Excitement is in the air as The Block enters the final production weeks for its upcoming season set in Gisborne South.
Last week the Midland Express had a sneak peek as contestants prepared for potential buyer walk-throughs with just two weeks of production remaining.
This year’s couples have worked on the biggest Block yet, each with a home to renovate as well as 10 acres of land to plan for.
While viewers will need to tune into the show to see the final houses, the Express can reveal there is certainly some local influence.
This year’s houses have a contemporary country theme and many couples have sourced pieces locally to style their rooms.
Viewers can also expect some early drama with one couple leaving the show early and a new team coming in to fill their position at short notice.
Host Scott Cam revealed it “created a fair bit of chaos in the first 48 hours of the show”.
“We put a lot of time and money into the start of our show and then we had to rejig the whole thing: promos had to be re-shot, it was a lot of angst on our part when they just departed the way they did,” he said.
This season Scotty also took up his own challenge of renovating the original McGeorge family homestead, which has served as inspiration for contestants. Fans can expect to see some former contestants make a return during Scotty’s renovation.
Executive producer Julian Cress said this season really was “the biggest Block ever”.
“Nothing has been attempted on this scale anywhere in the world in television. It’s pretty epic to be able to do it,” he said.
He said this season also had a strong focus on sustainability and resilience.
“We’re recycling all of our building materials on site. We’re recycling the top soil for landscaping. All houses are seven star-rated, they’re all triple glazed, and we’re using geothermal heating and cooling, and solar,” Cress said.
“We’ve had some elements of this in previous seasons but this year we’ve brought it all together.”
Despite fears the show would experience delay, Cress said the team was hopeful it would make its air dates.
“We’re actually feeling like we’re going to pull it off now,” he said.
Host Shelley Craft said there was excitement in the air as the couples approach the show’s final weeks.
“We have potential buyers come through this afternoon (Friday) and there is a real excitement in the air now.
Their homes are almost finished. They’re so close,” she said.
This week contestants will finish work on their sheds, followed by landscaping the week after.
