The Block 2022: What to expect from the season dubbed the 'best yet'

Get excited, Blockaholics: the countdown to the launch of The Block 2022 has officially kicked off. Those watching the men’s Wimbledon tennis final got their first look at season 18 of the hit reality renovation show, and now, we’ve got a season premiere date locked in.

On Sunday, August 7, we’ll see cast and crew pack up and make the tree change to Gisborne, in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges, about 54 kilometres from Melbourne’s CBD, which the promo touts as “A gigantic slice of pure heaven”.

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

Five “city-slicker” teams will have to renovate properties on four-hectare parcels of land – “the biggest Block ever”.

Not only will contestants be transforming sprawling family homes and gardens, but, in another first for the show, these country estates will boast “tennis courts, wineries … I’ve even got a lake,” Scotty Cam says in the promo.

The host and former carpenter is undertaking a mammoth project of his own, renovating a house on the site alongside the other teams.

We also got a sneak peek at those teams who will be competing for the $100,000 prize money and auction glory:  Tom and Sarah-Jane, Joel and Elle, Ankur and Sharon, Dylan and Jenny, and Omar and Oz.

The trailer does confirm that one of those couples packs up and leaves the set after three days on-site. A replacement couple is still to be revealed.

We can expect to see some other familiar faces this season. Long-time Block judges Neale Whitaker, Shaynna Blaze and Darren Palmer are returning, as well as foreman Keith Schleiger and foreman Dan Reilly, who will be on hand to guide each team through the whopping job they’re up against.

Tackling a renovation project of this scale in just 12 weeks is not for the faint-hearted, with contestants battling rain, mud, plummeting temperatures – even a tradie shortage – throughout filming. The Block producer Julian Cress says there have been challenges for everyone involved, but they’ve been able to overcome them.

“It’s been an epic battle to get to where we are now, but a hugely rewarding one,” he says. “The quality of the rooms that have been presented by the contestants, under really difficult circumstances, has been astonishing.”

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Given it’s being described as “a season like no other” with Cam saying it’s the “Best Block yet … by a country mile”, we can’t wait to see how this one unfolds.

The Block: Tree Change will air on Sunday, August 7 at 7pm on Nine and 9Now.

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