The Block 2016: What Dea Jolly wishes she'd known before the show started

The Block is back and while I’m super  excited to see what this season’s crop of contestants will dish up in design ability and drama, it certainly takes me back to my time on the show. So, here for you (and any potential future contestants) are 10 things I wish I had known before I did The Block.

1. Be as prepared as possible going in. Contestants are given only two  weeks between being offered a spot on The Block to walking on site. It’s not long to prepare for walking away from your life for three  months, but spending some of that time preparing a lookbook of interior images to provide inspiration, shopping to check out what is on the market and, most importantly, locking in a builder, will give you a huge advantage. The first week on The Block is completely overwhelming, so having some idea about what direction to go in with your style   – and knowing that a builder is lined up to help create your vision – will help to take the pressure off.

2. There will be cameras on you from the moment you wake up every day from  6am until 10pm,  seven  days a week for three  months. There will also be a microphone taped to you for all that time and the sound guys are listening to every word that is said for the entire time. It is so easy to forget that you have a microphone on, which, of course, leads to many unguarded moments and some TV gold!

3. The work is real. The contestants really do all the building and design work by themselves. None of the contestants get any help and it really is physically and emotionally exhausting. The time deadlines are 100 per cent  real, nothing is made for TV or exaggerated. All the rooms really are created in  six days. All the contestants really do have to put their “tools down” and stop working when [host] Scotty [Cam] whistles on room reveal morning.

4. Producers will ask you at least 25 times a day: “What are you doing? Where you are going? Why? Who with? How are you feeling about it?” It is a relentless, but necessary part of the daily process to follow each couple’s journey.

5. The contestants live on site for the duration of filming. Living and working on site presents many challenges. A thin layer of building dust settles on everything – bedding, clothes and all other belongings all day, every day. It is filthy. There is also no heating, so it is freezing cold.

6. There are no kitchen facilities, no plates or cutlery and no fridge. Every meal has to be eaten out and there is no time to sit in restaurants, so that means a lot of takeaway. It is a novelty at first, but after a couple of weeks everyone is dreaming of fresh food and a home cooked meal.

7. The bathroom facilities are basic and shared with all the contestants, crew and tradies for the duration of filming. They consist of portaloos and showers and they are usually some distance from the apartments, which is inconvenient in the middle of the night! We shared one shower between eight contestants on Triple Threat. People left  old Band-Aids, dirty underwear and toothbrushes in there. It was hideous! There are also no laundry facilities on site, so having clean clothes is another challenge and clothes will definitely get ruined. The bathrooms and laundries revealed never get running water until filming is finished, so the contestants never get to use them

8. Knowing how to get around Melbourne, and where all the good interiors stores are, is crucial. Researching this before entering The Block would give contestants a big advantage.

9. Everybody cries at least once. Contestants will be pushed to their limits in every way and it is impossible to be that tired and stressed, under that much pressure, missing your family and friends, all on camera and not lose it occasionally.

10. Always follow your instinct. Don’t obsess about what the other contestants are doing in their rooms – run your own race.