Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload the podcast last week. They might welcome back
Speaker 1: guys to TV Reload. My name is Benjamin Norris and
Speaker 1: this is your podcast to get all the inside goss
Speaker 1: on the popular TV shows you may be watching from
Speaker 1: around the world. Underniably, our TV sets are a major
Speaker 1: part of our home entertainment, and yet very little is
Speaker 1: known about how our favorite shows get made. So each
Speaker 1: episode I've been finding guests that want to dive just
Speaker 1: a little bit deeper to the shows they're currently making,
Speaker 1: so that you can hear all their exclusive stories and
Speaker 1: gain access to the biggest names in Australian television. I
Speaker 1: want to thank you for downloading or subscribing to this
Speaker 1: podcast however you've found me. I love hearing your feedback,
Speaker 1: so make sure you leave a review or a comment
Speaker 1: on your chosen podcast platform. On today's podcast, I have
Speaker 1: Julian Crest, the executive producer of The Block Australia, which
Speaker 1: starts Sunday week on Channel nine. The Block is a
Speaker 1: huge show for Channel nine and it's the cornerstone of
Speaker 1: their lineup every year. This season is set in the
Speaker 1: family friendly Melbourne suburb of Hampton East. The new series
Speaker 1: features five house is designed and built in the nineteen
Speaker 1: fifties and located in the Aptlee name Charming Street. Julian
Speaker 1: is one of my favorite TV producers in the country
Speaker 1: and this season he's been told by Channel nine that yes,
Speaker 1: it's the most explosive season yet in terms of drama.
Speaker 1: I've been told it's a little bit like the nineties
Speaker 1: Aarn Spelling series Melro's Place, which for me, I think
Speaker 1: sounds pretty amazing. We will find out how the houses
Speaker 1: are chosen, how the cast was chosen, and why they
Speaker 1: have decided to build these five houses so close together.
Speaker 1: Julian will tease us with his thoughts on the cast,
Speaker 1: and we will find out who is Queen B and
Speaker 1: why that might change as the series goes on. Plus,
Speaker 1: we will get plenty of exclusives from behind the scenes
Speaker 1: of The Block Australia, which premiere is on Sunday, the
Speaker 1: sixth of July at seven thirty on Channel nine, and
Speaker 1: then you'll be able to catch up on nine. Now anyway,
Speaker 1: let's bring Julian into the podcast and I hope you
Speaker 1: really enjoy this very revealing look at the Block for
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three. Hey, Jules, how are you?
Speaker 2: I am great, thank you, excited to be here.
Speaker 1: I am so ready for this season of the block.
Speaker 1: I feel like in Australia as it gets colder, we
Speaker 1: need to be warmed back up by this show. Because
Speaker 1: it's been on television for twenty years. That familiarity is
Speaker 1: really important to us as viewers. It's nostalgic.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's kind of you to say that. I must
Speaker 2: say that I'm as surprised as anybody that we're still
Speaker 2: doing this show after twenty years. It's quite extraordinary really,
Speaker 2: but we're thrilled to be bringing this series to the
Speaker 2: screends soon because it really has been one of my
Speaker 2: favorite shows to make.
Speaker 1: I kind of imagine every year how you make the
Speaker 1: decisions to change locations. I mean last year was the
Speaker 1: tree change and then this year coming back to Hampton.
Speaker 1: What sort of decisions get made? Is that something that
Speaker 1: Channel nine decides? Is that something that you decide? Do
Speaker 1: you have a team of people who chooses these locations.
Speaker 2: I work really closely with one of my oldest friends,
Speaker 2: Julian Brenchley, who is our architect. He's instrumental in finding
Speaker 2: property for us through a network of contacts. We also
Speaker 2: have people just randomly send us properties that they think
Speaker 2: you could be suitable for the block, so we do
Speaker 2: get to look at quite a few possibilities each year.
Speaker 2: I think the thing that we're looking for is something
Speaker 2: that sparks our interest because we haven't done it before,
Speaker 2: you know. I think that's part of the secret to
Speaker 2: the success. The longevity of the block and the fact
Speaker 2: that we're still even here twenty years later is very
Speaker 2: much because each and every series is so different from
Speaker 2: the last, or anything that we've done. For example, just
Speaker 2: going back over the last couple of series, as you mentioned,
Speaker 2: last year was a tree Change series, which we did
Speaker 2: because we felt and I think we were right that
Speaker 2: people were generally talking about a tree change. You know,
Speaker 2: before we brought that show to air, Australians were in
Speaker 2: the wake of the pandemic talking about either doing a
Speaker 2: tree change or at least discussing the kind of romance
Speaker 2: of what that could look like for them if they
Speaker 2: were to do it. The Block came on at the
Speaker 2: right time to give them a chance to see what
Speaker 2: that might look like. And I think that the reason
Speaker 2: why we've pivoted back to what we're about to put
Speaker 2: to air now with this new series is because of
Speaker 2: all the properties we looked at, this one kind of
Speaker 2: sparked our interest creatively because we think it taps into
Speaker 2: another conversation that's happening now. It's the example I would
Speaker 2: use is the couple who may have just renovated their
Speaker 2: apartment in North Fitzroy or in Surrey Hills or Alexandria,
Speaker 2: and now they've got two young children and they can't
Speaker 2: live there anymore. They are looking to the suburbs. They're
Speaker 2: looking to somewhere where are good schools, but they can't
Speaker 2: afford to buy a renovated house. So they buy an old,
Speaker 2: unrenovated nineteen fifties home that needs a full renovation, complete
Speaker 2: makeover to turn it into a modern family house. And
Speaker 2: they are going to then extend themselves to buy it.
Speaker 2: And then they're going to roll up these sleeves and
Speaker 2: they're going to start pulling it apart and pulling it
Speaker 2: back together again with all of their blood, sweat and
Speaker 2: tears into creating something special for themselves and their family.
Speaker 2: And that's a story that just plays out across Australia
Speaker 2: every day. People who are aspiring to do that or
Speaker 2: in the middle of it, or who have done it
Speaker 2: themselves and now want to watch a bunch of young,
Speaker 2: hopeful people have a crack at it in a competition.
Speaker 2: I think is something that will resonate with an audience,
Speaker 2: and so that's what we're hoping for with this current series.
Speaker 1: It's so bizarre because you're right, these are conversations we're
Speaker 1: having every day. I spoke to one of my best
Speaker 1: friends just before and they've just had a newborn and
Speaker 1: they've realized that they're no longer can fit into their
Speaker 1: apartment in Elwood, and can they buy a house in Elwood?
Speaker 1: Not really the climate that it is now, but they
Speaker 1: could look Corefield East, or they could look a little
Speaker 1: bit further out and find some of those homes that
Speaker 1: maybe our grandparents used to live in a good block
Speaker 1: and a good location, but need to be done up.
Speaker 1: I mean, this was a conversation I had today. So
Speaker 1: you're on top of it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I hope.
Speaker 1: So.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's something that I've done a few times myself,
Speaker 2: so I know what it's like. And walking into these
Speaker 2: houses was just I knew immediately that this is where
Speaker 2: we should make the block. The houses were literally untouched
Speaker 2: it felt like Nana just passed on. They were still
Speaker 2: decorated in the nineteen fifties, and I just thought, Wow,
Speaker 2: this would be incredible for blockheads to come in. And
Speaker 2: we did something that we haven't done before. We usually
Speaker 2: spend a few months pulling these houses apart and getting
Speaker 2: them ready for the renovation that will take place when
Speaker 2: the contestants arrived, you know, doing structural works and that
Speaker 2: kind of thing. These houses were so incredible to walk
Speaker 2: through when we first found them that we made the
Speaker 2: decision not to do anything to throw the entire renovation
Speaker 2: onto the contestants and our builders in the twelve week
Speaker 2: period from day one, so we didn't do any preparation
Speaker 2: work that created this kind of full time walk vibe.
Speaker 2: So the contestants don't walk into houses that present as
Speaker 2: a building site, which is what you've often seen in
Speaker 2: the history of our show. They walk into them exactly
Speaker 2: like they were when I walked into them, and then
Speaker 2: they have to kick off and start from there. And
Speaker 2: that created a whole new level of content for the
Speaker 2: show that's really exciting.
Speaker 1: Another thing that you do very well is the cast.
Speaker 1: And you know I because I'm talking television all the time.
Speaker 1: I'm always talking to people who love television, who want
Speaker 1: to be on television, and they asked me for tips,
Speaker 1: and after we chat it last year, I kind of
Speaker 1: tell you how many people wrote to me and said,
Speaker 1: how do I get onto the block? Next time you
Speaker 1: speak to Juliane, tell me what it is that I
Speaker 1: need to do. I mean, you're not supposed to tell
Speaker 1: people what to do. I always just say, be yourself.
Speaker 1: What are some of those things that you're looking for
Speaker 1: when people are sending in their videos? What kind of
Speaker 1: personality types you're looking for?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think casting is just a really interesting subject
Speaker 2: and it's endlessly fascinating to me because I know that
Speaker 2: we've got it right often. But I can't tell you how.
Speaker 2: I can tell you that we've got one of the
Speaker 2: great casting directors working intelligent in Lucky Price, who is
Speaker 2: also series producer on the show, so he is intimately
Speaker 2: involved with what needs to happen. I mean, he's going
Speaker 2: to be responsible for this cast. But he doesn't just
Speaker 2: deliver them to us and walk away. He delivers them
Speaker 2: to us and then comes to work to produce the show.
Speaker 2: So he really can't afford to get it wrong because
Speaker 2: it will make his day job a complete nightmare. But
Speaker 2: I honestly, you know, while I give him enormous credit
Speaker 2: for the choices that he makes in going through tens
Speaker 2: of thousands of applications every year, I think that there's
Speaker 2: a pure, definable science to it. I think it's a
Speaker 2: bit of a gut feeling, you know when you've got
Speaker 2: it right in casting. And I'll give you an example.
Speaker 2: You know, the hottest film in the world right now
Speaker 2: is Barbie, and people are lining up around the block
Speaker 2: to see it, and a lot of that's to do
Speaker 2: with Margo Robbie and Ryan Gosling and the chemistry between them. Now,
Speaker 2: you could have chosen any number of great actors, even
Speaker 2: Academy Award winners. You could have put Kathy Bates and
Speaker 2: Gary Oldman in those roles. They're great actors, but that
Speaker 2: film would have tanked. You just need to know, you
Speaker 2: need to have a sense of who's right for the role.
Speaker 2: And with the block, I think it's important to remember
Speaker 2: that it's not a show about trade. He's going to work.
Speaker 2: I mean, yes, we've had trades people in the show,
Speaker 2: but we often pitch them against others who have little
Speaker 2: to no renovating experience just aspire to doing it. It
Speaker 2: resonates with people who are watching the show who have
Speaker 2: no renovating experience to see people like Fill and Amity,
Speaker 2: you know, have a crack at it, and I think
Speaker 2: that that's part of the reason for the success. There's
Speaker 2: always a couple doing the show that are a touch
Speaker 2: stowne to somebody who's watching it. What we're looking for
Speaker 2: is willpower, energy, enthusiasm, and a real competitive streak. We
Speaker 2: are now in the fortunate position where we're often casting
Speaker 2: people who have applied for the show many, many times
Speaker 2: and not gotten on it. There's a couple in this
Speaker 2: year's series, Kylin Lesley from Memory. I think they were
Speaker 2: on their eighth and final application for the show and
Speaker 2: finally got on. It's torture, right, But we're lucky enough
Speaker 2: to have people like that who are applying for the
Speaker 2: show over and over again, and eventually we go, well,
Speaker 2: if these people have taken the time and effort to
Speaker 2: apply to be on the block eight times, then they
Speaker 2: must have something of a competitive spirit that they will
Speaker 2: bring to this that will really help us make a
Speaker 2: great program. And so we're like, all right, let's give
Speaker 2: them a shot. Apart from the fact that when they
Speaker 2: first applied, I think their children were babies, and now
Speaker 2: their kids are in the application video literally begging us
Speaker 2: to cast their parents so that they will stop making
Speaker 2: these damn videos. So that worked for us too, but
Speaker 2: we also mixed it up this year. One of our
Speaker 2: contestants for the first time is an architect, and that's
Speaker 2: a fascinating story. A young architect just sort of starting out,
Speaker 2: but architects, people who study architecture, formed some pretty strong
Speaker 2: views about what they think should work and what's right.
Speaker 2: And of course this young architect came up against our
Speaker 2: architect who'd already made some decisions and had some pretty
Speaker 2: strong views about what it should be, and that made
Speaker 2: for some great television as well over twelve weeks, as
Speaker 2: you can imagine. And then, of course we've got two
Speaker 2: young sisters from Melbourne, both single, who live together, share
Speaker 2: a flat and have no renovating experience and no idea.
Speaker 1: I've watched episode one spoiler alert, and I just thought
Speaker 1: that was so funny when they both turned up and
Speaker 1: they were like, we have no experience whatsoever. And then
Speaker 1: even in the first challenge you can see that they
Speaker 1: have no experience but that really speaks to my heart
Speaker 1: because that would be me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and a lot of people, well you know, the
Speaker 2: trolls will tell me when the episode goes on air,
Speaker 2: how dare you put these people in this terrible position?
Speaker 2: They're going to just fall flat on their face. But
Speaker 2: let me ask you this, when you watched episode one,
Speaker 2: were you interested to think about what might happen over
Speaker 2: the next twelve weeks with these young women and how
Speaker 2: they would respond to Absolutely.
Speaker 1: I Again, I'm going to be really honest about this.
Speaker 1: When I saw them turn up, I was like, I
Speaker 1: can think of all of these people that live and
Speaker 1: breathe building homes, and they're going to spew when these
Speaker 1: women say this. However, in episode one, I was the
Speaker 1: most interested and the most engaged with those two women,
Speaker 1: and that would be because I relate to them. Not
Speaker 1: everyone might relate to them, but I related to the
Speaker 1: struggles that they were going through, and they were the
Speaker 1: most engaging.
Speaker 2: They're wonderful people. They really do have great personality and
Speaker 2: a great competitive spirit, and not just they're not there
Speaker 2: for the money. I mean that's the people who applied
Speaker 2: to be on this series of the blog didn't do
Speaker 2: it because They thought it was a chance to make
Speaker 2: a lot of money because they watched really gifted renovators
Speaker 2: in Tom and Sarah Jane last year make twenty grand,
Speaker 2: and then they applied to be on the blog this year.
Speaker 2: So of course, you know, i'mar and Oz made one
Speaker 2: point seven million, so you know, of course there's a
Speaker 2: chance of making life changing money. But I don't think
Speaker 2: that's the reason why Elijah and Liberty wanted to be
Speaker 2: on the block. They wanted to test them to see
Speaker 2: if they could renovate, to see if they could build
Speaker 2: a house, because they'd never done anything like that before
Speaker 2: in their lives. They wanted to have a genuinely life
Speaker 2: affirming situation thrust upon them as sisters and see how
Speaker 2: they manage under that pressure. And that's the reason why
Speaker 2: we put them on the show, because we were fascinated
Speaker 2: to see how they would respond under those you know,
Speaker 2: that enormous challenge of building a house from scratch. And
Speaker 2: that's what was fascinating to me when we were filming
Speaker 2: in those first few days in the episode that you saw,
Speaker 2: and I was lucky enough to spend the next twelve
Speaker 2: weeks you know, with them, watching to see how they
Speaker 2: responded week in, week out, and the results are nothing
Speaker 2: short of astonishing. And you will get to see all
Speaker 2: that unfold in the coming months as well, And I
Speaker 2: think it's incredibly exciting to watch. And yeah, I'm thrilled
Speaker 2: with the way the series has turned out.
Speaker 1: I always wonder what the effects of previous season does,
Speaker 1: you know? And it's very interesting that you're talking about
Speaker 1: how people saw that Tom and Sarah Jane didn't make
Speaker 1: anything more than twenty K. What does that do? Do
Speaker 1: you think that the viewers get frustrated and that you'll
Speaker 1: change the reserves? The reserves? My god, you know, what
Speaker 1: can you do? Like as in, because some viewers were
Speaker 1: so upset about that last year, does that mean that
Speaker 1: the reserves are going to be lower this year? Like?
Speaker 1: Can you change that kind of stuff? Like how does
Speaker 1: that work?
Speaker 2: Well? Yeah, people say the reserves weren't right last year
Speaker 2: because Tom and Sarah Jane made twenty but Amar and
Speaker 2: I was made one point seven with the same reserve.
Speaker 2: So that's real estate, right. I mean, I think that's
Speaker 2: another reason that the show remains successful is because the
Speaker 2: audience do understand that we have no control. You know,
Speaker 2: this isn't a show that's been spoon fed to them
Speaker 2: by producers who are manipulating everything behind the scenes. We've
Speaker 2: got no bloody idea how it's going to turn out.
Speaker 2: You look at Scott cam on auction day, you look
Speaker 2: at his face, you can tell that he is petrified.
Speaker 2: He gets physically ill, as do I, as do the
Speaker 2: other uses on the day of the auction. And it's
Speaker 2: not because we're worried about our jobs. We know when
Speaker 2: we turn up on auction day that the show that
Speaker 2: we're making on that day for tomorrow night is probably
Speaker 2: going to be one of the highest rating shows of
Speaker 2: the year. So our jobs are secure. So why are
Speaker 2: we so nervous. We're nervous for the contestants because we
Speaker 2: don't know how it's going to turn out, and we
Speaker 2: have to stand right there with them. And these people
Speaker 2: have become really important to us over three months of
Speaker 2: working together. We just want them to do well because
Speaker 2: we feel like they deserve a big reward for all
Speaker 2: of their hard work. And when that doesn't happen, I
Speaker 2: completely understand the audience saying, well, that's not fair, you
Speaker 2: set the reserves to high. I'd get that because I
Speaker 2: feel that at that time, as well, but when I'm
Speaker 2: standing there watching one couple walk in and take one
Speaker 2: point seven million dollars in cash above their reserve price,
Speaker 2: and then the next couple only make twenty, I can't
Speaker 2: really blame the reserve price.
Speaker 1: And you know what I want you to know, because
Speaker 1: I'll never forget being in my lunge room with the
Speaker 1: amount of screaming that was happening. We had a room
Speaker 1: full of people different ages that it invested in this show,
Speaker 1: and I can't think of any other television that we
Speaker 1: have at the moment that's appointment television like this, where
Speaker 1: an audience literally feels like they're involved, like it's magical
Speaker 1: in a way.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's right. I mean the other element
Speaker 2: to the Block that makes it different, apart from the
Speaker 2: fact that the endgame is impossible to manipulate, is that
Speaker 2: we don't eliminate contestants. Put the Block up against every
Speaker 2: other reality show that you can think of, you know,
Speaker 2: Big Rather survivor the you know Everything. They eliminate, so
Speaker 2: people that you really like or come to like and
Speaker 2: enjoy watching aren't there next week because the judges have
Speaker 2: decided that their kremberula wasn't quite up to par and
Speaker 2: they're gone, and you're like, oh, that's a shame. I
Speaker 2: really liked Ben and you know, I like watching him,
Speaker 2: but with the block, which is why, you know, we
Speaker 2: really do have to kind of get casting right. We
Speaker 2: need to choose people who the audience wants to watch
Speaker 2: for three months. But the reason why all those people
Speaker 2: in that room at the end, we're you know, watching
Speaker 2: the show with you were finding it were so engaged
Speaker 2: was that they had spent three months watching Tom and
Speaker 2: Sarah Jane build that house and they loved them. They
Speaker 2: love Tom and Sarah Jane as I do. They're beautiful
Speaker 2: people who deserve to make a million dollars and they
Speaker 2: made twenty grand and they were so graceful about it
Speaker 2: that it brought a tear to all of their eyes,
Speaker 2: not only on the day but when the show went
Speaker 2: to air and ever since, despite that experience, Tom and
Speaker 2: Sarah Jane remained very close friends of all of ours.
Speaker 2: And Tom was happy to come back, and he's a
Speaker 2: significant part of this new series as well.
Speaker 1: I'm obsessed with the two of them. I remember I
Speaker 1: went for a set visit to the houses last year
Speaker 1: and met them both and they were just as delightful
Speaker 1: in real life as they were on camera, because you
Speaker 1: do show people for who they are. I was devastated
Speaker 1: when they didn't get to get all the money, but
Speaker 1: I just thought, what an amazing couple to show that
Speaker 1: they didn't let her get to them. And then what
Speaker 1: then happened was the reward is they've been given a
Speaker 1: job on the next season of the Block. Magnificent.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, they are bloody awesome and I think people
Speaker 2: will be thrilled to see Tom by his trade in
Speaker 2: this new series.
Speaker 1: I also love that the houses are back closer together,
Speaker 1: no offense to the tree change. Loved it. But with
Speaker 1: the houses so far away, it wasn't like you could
Speaker 1: just walk over to the other house and have a
Speaker 1: guernsey and have a bit of a barney like. They
Speaker 1: were so far away that sort of stopped that from happening.
Speaker 1: Did you decide in a new way to bring them
Speaker 1: much closer together so that it would escalate some of
Speaker 1: the drama that we're used to seeing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, very much so. These five houses, but they go
Speaker 2: round a corner, and that meant that we were able
Speaker 2: to pull down all of the fences in the backyards
Speaker 2: and create one single backyard that they all had to share,
Speaker 2: and the idea concept behind that was that it might
Speaker 2: lead to know, to more interaction with the contestants and
Speaker 2: therefore more dramatic moments in the show. But I could
Speaker 2: never have predicted how much drama we would get out
Speaker 2: of that.
Speaker 1: You is, Julian, and I couldn't.
Speaker 2: It is.
Speaker 1: The show melrose Place was about these young people that
Speaker 1: were incredible. They were living in a very close space
Speaker 1: and I felt like as soon as I have turned
Speaker 1: up on the set of the twenty twenty three series
Speaker 1: of the show, I was like, oh my god, this
Speaker 1: is going to be like Melro's Place. There's going to
Speaker 1: be some drama going on.
Speaker 2: It's funny you say that, because when David and I
Speaker 2: pitched the show to the network that melrose Place was
Speaker 2: the inspiration for the block. We said to the executives,
Speaker 2: this show will be a cross between melrose Place and
Speaker 2: Survivor I Love It and People. So that was the
Speaker 2: show that we referenced.
Speaker 1: Well, I feel like Ding ding Ding. I've won some
Speaker 1: prizes here. But the thing that I heard about this
Speaker 1: series as well was I heard that there is a
Speaker 1: bit of tension between the women, So you got what
Speaker 1: you wanted, But I heard that the Queen Bee's status
Speaker 1: of the group kept changing, and the dynamics of who
Speaker 1: was right and who was wrong was also changing. Am
Speaker 1: I onto something here? Is this what we're going to
Speaker 1: expect to see?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Without giving too much away, what I found fascinating.
Speaker 2: The block is such an intense pressure cooker environment. It's
Speaker 2: such a heightened challenge and experience where what would normally
Speaker 2: transpire in real life over two years, such as renovating
Speaker 2: a house to this degree, would be probably an eighteen
Speaker 2: month to two year project. The fact that we packed
Speaker 2: that into twelve weeks. It's not just the renovation, it's
Speaker 2: all of the other things that would happen over two
Speaker 2: years in real life. So we have a situation with
Speaker 2: this series where there are immediate bonds and friendships created
Speaker 2: and alliances created between neighbors in the first two or
Speaker 2: three weeks of the show, which then get completely flipped
Speaker 2: on their head in the middle of the series, and
Speaker 2: then completely flip around again before it's over. For that much,
Speaker 2: for that much personal kind of connection to transpire that quickly,
Speaker 2: you're best friends with somebody, and three weeks later you
Speaker 2: were saying she's dead to me, and then three weeks
Speaker 2: later they're trying to patch things up, and now she's saying, well,
Speaker 2: I'm now best friends with her. Who makes best friends
Speaker 2: in three weeks and then three weeks later says they're
Speaker 2: dead to me. Only on the block is that going
Speaker 2: to happen? It never ceases to amaze me what can
Speaker 2: happen on the block, Which is why after twenty years,
Speaker 2: I'm still excited to be making it. Otherwise, I mean,
Speaker 2: if I honestly, if we were still making Big Brother
Speaker 2: after twenty years, I think we would have walked away,
Speaker 2: you know, it just the novelty would wear off. But
Speaker 2: somehow with the Block, for us as producers, it just
Speaker 2: doesn't wear off. You know. It's genuinely exciting for us
Speaker 2: every year to be to meet all these new people
Speaker 2: and to see how they go about renovating a house
Speaker 2: and playing this big game of monopoly with real money
Speaker 2: and real tools over twelve weeks. That we're addicted to
Speaker 2: making the show, so we're thrilled that people still want
Speaker 2: to watch it so that we can keep going around
Speaker 2: year after year and making a new one.
Speaker 1: But the thing I want to know from you is
Speaker 1: when this kind of drama happens. Do you try and
Speaker 1: work out who is right and wrong? Is it impossible
Speaker 1: to pick sides or no?
Speaker 2: Hell mae?
Speaker 1: Do they try and get you guys to intermediate that.
Speaker 2: My view is everybody's right and everybody's wrong. We try
Speaker 2: and keep our fingerprints off the show as much as
Speaker 2: we can. It's very much made in a documentary style.
Speaker 2: There aren't that many constructs in the conceit of the show.
Speaker 2: All you have to do is deliver a room on
Speaker 2: Sunday and maybe go to a challenge each week. Apart
Speaker 2: from that, the contestants run their own race. They make
Speaker 2: their own decisions. They decide where they're going to go
Speaker 2: and when they're going to go. We don't tell them
Speaker 2: that they have to go and choose their tiles this morning.
Speaker 2: We tell them that it would be sensible to do
Speaker 2: that because they need to deliver a bathroom on Sunday.
Speaker 2: But they make the decision about where they go and
Speaker 2: when they go and how they do it, not us.
Speaker 2: We just follow them with the cameras and if they
Speaker 2: decide that somebody's dead to them, that's fine by us.
Speaker 1: Oh Am, I laughing. I really missed this last year.
Speaker 1: I felt like some of the drama was quite isolated
Speaker 1: to the houses. Like we saw with Sharon, the drama
Speaker 1: was sort of inside that house and it wasn't so
Speaker 1: much with everyone else because I love the building, of course,
Speaker 1: but I just love the juicy drama and what's wrong
Speaker 1: with me?
Speaker 2: Well, I'm glad you do, because there's a lot of
Speaker 2: it coming your way.
Speaker 1: How much of what we read or what we have
Speaker 1: read about this season of the Block is true? Ah?
Speaker 2: Well, that depends whether if you're reading the daily mail,
Speaker 2: probably not much. But throw me something. What have you read?
Speaker 2: I'll give you a true or fault.
Speaker 1: Are you going to back some familiar faces this year
Speaker 1: at the end of the season to celebrate twenty years
Speaker 1: of the Block? Or are you going to wait till
Speaker 1: next year for the twentieth season of the Block? What's
Speaker 1: the clarity on that.
Speaker 2: I think that we have so much content this year
Speaker 2: with these people. By the end of this season, the
Speaker 2: contestants from this year will be familiar faces. I don't
Speaker 2: think that there's even room this year with these five
Speaker 2: teams to fit anybody else in, because these five couples
Speaker 2: can pretty much use all of the oxygen in any
Speaker 2: room you put them in. So I think the answer
Speaker 2: to that is we will wait for our twentieth season
Speaker 2: of the show. If we're going to do something like that.
Speaker 1: What about Scottiecam? Is there a possibility that this could
Speaker 1: be Scotty Cam's last year?
Speaker 2: Scott Cam is very committed to the block. It's become
Speaker 2: a really important part of his life now. He loves
Speaker 2: making the show and I think that he'll be there
Speaker 2: for a few more years. Yet.
Speaker 1: The last one I'll ask you, because we could do
Speaker 1: this all day, is the next series locked into Dalesford
Speaker 1: for next year.
Speaker 2: The location of next year's series. If anybody tells you
Speaker 2: that they know where it is, they're lying because I
Speaker 2: don't know where it is yet.
Speaker 1: It's just the ones that I was looking at today
Speaker 1: and someone said, you know, Dalesford is happening, and you've
Speaker 1: already locked it in. And the reason and you've locked
Speaker 1: it in for January because you and the crew are
Speaker 1: sick of working in the colder conditions.
Speaker 2: It's a plausible story, right. I will say that if
Speaker 2: we were going to go to Dalesfoud, we probably would
Speaker 2: want to start earlier because that winter that we went
Speaker 2: through in the Massidon Ranges last year was absolutely brutal.
Speaker 2: It makes sense, it does ring true, it's just not true.
Speaker 1: And do you get bothered by these stories? I mean,
Speaker 1: is this just good publicity for the show because everyone's
Speaker 1: talking about everyone's talking. Oh my god, this will be
Speaker 1: the last time we see Scotty Cam. We've got to
Speaker 1: tune in and watch this series because you won't be
Speaker 1: here again. Is that good publicity? Or does that somehow
Speaker 1: upset you guys in some way?
Speaker 2: Why it doesn't hurt? I think Scott would find it
Speaker 2: really amusing that you know, there's a story saying that
Speaker 2: he's decided that this is it or he's resigned or whatever.
Speaker 2: To be honest, I don't think it hurts. It's better
Speaker 2: to be talked about in a very saturated media landscape
Speaker 2: with so many opportunities to watch different shows and streaming
Speaker 2: platforms and reruns and there's just so much going on
Speaker 2: to have the level of interest from journalists that want
Speaker 2: to even write these stories. Whether they're true or not,
Speaker 2: I think is good doesn't matter to us. People will
Speaker 2: just be pleasantly surprised next year when Scott Cam turns
Speaker 2: up again.
Speaker 1: Do you know what's really funny? And this sounds mean,
Speaker 1: and I don't mean to be mean, but sometimes I
Speaker 1: laugh at mean things. Is that another producer who works
Speaker 1: on another show, another big friend that's been on television
Speaker 1: for a long time, They were like, we can't get
Speaker 1: people to talk about this series in the media, and
Speaker 1: that's really interesting. That goes to show you where that
Speaker 1: format is at that time, where the Block hasn't even started,
Speaker 1: and there's so many stories out there, and you're right,
Speaker 1: that comes down to public interest. You know, you kind
Speaker 1: of want to be talked about.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I can only guess that the editors
Speaker 2: who are choosing what goes on their homepage are choosing
Speaker 2: these stories about the block knowing that they may not
Speaker 2: even be true. They're choosing it because they know that
Speaker 2: that is clickbait. They know that there is a hunger
Speaker 2: out there amongst their readers for stories about the Block.
Speaker 2: That is a very encouraging thing for me to know.
Speaker 2: You know, we love it. The more stories we read,
Speaker 2: the more we realize that the editors are trying to
Speaker 2: feed an audience that is interested in our show, and
Speaker 2: that in and of itself is enough for me.
Speaker 1: I also heard really early on that you know, we
Speaker 1: were going to get a new You judge joining the show,
Speaker 1: coming along with SHANEA. Blaze, Darren and I did hear
Speaker 1: that Neil was taking the season off, So it took
Speaker 1: a while for us to find out. It was Marty Fox,
Speaker 1: who I think is a great choice from what I've
Speaker 1: seen so far. What can you tell us about him
Speaker 1: for this season? Like, is he going to offer something
Speaker 1: completely different to Neil? Like what's going to happen here?
Speaker 2: Of course he is, because you know, he and Neil
Speaker 2: are very different people. Neil comes from our background of
Speaker 2: being a very high profile editor of interior design magazines,
Speaker 2: and Marty comes from selling houses. He's a very sharp,
Speaker 2: very talented real estate agent. It's no reflection on Neil
Speaker 2: that Matty's there. Marty's only there because Neil couldn't do
Speaker 2: all of this series and called me and said that
Speaker 2: he had, you know, for personal reasons. He just wasn't
Speaker 2: going to be able to do it all when he
Speaker 2: was really disappointed about that, as was I. But the
Speaker 2: idea of Marty Fox coming in and feeling in for
Speaker 2: Neil really came from looking back at where the show started.
Speaker 2: You know, for the first three series of the block,
Speaker 2: there was only one judge, and that was John McGrath,
Speaker 2: a real estate agent. That's where the show began. It's
Speaker 2: then evolved when we added Neil. It evolved further when
Speaker 2: we added Darren and Shana as John McGrath wasn't able
Speaker 2: to be the judge on the show once we'd moved
Speaker 2: to Melbourne because his base was Sydney. So Marty seemed
Speaker 2: like a natural choice because he reminds me a lot
Speaker 2: of John McGrath. You know, he's super smart, he knows
Speaker 2: real estate inside out. He's a specialist in this area
Speaker 2: and nothing is going to get past him because he
Speaker 2: is looking at these rooms each week purely from the
Speaker 2: basis of whether they are going to appeal to the
Speaker 2: buyer that he knows so well, and it was an
Speaker 2: interesting perspective to add. And he's also a really fun, interesting,
Speaker 2: opinionated guy, and I think that the audience is going
Speaker 2: to absolutely love him on the show.
Speaker 1: Did you notice, though, by changing the judges a difference?
Speaker 1: Do you think we're getting a different result in your opinion? Only,
Speaker 1: do you think by changing this judge we're get to
Speaker 1: get a different outcome?
Speaker 2: No, I don't. I have enormous respect for Neil I
Speaker 2: think that you know, people say, oh, I have interior
Speaker 2: design experts judging a real estate show, and I say, well,
Speaker 2: Darren and Shana and Neil have all bought and sold property,
Speaker 2: They've all renovated, They've all had to do it for themselves.
Speaker 2: They've all had to take properties to market. They work
Speaker 2: really hard and study the market that we're doing each year,
Speaker 2: whether it's a tree change or Hampton, and their interest
Speaker 2: when they're judging is about whether it's right for the market.
Speaker 2: It's not whether it's just their own personal opinion. They
Speaker 2: often and choose winning rooms that they personally wouldn't have
Speaker 2: themselves or don't particularly like, but they feel that they're
Speaker 2: right for the market. So I think that those the
Speaker 2: judges that we've had have always done that really well.
Speaker 2: But I think that Marty's involvement in the show has
Speaker 2: brought a real fresh perspective to it, and it was
Speaker 2: really interesting to hear some of his comments about what
Speaker 2: is right for the market, and those comments different from
Speaker 2: what Neil would say. Yeah, absolutely, Does it mean that
Speaker 2: a different team is winning the rooms in the weeks
Speaker 2: that Marty's there in place with Neil, I'm not sure
Speaker 2: about that.
Speaker 1: So One of the last things that I want to
Speaker 1: quickly do with you is I want to get like
Speaker 1: a sentence on how you describe these new teams. The
Speaker 1: promos are out, and by the way, the promos are
Speaker 1: very good this year. They literally make you feel like
Speaker 1: you know these people within their thirty seconds. It's crazy,
Speaker 1: but I'd love to know your little snapshot on them.
Speaker 1: So if we start with Eliza and Liberty.
Speaker 2: Just just really fun. You know, they came to it
Speaker 2: with a sense of wonder. They were amazed that they
Speaker 2: got chosen and were so grateful for the opportunity. They
Speaker 2: really didn't know what they were getting themselves in for,
Speaker 2: and that's immensely clear in the show, and I love
Speaker 2: them for it.
Speaker 1: Now, the two of them got a lot of experience with,
Speaker 1: you know, being a producer themselves. Was there any issue
Speaker 1: with them self editing? Like, were you worried about that
Speaker 1: casting people who are producers in a show like this
Speaker 1: or do you think because of the nature of the show,
Speaker 1: being that it's twenty four hours a day, no one
Speaker 1: could possibly keep up a facade or self edit like
Speaker 1: that that eventually it would switch off.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, Sharon's a professional actor, do you think
Speaker 2: that she was self editing. You can't do the Block
Speaker 2: and spend three months pretending to be something that you're not.
Speaker 2: It's just not possible. Nobody has the skills to manage
Speaker 2: that pressure and be thinking about everything they're saying all
Speaker 2: the time, and self edit can't happen.
Speaker 1: Kyle and Leslie, what do you think about these two?
Speaker 2: They're the team that tried eight times to get on
Speaker 2: the block, so you know, it's fantastic that they got
Speaker 2: that reward. But like everybody else, even after being dedicated
Speaker 2: fans and watching every series and begging to come on
Speaker 2: the show, when they got on the show after about
Speaker 2: a week, they said to me, like everybody else does, Juels,
Speaker 2: we knew this was going to be hard, but boy,
Speaker 2: we didn't know it was going to be this hard.
Speaker 2: There were there were moments, but to be to be fair,
Speaker 2: everybody at some point twelve weeks said, I don't know
Speaker 2: if I can handle this. I think I'm out.
Speaker 1: I feel like they know you well enough to know
Speaker 1: your face and I can see your face when people
Speaker 1: say it to you that they're going to leave, and
Speaker 1: your face just wouldn't change. You'd be like mm hmmm.
Speaker 1: Because you know, just to sit and.
Speaker 2: They go back to work, exactly right.
Speaker 1: Okay, So Leah and Ash? What about these two?
Speaker 2: Yeah, just larger than life couple. Really, they're just perfect
Speaker 2: for our show. She I don't mean this in any
Speaker 2: way to be critical, because I love Leah as much
Speaker 2: as anybody I've ever had on the show before. Her
Speaker 2: lack of a filter is just something to behold. She
Speaker 2: thinks something and before she's even finished the thought, she
Speaker 2: said it, and sometimes it really rubs people the wrong way,
Speaker 2: but she owns what she says. And Ash is a
Speaker 2: great knock about bloke. They're wonderful parents. They've got beautiful children.
Speaker 2: They're made for each other. But you know they're noisy,
Speaker 2: and noisy is good.
Speaker 1: What about Christy? Christy and Brett?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so they're really interesting to me, and I really
Speaker 2: loved having them on the show. They're more of the
Speaker 2: couple that they love to stir the ship. They think
Speaker 2: it's hilarious to what how things they say may be
Speaker 2: taken or may unfold, and that's fun. You know, I'm
Speaker 2: going to call it. They're shit stirs in a really
Speaker 2: fun way. And they were great. But they're also super bright,
Speaker 2: you know, he's a safety officer, she's a project manager.
Speaker 2: They're not to be trifled with, and they've got an
Speaker 2: enormous amount of energy and competitive spirit, which is what
Speaker 2: the book block always needs. They were fantastic on the show.
Speaker 1: What state were they from again, South Australia. South Australia. Okay, yeah, I.
Speaker 2: Don't know what they put in the water there, but
Speaker 2: South Australia has thrown up Alisa in Lossandra and Christian.
Speaker 2: That's fantastic.
Speaker 1: I love that teas. I love the teas. And then
Speaker 1: the last of all, we have Steph and Jim.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so she's the architect. He's a super bright guy.
Speaker 2: He's in tech startups. What is amazing about them is
Speaker 2: that they're very young, but more importantly so, I think
Speaker 2: they're twenty six going on twenty seven during you know,
Speaker 2: I think they turned twenty seven in show, but they've
Speaker 2: been together since they were thirteen. The strength of their
Speaker 2: relationship together you wouldn't expect from people that young, you know,
Speaker 2: because at twenty six, yes, they've only been married a year,
Speaker 2: but they've been together for fourteen years already, and that's
Speaker 2: a substantial amount of time. So what I loved about
Speaker 2: them was that as a team. I think they people
Speaker 2: would underestimate them, but they are as strong as any
Speaker 2: team that we've had, just because they know each other
Speaker 2: so well and they just they really present as a
Speaker 2: united front, and they were very competitive and are in
Speaker 2: the middle of some of the biggest stories that happened
Speaker 2: across the series this year.
Speaker 1: It's really funny that you say that, because Steph was
Speaker 1: really lovely when I met her, but I loved her
Speaker 1: like a radar on me. So she because we're coming
Speaker 1: into her home right with the media, so she was like, oh, Hi, hey,
Speaker 1: you going. She was on the surface being really lovely,
Speaker 1: but I was like, she's the Amanda Woodward of Melrose Place. Here.
Speaker 1: I feel like she's going to be the one to watch.
Speaker 2: One hundred percent. Yeah, And being an architect, it's just
Speaker 2: such an interesting thing for the audience to see how
Speaker 2: an architect goes about doing a blog. It's completely different
Speaker 2: to how a plumber goes about doing it.
Speaker 1: Alrighty, last two questions I have for you is you
Speaker 1: also are correcting or acknowledging some drama that was created
Speaker 1: two years ago allowing them to see the plan aboard?
Speaker 1: Are there other big changes like that that we're going
Speaker 1: to see this season that you can talk about at
Speaker 1: this stage.
Speaker 2: I'll hint at one. I mean, I've told you about one,
Speaker 2: which is that we didn't do anything before they started,
Speaker 2: and that is why the promo has that time walk storyline,
Speaker 2: because the houses are exactly like they were in nineteen fifty.
Speaker 2: The other change that we made. The hint I will
Speaker 2: give you about that is that Tom from Tom and
Speaker 2: Sarah Jane figures prominently in this new series. So why
Speaker 2: would that be.
Speaker 1: Well, we'd have to give this to one of the
Speaker 1: journalists that writes for the Daily Mail, because that'd probably
Speaker 1: that'd probably weave that together faster than I would. I
Speaker 1: can't even imagine. Is he personally involved or is it
Speaker 1: to do with conflict over the build.
Speaker 2: He is in the show as a regular character, this
Speaker 2: series working force, and.
Speaker 1: What a perfect person to do it. Some of my
Speaker 1: favorite Tom moments of last year, you know, was when
Speaker 1: he went sort of a wall and would just start
Speaker 1: painting the fence and just being himself. He'd be outside
Speaker 1: of that little caravan and his underpants. He was a
Speaker 1: loose unit, like you know, he is that he is
Speaker 1: who he is, and that's what makes good television. And
Speaker 1: then also the first episode we get a Disney Plus theme.
Speaker 1: Does that mean that you yourself have free Disney Plus
Speaker 1: at home?
Speaker 2: I wish, because with an eight and nine year old,
Speaker 2: Disney Plus gets a proper workout in my house. I
Speaker 2: go to say, it's become a pretty solid go to.
Speaker 2: My nine year old and I are equally fans of
Speaker 2: Star Wars and watch them regularly. So yeah, it was
Speaker 2: wonderful to have Disney Plus come on as a sponsor
Speaker 2: for this series. But no, it didn't. They didn't give
Speaker 2: me a freebee.
Speaker 1: I just thought it was fantastic, Jills. The last question
Speaker 1: I ask you is something I asked everyone who joins
Speaker 1: the podcast. Can you give us something of a behind
Speaker 1: the scenes secret or maybe something we won't see, maybe
Speaker 1: a funny anecdote from your experience this year of filming
Speaker 1: The Block twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2: For anybody who's watched The Block previously, they probably have
Speaker 2: realized that whenever anything does happen behind the scenes, we
Speaker 2: put it in the show. We tend to break that
Speaker 2: fourth wall. If somebody falls over in the middle of,
Speaker 2: you know, filming, it usually makes the cut. Anything that
Speaker 2: makes us laugh or makes us cry, usually gets put
Speaker 2: into the show and not ends up on the cutting
Speaker 2: room floor.
Speaker 1: That is the best. Can I just say that's thank
Speaker 1: you so much for coming on the podcast and being
Speaker 1: so generous with your time. Just as good a chat,
Speaker 1: as good at that's not even a word, Just as
Speaker 1: good as last year, like and you blew it out
Speaker 1: of the park last year. It was very funny, very entertaining,
Speaker 1: very insightful.
Speaker 2: Thanks and appreciate it. I appreciate the support. I'm glad.
Speaker 2: I'm glad for your interest in the show too. It's
Speaker 2: great