The Block

Television Nine Network
1694

Episode 16

It’s Grant’s 30th birthday and Scotty puts on a party for him at Grumpy’s Mini Golf in Cowes.

Jesse and Paige don’t show up, after having a massive fight the night before as they try to finish their guest bedroom. Paige tells Jesse in the heated fight that she doesn’t want to be on The Block anymore and that he isn’t listening to her concerns.

The other Blockheads are starting to notice the tension between the engaged Perth couple.

Ricky and Haydn are late to Grant’s party after celebrating winning the Bar Crusher boat the night before.

The Blockinator Keith surprises the contestants at mini golf, making his first appearance on The Block for this year. Keith’s role is to conduct a mini golf challenge, which Mimi surprisingly wins, taking home $1000 that she gives to Grant for his birthday.

Keith then returns to The Block and catches up with his old mate Dan to have a look at all the houses.

The experience of The Block is really starting to get to Jesse and Paige. They have a huge argument with Nadia from The Block Shop after they accuse her of not delivering the right materials for their guest bedroom. They call her to berate her at 1am, in the morning which doesn’t go down well.

From Nadia’s point of view, she has always been very clear with her communication and she has done nothing wrong. The next morning after the call, Jesse and Paige deny the call took place despite it being filmed.

Scott calls “tools down” and all of our Blockheads finish their guest bedroom with some fantastic results.

House No.1 Jesse and Paige spent $14,382

The judges loved the fact Jesse and Paige have embraced the Modern Colonial style. Shaynna thought it was very sophisticated but not juvenile. A fantastic job.

House No.2 Courtney and Grant spent $8,946

Marty loved the curves and everything else about Courtney and Grant’s guest bedroom. He thinks Courtney and Grant are now the front runners in the competition. He described House No.2 as an “auctioneer’s dream.”

House No.3 Ricky and Haydn spent $13,948

The judges were very impressed that the boys had bounced back after last week’s disastrous bathroom. They could tell the quality of the build was much higher, as Duncan Miller joined the team. The judges have coined the style of Ricky and Haydn’s house - it’s called Holiday Resort.

House No.4 Kylie and Brad spent $9,504

The kid’s room was a real hit for the judges, it feels like finally Kylie and Brad have turned a corner. Everything for the first time on The Block makes sense, and the judges for the first time are all really happy with a room delivered by Kylie and Brad.

House No.5 Kristian and Mimi spent $18,135

The judges absolutely loved the bedhead. Another stunning room by Kristian and Mimi. The styling is just perfect.

Kylie and Brad refused to play their bonus penguin so Kristian and Mimi took out the win again.

Darren Palmer:
Jesse & Paige 9
Courtney & Grant 9
Ricky & Haydn 9
Kylie & Brad 9 ½
Kristian & Mimi 9 ½

Marty Fox:
Jesse & Paige 8 ½
Courtney & Grant 9 ½
Ricky & Haydn 8 ½
Kylie & Brad 9
Kristian & Mimi 9

Shaynna Blaze:
Jesse & Paige 9
Courtney & Grant 8 ½
Ricky & Haydn 9
Kylie & Brad 9
Kristian & Mimi 9 ½

TOTALS:
Jesse & Paige 26 ½
Courtney & Grant 27
Ricky & Haydn 26 ½
Kylie & Brad 27 ½
Kristian & Mimi 28

1695

Is it the editing or are there no likeable couples this season?
Even the boys, Ricky is good but Hayden is just there…

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1696

Yeh he isn’t getting much airtime.

I think if the walkout wasn’t happening, this would be a very boring season so far. Why did we need the golf game before reveals last night?

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1697

So obviously Jesse and Paige are leaving tonight because of mental health - interested to see exactly how it plays out, but I’m glad they’re stepping away and prioritising health first. They have to own their behaviour that’s been shown, but it begs the question - is it reckless of production to give them such a one dimensional villain edit if their mental health is at risk?

Not withstanding that everything shown has to have actually happened, but when you watch critically the relentlessly one sided edit becomes so obvious - put anyone under the intense pressure of the Block, film them 24/7 and only show their worst 10mins a day and you’ve got a villain right?

As a mental health advocate I’m uncomfortable with the industry standard to disregard anyones mental health in favour of ratings - but I’m especially concerned where mental health worries have been explicitly raised. Production knows that the way they’re portraying this couple will inevitably result in a social media pile on (its actually what they want because it boosts engagement/ratings). Personally, I find this practise (across the industry, but especially in this situation) deeply troubling + unethical

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1698

I don’t watch the show but was curious to see chatter given the promos I’ve seen.

If this is what happened, then the contrast is stark between how mental health was handled on other shows I’ve seen of late. Hell on Aussie Survivor, we had a mental health quit and while quits suck (and cynically ,I would say don’t go on the show if you slightly think you may not be able hack it), the show should have a duty to at least frame the matter delicatel

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1699

Yeah and they may well still frame it delicately tonight, we’ll see. But irregardless, I’m concerned about the relentless vilification of contestants with known mental health concerns over the last four weeks

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1700

So are they gonna bring in a new couple to finish the house?

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1701

Yep, sisters from NSW.

1702

I agree. But it just shows the viewers don’t need the drama to tune in every week. Ratings are still so solid for a show in the 20th season.

1703

If there is conversations about the portrayal of the mental health aspect it’s interesting that it’s airing in the same week as RUOK day too. Just an observation as it is already being quite the topic this week I’ve noticed.

1704

Ominous start to the episode

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1705

Not much better 5 minutes in either. Looks like it will be an interesting episode but the posts above sure raise some interesting questions about ratings vs duty of care for the contestants.

4 Likes
1706

Episode 17

It’s a very emotional night at The Block as one of our couples - Jesse and Paige from Western Australia - make the difficult decision to leave The Block. The decision rocks Phillip Island and The Block will never be the same again.

It all came to a head after Jesse and Paige had a huge argument the Friday night before, which their neighbours Courtney and Grant in House No 2 could not help but hear.

The Block’s executive producer Justin Sturzaker had to step in and told them they had a decision to make, things couldn’t go on like this anymore. In the end they came together with Scott and for Paige’s sake - she wasn’t feeling herself with her mental health - they made the decision to leave.

Jesse and Paige were very brave and they went from house to house to let everyone know, before saying goodbye to everyone with a group hug. The other contestants - especially Kylie - are heartbroken at the loss.

Meanwhile the contestants have to think about building one of the most important rooms on The Block, the main bedroom and walk-in wardrobe.

Kylie and Brad got good feedback and would have won last week if they had played their bonus penguin, but Kylie is sticking to her guns and saving it.

Kristian and Mimi head out for their winners and ginners dinner and are joined by Block royalty, Ronnie and Georgia.

The next day Ronnie and Georgie arrive at The Block and pretend they are the new contestants to replace Jesse and Paige, which sends Kylie spiralling.

She threatens to walk from the show as she goes shopping with Haydn and Mimi.

Scott calls her to tell her it’s a prank and that Ronnie and Georgia are only there for one day to help the new contestants get started.

Kylie isn’t happy with all this Block drama, she wants Jesse and Paige back.

1707

What’s the bet the show offered them a leaving package.

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1708
1709

I was not convinced by this whole departure. Paige was borderline abusive to her fiancé and tended to lean towards gaslighting. Although it could be a symptom of her mental health concerns. I’m on the fence about it all.

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1710

The topic of Mental Health is so touchy that I’ve felt the need to not say anything on the matter, but re-watching some episodes (Including S20, E1) show how toxic Paige was towards Jesse and others, the way she spoke and over-escalated situations was embarrassing. Paige is trying to claim the edit’s are manipulated, however she’s still said those things out of her mouth and was very clearly unable to adapt to the environment she was in.

This is why The Block is almost unwatchable now days, too much contestant drama, just build the bloody houses. That said, it’s nice seeing old faces this season, however the current crop of contestants aren’t partially great, Kylie has annoyed me more than Paige ever did, but Paige’s behaviour was just unacceptable for both the context of the show and in her relationship.

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1711

I keep thinking about how Paige and Jesse must have felt watching it back. Did the producers think that by showing five weeks of emotional breakdowns that P&J would be ok with it? Yes, I’m sure they signed a watertight contract but in a situation like this the producers should’ve put her mental health above ratings.

And their exit last night was appalling. I know it was done for dramatic affect but seriously did they think that making it look like a funeral would be ok? So inappropriate.

1712

Maybe they didn’t watch it?

1713

I’m always on the fence. We only get the edit the producers want.

1 Like