AUSTRALIA’S HEARTLAND GETS A MAKEOVER AS THE BLOCK TURNS 21
THE BLOCK PREMIERES SUNDAY, JULY 27, AT 7.00PM ON CHANNEL 9 AND 9NOW
Get ready to celebrate more than one incredible milestone for Australia’s favourite renovation show, The Block, in the beautiful country town of Daylesford in Victoria.
The Block is back for its 21st season – which includes its 1,000th episode – and will premiere Sunday, July 27, at 7.00pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.
Daylesford, about 80 minutes from Melbourne, is known as one of Australia’s top weekend getaway destinations and the capital of spas and mineral springs.
For the first time in the show’s history, the teams this year will build homes from scratch that are exactly the same in layout and size, once again designed by longtime Block architect Julian Brenchley.
Also new this year, all-nighters are outlawed, and the building site will be locked every night. This means time-management skills from the contestants are a must, or some rooms won’t be completed in time.
Host Scott Cam is back for his 19th season, joined by co-host Shelley Craft in her 18th season with The Block. Plus, Dan Reilly continues in his role as sole foreman, while Marty Fox, Shaynna Blaze and Darren Palmer return for the make-or-break weekly room judging.
“Since all the houses have identical layouts, it really comes down to the contestants’ own creativity where they’ll have to think outside the box to catch the judges’ eye for a win,” Scott Cam said. “They have to produce something spectacular from week one.”
Shelley believes the unique twist of the houses being new builds will resonate with Block viewers and also help the contestants.
“For the contestants it’s a fresh start every week,” she said. “Rather than a dirty, grubby, messy start where they had to demolish a room and rebuild it in a week, coming into a clean frame is a much better mindset to be in.”
The five teams who will build a house in Daylesford are:
- Plumber Sonny (44) and dental practice manager Alicia (42), married couple from QLD
- Barber Robby (37) and hairdresser Mat (41), best mates from SA
- Geologist Han (29) and social media and marketing analyst Can (31), couple from WA
- Police officer Britt (30) and police officer Taz (30), married couple from WA
- Dance teacher Em (33) and engineer Ben (32), married couple from VIC
The Block’s executive producer and creator, Julian Cress, said the five couples cast this year have brought the show back to basics for season 21.
“What the audience can expect this year is what I would call a classic Block series,” he said. “We have a really diverse cast of hard-working people who are very competitive, engaged with their design, and of course we will have some high and lows.”
Julian said Daylesford was an idyllic location for The Block. The production and the entire crew moved there for three months during the build and were embraced with open arms.
“There is a reason why Daylesford is the number one weekend tourist decision in Australia – it’s a very beautiful town with an amazing community. We hope to show how incredible Daylesford is to not only Australia, but to the rest of the world.”
And this year there will be another first for Australian television: a purpose-built Sponsor Village onsite, which transforms how sponsor interaction is done on a program like The Block.
Some facts and figures about the history of The Block:
- 186 contestants
- 103 homes renovated
- 210+ bathrooms built
- 103 kitchens built
- Broadcast in more than 170 territories around the world
- Over $39 million in prizemoney given away
The Block moves to Daylesford and premieres on Sunday, July 27, at 7.00pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.
The series has moved to the idyllic country tourist town of Daylesford in Victoria, about one hour and 20 minutes from Melbourne.
For the first time ever on the show, the Blockheads will build houses from scratch that are exactly the same in layout and size with only the frames completed when they arrive in Daylesford.
These aren’t small projects either… Each of the five houses offers a generous 346 square metres of living space set on over 2,300 square metres of land.
The houses have been designed by The Block’s resident architect, Julian Brenchley. The facade of each one has prominent differences, including cladding and pitched versus flat roof designs.
Our five contestant couples from around Australia will have to be creative and use their unique design and styling skills to stand out for our three judges: Shaynna Blaze, Darren Palmer and Marty Fox.
Host Scott Cam is back for his 19th season and will be joined again by Shelley Craft, in her 18th season of The Block.
“With interiors, it really comes down to a styling exercise, and our contestants have to think outside the box to catch the judges’ eye for a win,” Scott Cam said. “They have to produce something spectacular from week one.”
Shelley believes the unique twist of the houses being new builds will resonate with Block viewers and also help the contestants.
“For the contestants it’s a fresh start every week,” she said. “Rather than a dirty, grubby, messy start where they had to demolish a room and rebuild it in a week, to come into a clean frame is a much better mindset to be in.”
And there is another big change to The Block this year: all-nighters are outlawed, and the building site will be locked every night. This means time-management skills from contestants are a must or some rooms won’t be completed in time.
The Block’s executive producer and creator, Julian Cress, said the five couples cast this year have brought the show back to basics for season 21.
“I would say what the audience can expect from this year is what I would call a classic Block series,” he said.
“We have a really diverse cast of hard-working people who are very competitive, engaged with their design, and of course we will have some high and lows.”
Julian Cress said Daylesford was the idyllic location to make the show. The production and the entire crew moved to Daylesford for three months during the build, adding millions to the local economy, and were embraced with open arms.
“There is a reason why Daylesford is the number one weekend tourist decision in Australia – it’s a very beautiful town with an amazing community,” he said. “We hope to show how incredible Daylesford is to not only Australia, but to the rest of the world.”
During this series The Block will celebrate its 1000th episode on Nine, a remarkable television achievement.
“It’s an amazing feeling to be part of a show that not only has been on air for 21 seasons, but also celebrating 1000 episodes. It really is an incredible effort,” Scott said.
This year there will be another first for Australian television: a purpose-built Sponsor Village onsite, which transforms how sponsor interaction is done on a program like The Block.
This will include the arrival of Bunnings, the first time the brand has been involved in the show.
DAYLESFORD PROFILE
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Situated 80 minutes from the Melbourne CBD, Daylesford has a population of 10,475 according to AreaSearch.
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One of the top Airbnb locations in Australia.
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The home of some of Australia’s most renowned restaurants including The Lakehouse, Kadota, and Bistro Terrier.
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The location of one of Australia’s biggest LGBTQ+ festivals, Chillhout, held each year during the March Labor Day weekend.
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According to Domain, the median price for a four-bedroom house is $1,150,000.
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Famous residents include Australian artist David Bromley, who will be involved in this season of The Block.
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Australia’s capital of spas and mineral springs, all around towns near Daylesford including Hepburn Springs, Trentham and Glenlyon.
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The location of the famous Mill Market, one of Australia’s biggest vintage stores.
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Two public schools, Daylesford Primary School and Daylesford College.
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The regional city of Ballarat is just 30 minutes away and has a population of 115,951.
Interesting to see some key sponsorship changes for this season.
Ford and Mitre 10 are both out. Replaced by MG and Bunnings.
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For 2025, the production took over the regional Victorian tourist hub and foodie hotspot of Daylesford for three months for the build. Cam says the locals welcomed the mammoth TV production to their picturesque town with open arms – which is notable because the show faced a planning dispute after locals voiced objections to the project back in 2023.
“They realised that we bring a lot to the community,” says Cam. “We did about a $200,000 renovation on the cinema, our contestants did that over a week, and they loved that. We showcased all the availabilities of the town, like Hepburn Springs, and we ate at all the restaurants, so it’s great for tourism. We really invest a lot of money into the town.”
Cam also this year marked another big milestone of the more personal variety, with the 62-year-old becoming a grandfather for the first time to granddaughter Tiggy. She even visited him on site at Daylesford, and viewers can expect her to make a teeny tiny cameo on the series.
Nine hosted a media day for The Block at Daylesford on Friday.
New promos rolling out. Long version and cut down versions. If you pause the video there a quite a few room reveal spoilers.
Adrian Portelli won’t be bidding at auction for any of this season’s houses.
The Block host believes the billionaire businessman’s decision to retire his paddle after spending more than $27 million on eight houses will simply pave the way for families to get back in the bidding at long last.
“You know we might not get ridiculous prices but we’re going to give mums and dads the opportunity to buy one of these houses."
What has Scotty been smoking?
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Its gonna be another season of losses at the end like its happened i think twice before
I had a chat with Scott Cam and attended The Block launch party in Perth. There is a pic of me with Scott and Zak.
Simon Baird (one of The Block’s executive producers) said it was Mitre 10’s decision to end its 20-year relationship with the show.
I haven’t mind the block in the past but last night was tedious. I might watch room reveals but that’s it for this year.
Scott Cam is an egomaniacal lunatic. He’s become so unlikable.
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Dani will make her first appearance on the new season next Monday (August 4), to mark the start of double kids bedroom week.
Dan and Dani share their story of personal loss to raise awareness for a cause dear to their hearts.
