From building blunders to team tensions: Inside Steph and Gian's rocky start on The Block 2023

It’s been a shaky start for the youngest contestants on The Block, Steph and Gian, 27.

The beige-loving couple arrived with big plans for a sophisticated neutral home and appeared quietly confident in their abilities.

But architect Steph and tech start-up Gian were quickly brought back down to earth when they were slammed by the judges in the House Decider Challenge.

They were accused of ignoring the kids’ room brief and going off on their own tangent.

Whether or not Steph and Gian agreed with the feedback didn’t matter, because they placed last in the challenge.

There was a little glimmer of hope when they were left the house they wanted even after getting last pick.

But things soon returned to desperation and despair for the couple as they tried to find their feet on The Block. Here we take a look at their journey so far.

Leah accuses Steph and Gian of trying to poach their real estate agent

Yet another misunderstanding landed Steph and Gian in hot water with Leah and Kristy.

Leah had been meeting with real estate agent Lana Samuels from WHITEFOX, who also work with former Blockhead Jesse.

Leah spotted Lana and Jesse chatting with Steph and Gian.

Steph and Gian offered them a polite hello and a handshake, and Lana and Jesse were off on their merry way.

But that’s not how Leah saw things play out. Leah interpreted the interaction as Steph and Gian trying to poach Lana Samuels from them.

After getting herself fired up over the assumption, Leah vented to Kristy, “I’m honestly shocked about the real estate thing.”

“‘I’m gonna take Leah’s agent.’ Cool, I’ll take you down!” Leah fired.

“Get it girl,” Kristy applauded.

What Leah and Kristy didn’t know is that Steph and Gian had already secured their agent, last year’s winners Ray White. Awkward.

Steph and Gian clash over a drain

An oversight in the bathroom led to rising tensions between the couple.

“They were going to use a strip drain… the waste hole inside the strip drain was at the wrong end,” site manager Aidan told cameras.

“We said, ‘OK, we can plumber in here, help you out, move the waste point in the floor so you can use the strip drain and keep moving forward.’

“She [Steph] didn’t want to do that this morning.”

Steph said had she have known that was the recommended advice she would’ve done things differently.

She figured out a solution anyway, but by then the stress had already caused tension between Steph and Gian.

“We’re such positive people but we’re starting to feel super deflated and it’s affecting us,” she admitted.

Drama ensues between Steph and Kristy

Unbeknownst to Steph, she’d upset Kristy by allegedly withholding information about a bedhead she purchased in the House Decider Challenge – the key word there being allegedly.

Kristy wanted to know where Steph purchased the bedhead from and how much she paid for it but according to Kristy, Steph refused to tell her.

“Steph wouldn’t tell me where she got it from or how much it was,” Kristy vented to Leah.

“She wouldn’t give up anything.”

Leah was equally outraged by the revelation saying: “I would tell anyone what I paid for something.”

However, a handy flashback clip showed Steph openly telling Kristy exactly how much the bedhead cost and where she bought it from.

Steph even cheerfully added she “hoped” Kristy bought it and considered it a “real compliment”.

Even though the evidence is there, Kristy was convinced a totally different conversation transpired and is suspicious of Steph’s intention.

“I would suggest that there’s two different versions of Steph,” Kristy told cameras.

“One’s on camera, and one’s off camera. And it’s very different conversations that you’re having at both points.”

Kristy may have forgotten or misheard, but a mishap like this is not the best way to start a Block friendship.

Formen Keith and Dan express their concern

Following their flooring blunder, Foreman Dan made his way to House 4 to deliver some very important structural plans to Steph and Gian.

But blocked by a sea of tradesman standing around doing nothing, Dan left the plans on the floor and walked out the house.

“It’s chaos, to be honest,” Dan told cameras. “You could feel the tension.”

His worries were only amplified when the chippy struggled to read the plans just like Steph the day before.

“I’m really worried in there,” Dan said. “There’s no one really leading that team and it’s a shambles.”

Foreman Keith arrived and quickly identified the root of Steph and Gian’s disorganisation – their main builder Ryan was no where to be found.

“We would rather have Ryan, someone senior, here looking after all of his boys,” Foreman Keith said.

Dan advised Steph to stay on top of her builder even if it meant having an uncomfortable conversation.

Steph and Gian discover a floor height error

A new day meant a new start for Steph and Gian and they were “back on track”.

But the good vibes came crashing down as they discovered floor heights were out, which would in turn impact the compliance of an eventual staircase.

The pair were initially shaken by the news but decided to “take the positives and be optimistic about it all” and were still hopeful to run on schedule for the all-important ‘waterproof Wednesday’ – the most important day in any Block Bathroom Week.

Sadly, the didn’t end up making the deadline for ‘waterproof Wednesday’.

“We’re just to disheartened by all the setbacks and we’re still learning the rhythm of the Block and realising we’re not in the same rhythm,” Steph told cameras.

Steph has the wrong room demolished

The start of Studio Bathroom Week was an indication of how the rest of it could pan out. For Steph and Gian, the couple began… by demolishing the wrong room.

Registered architect Steph interpreted the floor pan incorrectly, and instructed the trades to demo the Guest Bathroom in the main house instead of the bathroom in the Guest Studio.

The couple soon picked themselves up and moved on from the blunder, but it wasn’t the easiest start to their Block journey.

The latest from The Block

See The Block listings plus recaps, room reveals and renovating advice.

Visit The Block Hub

This article was originally published by Nine.com.au. Reproduced with permission.