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The Rundown: Block season hits snag, Alex Fevola on uncovering Brendan’s affair

Contestants on the new season of The Block are cooling their heels in Melbourne as production hits a brick wall. Find out why.

MAFS stars Brent and Ella address dating rumours

The Rundown is your new weekly sneak peek behind the scenes of TV and radio.

Filming of the mega reality renovation series The Block has stopped before it even started owing to Covid.

Filming was set to get under way on Wednesday at the show’s Gisborne South site however a contestant returned a positive Covid test while final preparations were being made on Tuesday.

The contestant is in isolation and filming has been postponed by a week.

The remaining four teams of contestants are cooling their heels in Melbourne waiting for the new go date.

Channel Nine confirmed The Block had been hit by a Covid delay.

“Like many TV shows, The Block has successfully navigated its way through the challenges of the pandemic for more than two years, in line with state and federal government health guidelines,” a Nine spokesperson said.

The new block site at Gisborne has hit a snag before it even started. Picture: David Geraghty
The new block site at Gisborne has hit a snag before it even started. Picture: David Geraghty

“The Block’s biggest season yet will air on Channel 9 later this year, as scheduled.”

It is understood that the contestants were not on The Block site on Tuesday and so were not interacting with the show’s tradies, main film crew or hosts.

While the Covid setback will delay the show’s production schedule by a week, it will not have any impact on the planned air date for The Block later this year.

The Block this year is making a green change with contestants making over homes on 10-acre mini farmlets.

The properties were created after Nine purchased a large parcel of land in Gisborne South for $11m and undertook a costly subdivision.

Old weatherboard houses have been trucked in, which will be the base of the new luxury homes on the estates.

The production was initially delayed while waiting for permits and paperwork related to the subdivision.

The Block’s executive producer Julian Cress has previously said the production loves a challenge.

“Whenever we take on something that is the biggest Block ever it always comes with challenges, but we love a challenge,” he said last month.

“We always want to take it to the next level and do something different.”

ALEX REVEALS CRUSHING BETRAYAL

Alex Fevola has recounted the gut-wrenching moment she knew her husband, Brendan Fevola, was cheating on her.

While she never dignifies Lara Bingle by name in the book, Alex said she “just knew” something was going on between the “young blonde model” and her husband.

It came as Brendan – who is now one of the biggest names in Melbourne radio and has many TV credits on his CV – was taking part in The Footy Show’s famous end of year dance review at the show’s 2006 grand final episode at Rod Laver Arena.

The elaborate routine required rehearsals, but Alex’s suspicion was aroused when her husband seemed to be rehearsing a lot and she noticed slight changes in his behaviour.

“I felt a twinge of doubt; was something going on?”, Alex has recalled in her book Silver Linings.

Sitting in the crowd watching the show her “heart sank” as a “young blonde model emerged through the smoke haze, loosening her button” while miming to a Pussycat Dolls song straight after Brendan’s performance.

Alex Fevola said the affair was torturous but they have now rebuilt their family. Picture: Nicki Connolly
Alex Fevola said the affair was torturous but they have now rebuilt their family. Picture: Nicki Connolly

“It was at that moment my heart sank. I felt sick,” Alex wrote.

“I turned to Meaghan (her sister in-law) ‘Something is going on with her and Brendan.’

“I felt insane even saying it but I knew it was true.

“I don’t know how I knew I just did.

“One of the reasons I felt this was because I knew Brendan very well and he’d mentioned every other person that was featuring on the show, but he had never mentioned her.

“I knew exactly why.

“It all made sense — the underlying self-doubt I’d been feeling, the distance. In a split-second the dread set in, that horrible gut-wrenching feeling knowing my life was about to become very complicated.”

Brendan reluctantly took Alex to the show’s afterparty where she saw Bingle chatting with the couple’s friend, former footy great Dermott Brereton.

“The second we walked in, Brendan made himself scarce and Meaghan and I headed for the bar.

“Then I noticed the young blonde model staring at me. I felt like her piercing blue eyes were searing my skin.”

The two women did not speak that night and both parties initially denied anything had occurred between them.

The ‘young blonde model’ went on to become Lara Worthington. Picture: David Geraghty
The ‘young blonde model’ went on to become Lara Worthington. Picture: David Geraghty

Alex went on to recount how weeks later she called Bingle to confront her about the affair after finding a voicemail from her on Brendan’s phone.

“I said, ‘It’s Alex Fevola, Brendan’s wife. Why are you doing this?’,” she wrote.

“She was silent.

“I asked again, ‘How could you do this? You know he’s married and we’ve just had a baby.’

“There was a pause and then she hung up.

“That was it. I never called back; I had all the confirmation I needed.”

Alex wrote: “To be clear, I don’t blame her, I blame Brendan; he was the one who was married.

“But I do wish they had both told the truth instead of dragging it out. That was the most frustrating part for me.”

While Alex does not name Bingle in the book, the story of the model and the footballer’s liaison was widely reported at the time and the voicemail message found its way into the media.

Bingle, who is now married to actor Sam Worthington, later confirmed in 2007 the pair had been briefly involved but that she had no idea Brendan was married and had children.

The Fevolas split after the scandal but soon rekindled.

Alex writes that the incident was the catalyst for her to take back control of her life.

FEV CHOOSES MATES OVER MONEY

Former champion Blue Brendan Fevola has been the subject of a radio bidding war.

Fevola went from having no media career to having two radio stations vying for his signature following his success in the reality TV jungle.

Fevola, who is a key part of the FOX FM breakfast show with Fifi Box and Nick Cody, was courted by KIIS FM for a gig on its Melbourne station after his tarnished-at-the-time star began rising again while on the Channel 10 reality show I’m Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here.

He was a contestant in 2016 and went on to win the reality show.

While KIIS was first off the mark, FOX soon entered the ring, leading to KIIS allegedly offering to double whatever offer FOX had on the table.

An unlikely radio bidding war erupted over Fevola’s services. Picture: Dylan Robinson
An unlikely radio bidding war erupted over Fevola’s services. Picture: Dylan Robinson

“During the show, but before he had even won ‘I’m A Celebrity,’ I had radio stations calling me as his manager to see if he was interested in joining their network,” Fevola’s ex-wife, now fiance, Alex, revealed in her book, Silver Linings.

“KIIS were the first to approach us and were extremely keen to get him on in some capacity.

“FOX FM also contacted me and we scheduled for him to appear on the show as a guest.

“He was a natural, and his easy going larrikin nature resonated well with FOX listeners and beyond.

“The producers saw the magic and asked him to sign a one-year deal.

“KIIS offered to pay double whatever FOX was offering, but Brendan felt comfortable with the FOX team, which at that stage was Fifi Box, Dave Thornton and panellist Byron Cooke.

“KIIS never actually presented their official offer, so we continued negotiations with FOX and Brendan signed with them without hesitation.”

It may have been a costly miss for KIIS.

The station has had plenty of line-up changes in its breakfast shift in recent years, although its breakfast show has finally found its feet with the pairing of Lauren Phillips with Jase Hawkins.

MAFS CAST EXCEED EXPECTATIONS

After a cheating scandal, a nude photo drama, a smashed glass, endless mean girl behaviour, catty clashes between feuding “wives”, job snobbery, a surprising number of “shoeys” and the usual over-abundance of tattoos and filler, it is hard to believe that Channel 9 went into this squabble-packed series of Married At First Sight thinking it had a dud cast.

The drama-filled soap opera has been must-watch TV, drawing viewers from 18–80.

Don’t laugh, MAFS is big in the granny market.

But there was some doubt about whether the cast would bring the drama this season.

Adrian Swift, Nine’s head of content, production and development, made the surprise admission while speaking at the Screen Forever conference on the Gold Coast last week.

“This season we were actually a bit underwhelmed by the cast,” he said of the sentiment before filming began.

But the seemingly underwhelming line up was full of surprises once let loose in the MAFS “experiment”.

“I reckon it is the best season we have ever had,” Swift said.

“One of the great contentious characters this year, Olivia, we just thought she was the sweetest kid in the world – how wrong were we.”

Olivia broke from the MAFS pack late to emerge as the surprise villain.
Olivia broke from the MAFS pack late to emerge as the surprise villain.

“But that is the joy of working in television, that is the joy of these shows, you go into it and you don’t know what is going to happen.”

Swift described MAFS as a “wind-up mouse show.”

“It is a bit …. a wind-up mouse format – you wind up the mouse, you put it on the ground and you don’t know where the hell it is going to go.

“The skill is telling the story of where the mouse goes. This is what they (Endemol Shine Australia, the MAFS production company) do so incredibly well, (they) tell the story of that mouse.”

Applications are open for the next season of MAFS.

GUDINKSI’S LIGHT TO SHINE IN NEW DOCO

The life of Australian music industry titan Michael Gudinski will be celebrated in a feature-length documentary.

The feature, titled Gudinski, was among nine documentaries to receive funding from Screen Australia.

Gudinski will follow the real-life events of the Mushroom boss spanning a 50-year period, from starting his own independent record company to becoming a major international player and household name in Australia.

He shaped the Australian music scene like no other through great bands and performers, classic albums and huge tours.

Paul Goldman is directing and has co-written the project with Toby Creswell.

3AW PASS THE MIC AROUND

It is a case of musical chairs at 3AW during the two week radio ratings break.

The station’s regular Drive host Tom Elliott is sitting in for Neil Mitchell this week with Tony Jones, who normally is Mitchell’s back-up, hosting Drive.

Next week Jones will cover Mitchell’s shift while Elliott takes a break.

Heidi Murphy will fill in as Drive host.

Nine radio said of the musical chairs: “We decided it would be good to try people in different shifts. Tony is filling in for Neil next week and Heidi is filling in for Tom.

“In this, and upcoming ratings breaks, we always try to add people in and mix it up, always giving people a chance to show their wares.”

Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/fiona-byrne/the-rundown-alex-fevola-on-uncovering-brendans-affair-mafs-hails-best-season-ever/news-story/6ed027e11932384c31424942f77cbba2