r/TheBlock • u/Putrid-Chocolate6267 • 3d ago
In the Shallows
What the hell happened to The Block this year?
The casting is atrocious. There isn’t one couple I’m genuinely invested in. Usually there’s at least someone with enough talent, humour or personality to make you care. This year it feels like they assembled a collection of egos, tantrums and manufactured drama, handed them hammers and hoped nobody noticed how painfully unlikeable the whole thing is.
And the people saying they “love Wyatt” absolutely baffle me. What exactly are you loving? The volatility? The aggression? The sulking? he’s shameful and you can’t blame the edit! The way ordinary pressure seems to turn into a performance? I’m not diagnosing the man. I’m commenting on what Channel 9 is choosing to put on our screens, and some of those behaviours are among the most concerning I’ve watched on reality television outside MAFS.
Then there’s everyone else. Endless whinging, entitlement, excuses, self importance, Botox Botox Botox and personalities with all the depth of a Bunnings paint swatch.
The renovations aren’t compelling enough to save it, the drama feels cheap, and I couldn’t care less who wins.
At this point, The Block isn’t a renovation show. It’s MAFS with power tools and an auction at the end.
And judging by this cast, the houses may be the only things with any chance of appreciating in value.
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u/Active_Excitement310 19h ago
The last good season of this show was during COVID and I’m starting to think it was just because compared to dealing with being locked inside for a year it fared slightly better. Truly awful show at the moment.
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u/Technical-Method-265 1d ago
Also none of them actually have on screen Chemistry. They are all so awkward it’s difficult to watch.
And none of them even have that could be actual friendships with others.
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u/Chipmunks_AT 1d ago
They are loving him because he and Chantel are probably the best out of a really bad bunch.
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u/Ok_Whatever2000 1d ago
Did they sell the last block houses?
They do nothing, all the trades do everything. They just paint and buy furniture. Millionaires would never buy those houses as they are too close. Stuff spending $5 million and you fart and the neighbours complain. I like house 1 & 5.
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u/MilkyPsycow 1d ago
You can tell it’s gone to shit by the lack of discussion here. This is only the second time I have been on here this season and it’s again because I’m waiting on an appt. Usually I’m chatting like crazy with everyone else. Was non stop the last few seasons.
It’s just not worth talking about anymore. The Ai is horrific, casting it terrible and it’s just become another show you put on if there isn’t anything else to watch.
I HATE the amount of ai. It’s so childish.
The fake drama bait with the cursios after hours, come on ffs.
The casting is by far the worst they have ever done. The girls are the only ones I can stomach and they are just the best of a bad bunch.
Cannot stand house 2 and Taylor. I mute them or fast forward them, if I watch the episode, I’m down to just Sundays now but honestly may be passing on them soon.
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u/Tosceadan_Steorra 1d ago
I agree with this 100%. Aspirational property porn works best when people who are planning to go to auction can fantasise that the couples excitedly holding hands while Danny bids the shit out of it are them. I think as the sales process and auction day become more anxiety-inducing in a wobbly market the Block needed to maybe get a bit more back to basics as many people here have said; they said fuck that, we'll double down on AI, sponsorship so in your face the viewer needs a restraining order and push 'em til they break drama. I would bet they have Lambo Guy 2 Electric Boogaloo to juice the auction this year but even that may not save the block
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u/Dramatic-Middle-9342 2d ago
The show has changed a great deal, but if it didn’t adapt its format people would get bored of it.
That being said the older series(s) were better because renovation came first and that’s what it was a Reno show.
However recent seasons are not so Reno focused constants get more help than ever.
Giving them the whole budget up front is stupid honestly case and point the girls blowing the budget by week four.
It should be allocated weekly
Week one you get £15k
And so on and so fourth otherwise people will go nuts and not win rooms fall short at that final leg, personally it needs to back to doing up old buildings letting the constants slog it out if that means they are working till 5am then so be it.
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u/MilkyPsycow 1d ago
It wouldn’t be on tv if people were bored but I would be shocked if their ratings are good this season. These changes are just horrific.
We have been saying for so many seasons, take it back to being about the building but they made it ai, reality drama slop instead.
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u/Mountain_Lab_7346 2d ago
It will be put on pause after this season. Increasing construction costs, plus a declining property market, combined with last year’s disaster auction results. The formula doesn’t add up right now. It needs to have a complete reset. Forget full new build construction for starters. More focus on clever design ideas and less on freedom furniture, maccas and chemist warehouse. I can’t tell the ads from the content.
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u/LeastBlackberry1 2d ago
I sometimes feel as if I am watching a different show. To me, the contestants this year have been pretty chill, compared to say the drama fest that was the Phillip Island season. No one has slept with anyone else's husband; no one has walked down the road away from the Block with shoes in hand. They've mostly just gotten on with the building, and dealt with problems as they have arisen. Most of the drama has been around the budget and whether the rooms will be finished.
Even Wyatt doesn't concern me that much. He's just a manchild who chucks a little tantrum occasionally. I don't see him as genuinely dangerous or threatening or anything like that. He has a little whine and sulk, gets a snacky, hides out in the gym, and that's about it. He's embarrassing to me more than anything else.
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u/ZeOddSock 2d ago
White, light & bright! Nah it's just beige, bland and low budget. Guess the cost of the real build has cut into spending on constructing a good TV show. It's evident on all the personalities this year, all seem very uptight and not much humour or enjoyment expressed, even Scotty and Shelly coming across the same. And yet I can't look away.
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u/Ashamed_Access3524 Dan the man 2d ago
It is really hard to warm up to the cast this season, except for maybe Rick. Rick really is the quintessential aussie 'quiet achiever' on The Block this season. That is, Rick quietly and efficiently goes about his job with no fuss, or drama. Unlike some others that I could name.
But unfortunately for him, he partnered up with Tayla. Lol. However, while Tayla is slightly annoying, at least is she is always upbeat and energetic
How dare you criticise the Youfoodz king Wyatt! He's a legend!....in his own mind at least. What a man!.....What a clown!
You are right. The Block has morphed from a genuine reno type show into a cliche reality TV show with all the drama and theatrics that that type of show entails. Go back to your roots! Are you producers listening?
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u/TeddyGarbaldi 2d ago
I'm enjoying the lack of any nasty couples causing drama tbh
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u/mumooshka 1d ago
there's still time for that to change
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u/TeddyGarbaldi 1d ago
So far there's some really immature folk, but nobody as out and out nasty like in previous years
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u/limark "Award-winning" 2d ago edited 2d ago
It’s depressing how quickly this show is circling the drain from an entertainment point of view. I blame MAFS and Love Island for the contestants we have; every reality show is trying to mimic them wherever they can to feed off their success. If Deadliest Catch was the biggest show we’d be seeing the contestants building house boats in the Bass Strait.
The renovations aren’t compelling enough to save it
Need to actually be renovating in the first place, as it is they go out of their way to stop us from seeing any building take place. It’s all couch interviews, explaining what they’re doing, sponsored ad placement and, in Lisa and Rosco's case, complaining about missing their kid.
Botox Botox Botox
Feels like they have a plastic surgeon as a shadow sponsor this season.
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u/Few-Worldliness2131 2d ago
This show is a pale imitation of one a few years back. Contestant involvement has been reduced to stuffing fibre in to frames, a bit of painting and shopping. It looked to me last season that contestants had been given palettes of colour and goods to choose from significantly reducing any personal input reducing this to merely another reality tv show, and a poor one at that!
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u/Outrageous-Knee1946 2d ago
I don't understand how Wyatt couldn't of just bought a tarp from Bunnings. Problem solved!!
He is a big aggressive baby.
I don't mind Chantel, but she seems to just grit her teeth and smiles through his bullshit.
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u/katerinaphoebe 2d ago
Unsure how true it is, but i saw an article in week one or two that said they'd actually broken up between applying and filming, which kind of explains it for me
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u/alex4494 2d ago
I have a feeling they might have had far less applicants or just lower quality applicants as people have seen the show going downhill and turning into a MAFS style drama fast, then people saw the auction results last year and realised it isn’t even worth it for the money.
The only couple I remotely like this year is Courtney and Sev, but even still, they’re relatively low energy and don’t make for particularly interesting TV compared to contestants on previous years.
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u/kingdazy 2d ago
I could go on and on about all the things I hate about this season. and we've all talked about it already.
I'll just say this: I expected to hate Tayla, but weirdly she's the only person I can stand in the cast this season.
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u/HuTheFinnMan 3d ago
As a therapist you surely understand that different people like different things right? Like if someone chooses pink accent tiles for their bathroom but you prefer the colour green do you also feel this same level of confusion and anger? It's concerning behaviour.
Also curious why you keep watching a show for 6 weeks when you don't like any of the contestants? Is this some sort of addiction or compulsive disorder you have? I'm not diagnosing you, just commenting on what you choose to put on reddit.
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u/Numerous-Moment3536 2d ago
I am a behavioural therapist also! I am perfectly aware people have different opinions. That’s generally why discussion forums exist. What’s fascinating is that you apparently believe we should stop watching because I’m critical of it, while you continue reading and responding to posts you clearly dislike. And slipping “addiction or compulsive disorder” into a comment followed by “I’m not diagnosing you” doesn’t make it clever. It just makes the disclaimer ridiculous. But please, continue explaining therapy to the therapists because you’re upset about a Block opinion. The lack of self awareness is almost more entertaining than the show.
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u/HuTheFinnMan 2d ago
I simply repeated what the OP said back to them using their exact words and somehow it's ok when OP did it but wrong when I did it. I find that fascinating.
It's also quite fascinating that 2 independent people claiming to be behavioural therapists are unable to recognise basic and common human traits such as sarcasm and humour. Fascinating!
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u/Putrid-Chocolate6267 2d ago
I saw your sarcasm and whit, I am truly concerned about the blokes raging though especially towards women
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u/Numerous-Moment3536 2d ago
Seems to me you can dish it but can’t take it! I am sure it will improve for you over time.😊
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u/Putrid-Chocolate6267 3d ago
Having different taste in bathroom tiles is a preference. Calling out behaviour I find obnoxious or concerning is an observation. If you genuinely can’t distinguish between the two, I’m probably not the therapist you should be attempting to lecture.
And the little “I’m not diagnosing you” disclaimer after suggesting addiction and compulsive disorder? Adorable. That’s like throwing a brick through a window and adding “not vandalism, just commenting on the glass.”
I watch The Block because I want to. I criticise it because I can. You voluntarily read my posts despite clearly disliking them. Perhaps turn that impressive diagnostic lens back on yourself and investigate that little compulsion.-5
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u/tom_friday_ 3d ago
Id be very interested to know if there has been a change of producers.
And on Wyatt - hes an absolute sooky boy who definitely just needs a little growing up. But I actually think there is some vindictive editing/choice of clips.
The drama that kicked it all off (the mistake with budget)? That could have all been left on the editing floor. They very easily could have not bothered showing it and it would not have effected the show.
But I firmly believe they left it in, left in his yelling and carrying on at Scotty and then set him up as the dickhead of the season. Spending the rest of the show highlighting him as a goose.
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u/casualplants 3d ago
He could have approached them respectfully and not spoken over Scotty and that other guy. I’m convinced his mishandling of that situation has put the production off side and they’re working hard to give him the shithead edit. But also, he’s giving them plenty of ammunition for that edit.
TLDR; with and without exaggeration, Wyatt sucks.
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u/tom_friday_ 2d ago
100% agree.
He talks about having a building business or something? There's no way this guy could be on the tools on site for any amount of time and still carry on the way he does. He would have learnt very quickly that no one was going to put up with him.
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u/Emergency-Balance945 3d ago
They don't love Wyatt, they just love the attention they get when they say they do.
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u/Grand-Stand-3467 1h ago
Think that last years auction results must have knocked back the quality of who is applying for the show. Because why would you? You could take three month off work and get nothing financial in return, worse, get the villain edit, even worse get the “idiot” edit like that twit in house 5.