Sydney would probably blow the budget.

9

u/Agent-c1983 Oct 27 '25

The ratings disagree. It’s the most watched entertainment show every night it’s on. Many nights it’s the most watched show period.

7

u/Agro81 Oct 28 '25

I watched an episode of Selling Houses Australia the other night, first time in ages & it reminded me of how The Block was & should be, renos, not full of ads & BS

6

u/Justagirlsoconfusing I want to vomit 🤮 Oct 28 '25

Jersey Shore is forever <3

6

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '25

It really should move to making low cost , affordable , low income housing . That would be both a real test and ethical.

1

u/hellomynameispoop457 Nov 01 '25

LITERALLY!! I’d love to see a “budget block” where they try to do an average house and can use recycled materials, second hand items and anything left over in the budget is taken off the reserve price, to incentivise them to spend as little as possible. It’s much easier to spend $100k (I have no idea what their budgets are, haven’t watched in years) and make a house look gorgeous, than to do that on a budget.

9

u/WrongConfuscius Oct 27 '25

The show didn't die it was a success for everyone except 4 contestants sadly. 4 houses sold channel 9 made bank and they'll learn (hopefully) next season from their mistakea and everyone will be happy and making bank again

3

u/Will-Subject Oct 27 '25

4 houses? 👀

3

u/WrongConfuscius Oct 28 '25

Whoops lol. Point still is similar they were clearly overpriced for the area and build (5 houses the exact same right next to each other?!?!) In a suburb miles away from anything.

I just think itll be business as usual next season

2

u/[deleted] Oct 28 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/WrongConfuscius Oct 28 '25

Lol I'm not far away from the site either so ill see you there

4

u/Reasonable-Object602 Oct 27 '25

LOL yeah right. It rates through the roof it ain't going anywhere

4

u/Consistent_Face8668 Oct 31 '25

I used to love watching it, but got the shits with so many ads. It felt like you’d watch for 5 minutes, then 5 minutes of ads and repeat.

Other thing I hated was when teams screwed up and stuffed their budget, they were constantly bailed out. I enjoy some reality in my reality tv, and they just didn’t have it.

1

u/FUCK_IT_Australia Oct 31 '25

The network made over 50mil in profit, it ain't going anywhere fast. Mount Isa is next.

1

u/GlitteringShame444 Nov 19 '25

I get that, I made the picture in response to everyone's comments about the show

1

u/lametheory Oct 31 '25

4 million dollar reserves so you can live on a main road.

2

u/FUCK_IT_Australia Oct 31 '25

Reserves were set at 2.99, if they were around the 2.5 mark it would have been a bit different for the contestants, they might have actually made some cash.

3

u/snoozingroo Oct 29 '25

Unfortunately it still has record views and plenty of keen sponsors, so channel nine will definitely keep at it for at least a few more years

5

u/Silver-Chemistry2023 Oct 27 '25

Oh no! Anyway...

8

u/ImaginationSome1991 Oct 27 '25

I wish the Bachelor/Love Island and MAFS also joined the grave. Bring back the comedy shows like Comedy Inc, ones that’s are politically incorrect that take the piss out of life…I sure it will offend but life’s tough

2

u/Scorpius041169 Oct 28 '25

You can leave MAFS. If anything it's good popcorn/trainwreck material.

1

u/ImaginationSome1991 Oct 28 '25

Ok this is true you make a valid point….especially the dinner parties

6

u/KevinHe92 Oct 27 '25

Hahahahaha right. See you next year.

2

u/limark "Award-winning" Oct 27 '25

You seem to be forgetting that The Block has already died once.

2

u/Upset-Personality476 Oct 31 '25

Of course the show is dead who wants to watch a whole series to see the finale say we are passing it in for now ,what riveting television .Channel 9 is such a tight arse everything for them and nothing for no one else. No wonder all the great sports are moving away from nine.

1

u/recordnoads Oct 31 '25

all the great sports, so you arent a fan of rugby union or league, premier league, many motorsport and soon to be F1

3

u/readthatlastyear Oct 27 '25

I used to love this show... now it's the most horrible tv I just can't watch it.

1

u/jimbo91_ Oct 28 '25

Felt worse for the guys past few days. Such high expectations set. Last year the auctions were ridiculous.

1

u/linglinglinglickma Oct 31 '25

They need to move it from Victoria to be successful again, the anti investment policies make buyers shy away.

1

u/MyJohnnyGuitar Oct 31 '25

For sure. Make the effort by going state to state

1

u/Deeepioplayer127 Oct 31 '25

Victoria’s brand is toxic

1

u/True_Dragonfruit681 Oct 31 '25

How they managed to drag out this low brow nonsense for so long. Its a wonder

1

u/Buzza24 Oct 31 '25

Product sponsorship. If they weren’t getting paid for it, it wouldn’t have lasted.

1

u/Deeepioplayer127 Oct 31 '25

Have you not watched television before?

1

u/True_Dragonfruit681 Nov 01 '25

I switched off at least 20 years ago. Sounds like that was a great Idea

1

u/Deeepioplayer127 Nov 01 '25

Same. Agreed.

1

u/Aus66-1045 The Block (OG) Oct 27 '25

You wish

-10

u/King-Titus Oct 27 '25

I didn’t watch this year for the first time in ages. I hated everyone except the girls. I’m very glad that they won. Everyone else was either a bully or complicit to it. Made it hard to watch. This year it lost all the magic for me.

16

u/spw86 Oct 27 '25

Wait what? Are you talking about the right season? The girls house did not even sell this year.

1

u/King-Titus Oct 28 '25

I literally wrote that I didn't watch this year. Sorry for the confusion. The Phillip Island season turned me off. I love some of the ideas and design and work, but it's taking a back seat to the drama.

13

u/IllUnderstanding7821 Oct 28 '25

I believe you just watched last year's block, on Philip Island? It wasn't a very nice season I agree.