The Block 2023: Expect ‘close hand-to-hand combat’ this season
Following Married at First Sight (MAFS) and its phenomenal ratings earlier this year, Nine is drawing out another ace from its content lineup as a new season of The Block hits the screen this Sunday.
Celebrating its 19th season this year, The Block took out five 1950s houses on Charming Street in Melbourne’s Hampton East.
The 2023 cast: Kyle and Leslie, Gian and Steph, Liberty and Eliza, Leah and Ash, and Kristy and Brett
As if flipping existing houses is not already stressful enough, the contestants must also build a secondary accommodation on their properties this time.
“Last season, the couples were all on massive blocks, or hundreds of meters apart. This season, they’re all literally in each other’s pockets,” Adrian Swift, head of content, production and development at Nine told Mumbrella.
“Every day is a dinner party, and a sort of close hand-to-hand combat between the houses. Let me put it that way.”
Swift said that it’s one of the many ways the show has evolved to become more than renovations but also about people who renovate.
“The show has grown with its audience. As Australians have changed, tastes have changed,” he said.
“The way we interrogate what the guys do, what we ask them to do, how we ask them to combine new things like a new skylight, use cladding differently, or use 3d printing to do something we would never have done in the old days.
“We do those kinds of things now, because they’re what they’re what modern building is about.”
But most importantly, The Block will always provide much-needed stability in Nine’s content schedule.
Shelley Craft and Scott Cam
While Swift did not disclose specific numbers around expected ratings, he said The Block usually has a different bell curve from shows like MAFS. The former usually ramps up to the auctions at the end, whereas the latter could get lighter viewership mid-season until the final commitment ceremonies.
Being a great carrier of commercial integration and a promotional platform for Nine’s other shows, Swift said The Block is a “god-given gift”.
“I reckon the thing for us is understanding what a golden goose the Block is, and loving our goose,” he said.
The Block has added real estate guru Marty Fox as an extra judge this year, as fellow judge Neale Whitaker takes a step back from the show to focus on this family.
However, viewers can breathe a sigh of relief after The Block’s host, Scott Cam, squashed the rumour that he was leaving the show at a launch party in Melbourne earlier this month.
“Well, I haven’t told you all this. But two months ago, unfortunately, I signed a multiple-year deal … with Nine Network,” he told the crowd.
“I love Nine Network. I’ve been here 24 years and couldn’t think of going anywhere else.”
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Darcy Song was a reporter at Mumbrella, covering media owners, adtech and social platforms. She left in October 2023.
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