The Block judges share clues on what to expect from the show's 20th season

Since the first season of The Block aired back in 2003, Australians have tuned in to watch teams renovate everything from apartments to former hotels, relocated country houses and mid-century brick homes.

For the 20th season, set on Victoria’s Phillip Island, contestants will be tasked with building holiday houses for the first time in Block history.

With the show hitting our screens on August 12 we asked the judges – Darren Palmer, Shaynna Blaze and Marty Fox – for clues on what we can expect.

Never-before-seen moments

After 19 seasons, you’d think we’d seen it all, but the show’s 20th season is set to include some Block firsts.

“There are at least three things that happen which we have never seen on The Block,” Blaze says. 

“It got to the stage where I was rubbing my hands each judging weekend thinking, ‘What crazy things [will] happen this week?’ Just when you think you can’t see something new … bam!”

While he refuses to give anything away, Palmer says he “was both surprised and shocked on several occasions throughout the season”.

Disagreements among judges

This year, as always, we are set to see conflicting opinions among the judges.

“There’s plenty of argy-bargy and difference of opinion, with all three of us rarely having the same opinion on the same thing at the same time,” Palmer says.

Blaze says this season of the show challenges the norms and leaves judging “wide open”. 

“There’s no formula this year,” she says. “That makes for a healthy and diverse approach that helps the contestants to latch onto different opinions that buyers and viewers will have.”

Island-inspired design

The upcoming season of The Block is set in a former resort on Phillip Island, a coastal enclave about two hours south-east of Melbourne.

The judges say this unique location is likely to have an impact on contestants’ design decisions.

“The varied landscape of limestone, red rocks, wild ocean, and tall trees and scrub can be interpreted in so many ways to bring the outdoors in,” Blaze says.

“The key is to take in the surroundings to feel like you are on holidays away from the city, but still accommodate the daily luxuries we expect these days.”

Palmer says the homes’ colour palettes should take inspiration from the surrounding environment to help the buildings integrate into the landscape.

“The black rock cliffs, red pebble beaches [and] sparse Australian bushland with beiges and greens all should give cues to what will suit the homes best,” he says. 

“It’s a coastal location too, so the expected cues of blues, white and grey also apply, as does the fun that comes with a holiday home environment.”

Flexibility and ‘fun factor’

Adaptable spaces and entertaining areas are key to a successful holiday house – something contestants will need to keep in mind throughout the build.

“A holiday home needs to cater for a variety of people in a variety of ways, but for a shorter period of time,” Palmer says.

Catering for holidaymakers might mean prioritising bench space over face-level storage in bathrooms, allowing room for suitcases in bedrooms, and ensuring enough tables, chairs and places for everyone to gather, Palmer explains.

“You need to consider that a room for ‘guests’ could mean a couple, children, a couple with children, or any number of configurations, so it’s a harder nut to crack and requires broader appeal.”

Blaze agrees that the homes should provide flexible sleeping options and plenty of opportunities for people to come together.

“The lounge room is not about cosy but conversations, and the dining and kitchen has to be able to fit two to 12 people on a daily basis,” she says.

For Fox, the “fun factor” of the homes should also be a key consideration.

Innovative techniques and ideas

Fox says we can expect to see contestants embrace the latest technology and techniques to find “innovative ways to build and design”.

This innovation extends to the look of the homes as well, Blaze adds. 

“I think the teams are creating their own unique looks that could really inspire people watching to create something that is unique, individual, and not be a slave to a trend,” she says.

However, this doesn’t mean contestants won’t take inspiration from what’s come before.

“You can expect to see variations on a coastal theme as well as a continuation of the modern Mediterranean look we saw from Kyle and Leslie last year,” Palmer says.

A different type of buyer

Come auction time, the types of buyers we see will likely differ from those in previous seasons. 

“A likely buyer for these homes is either someone escaping the city in the short or long term, or someone buying to cater to those who are looking to be in a place that doesn’t feel like their lives do in the city,” Palmer says.

Speaking as a real estate guru, Fox believes the properties will have strong “rentability” and rental yield as holiday lets, but says their value for money could see them appeal to sea changers as well.

“They could very easily be purchased by families wanting to live in them as their principal place of residence as they offer so much compared to Melbourne pricing,” he says

While expectations are at an “all-time high” this year, so is the pressure on teams, Palmer says.

“Seeing what contestants come up with creatively under pressure is always fascinating,” he says. “Diamonds form under pressure but so too can pressure make things break.”

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