10 things you never knew about The Block

With 18 seasons to date, you’re likely familiar with The Block.

But there’s a lot of things you probably never knew or thought about when Australia’s most successful renovation show came to mind.

Here are 10 things you never knew about The Block.

Most prize money in Australian TV history

Lots of reality television shows offer prize money, but when it comes to winnings no other Australian show comes close to The Block. The show has given away over $28 million combined in winnings to the contestants since its inception.

The record for the most amount of money won in a single series is Jimmy and Tam, who’s Brighton home sold for a whopping $966,000 above reserve in 2020.

The couple also took $100,000 for their win, which meant they walked away with an eye-watering $1,066,000, the biggest cash prize in Block and Australian TV history.

• Take your own tour of The Block properties. Virtual tours are now live on Domain.

In Season 2 a team walked off The Block

On Season 2 of The Block back in 2004, two contestants, Dani and Monique Bacha, walked away from the competition after papers reported on Dani’s jail conviction. Their replacements Andrew Rochford and Jamie Nicholson went on to win the season.

In a similar vein, Jason and Sarah from The Block Season 13 were almost kicked off the show after presenting an empty shell of a room for their Master Suite, and being scored three zeroes from the judges.

They were given an ultimatum to complete the room by the next week or be kicked off the show. It ultimately kicked the team into gear and they continued in the competition.

For the first time in the show’s history, a team quit in 2022.

Joel and Elle walked away from the show after their first Room Reveal, spending just 48 hours in the competition. It was a move that stunned everyone from production to the other teams.

Scott Cam broke the news to contestants and explained Joel and Elle had said The Block “is not on brand for them”.

It wasn’t long after executive producers had told him the pair had quit and he was still processing the news when he spoke to the teams.

“We weren’t quite sure why they left, because they didn’t actually mention it to us. The thing is, The Block‘s not for everybody and we wished them well, but we just didn’t know why they’d left, and to get to the bottom of that you’ll probably have to ask them,” he said.

It was the first Australian show to feature a gay couple

Back at the very beginning on The Block Season 1 in 2003, the show became the first in Australia to feature a gay couple, Warren Sonin and Gavin Atkins.

More recently gay couple Mitch and Mark appeared on The Block Season 15, and even returned in Season 16 for All Stars Week.

These two just can’t stay away from the show and in 2021 returned for another crack at renovating and won the season.

Prize money is far from guaranteed: There was a year where only one team sold at auction

In Season 4 Polly and Waz were the only team to sell at auction, and for just $15,000 above reserve. It was enough for them win The Block and take home an extra $100,000.

The remaining three teams sold after auction, and while Josh and Jenna and Tod and Tina made $50,000 and $76,000 respectively, Amie and Katrina sold at reserve price, effectively winning nothing.

Does auction order matter when it comes to winning? History suggests it might

Over the past 18 seasons, eight have had four teams, and 10 have had five. In the seasons with four teams, the team that won was generally the house that went to auction last, with three total.

Four-team season auction order and wins:

• Auction order 1: 2 wins
  Auction order 2: 1 win
  Auction order 3: 2 wins
  Auction order 4: 3 wins

But in seasons with five teams, previous winners suggest that there’s a significant advantage in going early.

Five-team season auction order and wins:

• Auction order 1: 3 wins
  Auction order 2: 5 wins
  Auction order 3: 1 win
  Auction order 4: 0 wins
  Auction order 5: 0 wins

Every property renovated on The Block has a Nine dot logo installed on it

It’s a small detail you probably didn’t know about, but each and every house created on the hit TV series is linked through the Nine dot logo. In Seasons 1 and 2 the logo was placed on the front of the building, while at the Gatwick, the dots are located in the foyer and the ceiling of the lift.

Jesse and Mel’s house from season 15 of The Block has the logo located under their front gate.

Foreman Dan was a former contestant

If Dan’s face looks familiar then that’s because you’ve probably seen him on The Block site before. Dan and his wife Dani competed in Season 5 of The Block, where they won $448,000. The team then joined All-Stars in Season 6, where they won a further $220,000.

Dan and Dani also feature in an exclusive online video series, Dan vs Dani, where they brutally comment on the teams’ presented rooms.

Harry and Tash are the first ever father-daughter team to compete

Even in it’s 16th season there were still firsts coming through, with Harry and Tash being the first ever father-daughter team. By far couples are the most common team structure, but siblings and friends have also formed teams in the past.

The show has won multiple Logie Awards, and Scott Cam has even won the Gold Logie

Over the many years The Block has aired, it’s won a great deal of awards including Most Popular Reality Program in 2011, 2012 and 2015. It also won Best Reality Program in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

In 2014 Scott Cam won Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian TV.

The size and scale of the homes has massively increased over the years

The first-ever season of The Block back in 2003 had an overall renovation budget of $40,000 and just five rooms. Compare that to Season 16 where the overall renovation budget has been $312,000.

The biggest Block in history (based on square meterage) was The Oslo in Season 15.

Well, that was until 2022.

The Block: Tree Change saw a huge change to the scale of the whole show, with the teams each renovating 500 square metre houses on 10 acres of land.

“When I arrived on site for the first time, I thought to myself we had done a lot of big Blocks in the past but nothing like this – it’s massive,” Scotty said.

So far we’ve seen the houses are absolutely huge, but throw in the landscaping and Suncorp Game Changer features like tennis courts, tiny homes and even a vineyard, this Block will definitely go down in history.

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