Get to know The Block's most in-demand tilers and fan-favourite tradies

Cursio brothers Adrian, Anthony and Gino have been in high-demand on The Block site in Gisborne this year, with both Omar and Oz and Rachel and Ryan begging Scott Cam to borrow the tilers when their own got sick.

The brothers would have loved to have helped contestants, but were busy tiling the bathrooms, laundry, kitchen and living and dining room in Scotty’s historic house renovation.

• The Block 2022 listings are now live, and updated weekly. See them here.

“[It was] overwhelming and humbling to see all the contestants reaching out to us for help with their tiling,” Anthony told 9Entertainment.

Adrian added, “Four of the five teams called us this year, but Scott Cam called me first and locked us in for his house. Working on Scotty’s house was an honour and a privilege. It was a challenge that we were excited to take on.”

After becoming such familiar faces on The Block, we thought it was about time to get to know the Cursio brothers better. So Adrian and Anthony sat down with 9Entertainment to answer some questions.

The Block teams we’ve worked with:

2019 Matt and El’ise, 2019 Luke and Tess, 2020 Harry and Tash, 2020 Jimmy and Tam, 2021 Kirsty and Jesse, 2021 Luke and Josh, 2022 Scott Cam, 2022 Omar and Oz and Rachael and Ryan with their mudroom and garage space.

The Block room we’re most proud of:

Anthony: Definitely Scotty’s pool house bathroom as it was the first 3D-printed house in the southern hemisphere. With so many curved walls, it was technically difficult to achieve and spectacular when finished.

Favourite season of The Block we’ve worked on:

Adrian: The first day on set in 2019 was my favourite day. Matt and El’ise called me up and upon arriving onsite I was blown away by the size of the build. I loved having to problem solve and think on my feet under strict time constraints.

The workload was a challenge but an adrenaline rush at the same time. I feel so lucky to get to experience this feeling from working on The Block. Some people pay money for an adrenaline rush life experience. We get the same feeling just coming to work on The Block!

Best thing about working on a Block house:

Adrian: I am a people person and love meeting new people and making new networks. Working as a team alongside the contestants, giving them the best opportunity with quality work. I also thrive on the competition and challenge to finish the room.

Anthony: The adrenaline and team building, meeting new people and seeing how different people react with the pressure involved with building The Block.

Most challenging thing about working on a Block house:

Adrian: Time! Not having enough time was something I stressed about every minute at The Block. It was not only about us finishing our job and ensuring perfect execution at a high level, it was also the constant worry and being mindful that the contestants and whole team had enough time to finish everything after us before Saturday night. The stress was about meeting everyone’s timelines to finish.

What is working on a Block house like compared to a regular house:

Anthony: It simply doesn’t compare! With the contestants having to make split second decisions and sudden changes when problems arise, trying to manage trades on The Block is worlds apart from what would happen on a regular build, where clients have the luxury of time to make the same decisions. Plus a couple of extra days on a regular build is insignificant, where as a couple of days on The Block would mean not revealing a room.

The funniest moment we’ve had working on The Block:

Adrian: Jumping into Scotty Cam’s pool on a 3 degree day.

Anthony: When Foreman Keith called me over to ask me for a professional opinion on Tanya and Vito’s [en suite shower] tile they had selected. When we entered the room and I saw the tiles, my response was “When we see these types of tiles we are normally taking a jackhammer to them”. Keith burst out in laughter and his laugh is very contagious, which made me also laugh. That’s when the term “poo tiles” was born.

We keep coming back to The Block because:

Adrian: I love being part of The Block family because of not only the contestants but all the cast, crew and production team. I personally love what The Block does every year by changing people’s lives.

Anthony: I feel like we have become part of The Block family. When we get the call from the newest Blockheads, we can’t wait to meet them to start our next journey and challenge ourselves once again. We enjoy each new chapter and form friendships and bonds with our teams.

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The thing people would find most surprising about The Block:

Adrian: Cameras, cameras and more cameras and it’s all real! So many people ask does it really happen? Do you finish a room in a week? The short answer is what you see on TV is 100 per cent true … believe me, I was the biggest sceptic.

Anthony: How raw the whole production is. Some people may think that The Block is all fabricated and there are a whole heap of people behind the scenes helping the contestants paint and style the rooms. Having worked there, I wish this was the case as the work is overwhelming and at times we all feel defeated, and that’s when we have to dig deeper and get the room finished.

Biggest learning curve after working on The Block site:

Adrian: Working in this fast paced, controlled chaos, pressure cooker of reality TV is so raw. If you be the best version of yourself, humble and hardworking you might even make it on the big screen!

Anthony: That you have to stick together and work as a team. You can’t get frustrated and give up, if you do you will let down your team and make things harder. You have to be considerate towards other trades and give people access even if it seems impossible. It has definitely been a life changing experience for me.

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