The Block’s co-creator Julian Cress tells the secrets of getting on the hit Nine renovation show

THE makers of The Block reveal details of the audition process for the next season of the hit Channel 9 renovation show.

DON’T give up. That is the message to wannabe contestants of The Block from co-creator Julian Cress as he unlocks the secrets of getting onto the Channel 9 renovation show.

Cress says Clint and Hannah Amos, who are competing on this year’s series, didn’t find out they were on the show until six days before filming — and it came after years of applying.

Ben Toyne and Andy Sunderland made it on to last year’s season on their third attempt and won $510,000.

Ben Toyne and Andy Sunderland got onto The Block with their third attempt. Picture: Chris Eastman

Dean and Shay Paine applied four times before landing a spot on the 2015 season and winning a whopping $755,000.

“People shouldn’t feel disheartened if they don’t make it on the show first time,” Cress says. “So many couples have tried a number of times before they made it.”

Applications for next year’s season, to be filmed at St Kilda’s Gatwick Hotel, have just opened.

The producers of The Block received 10,000 applications for this year’s season and that was whittled down to 30 by casting director Lucky Price.

The Block co-creators David Barbour (left) and Julian Cress (right) with host Scott Cam. Picture Supplied

That is when the fun begins. A crew including Cress, Price, and co-creator David Barbour as well as Nine’s TV chief Michael Healy and head of content and production Adrian Swift need to decide on a final five — and they don’t always agree.

“We get in a room together and basically have a punch-up,” Cress says. “Sometimes at the end of six or seven hours of bruising and bloody battle we may have only picked three or four teams.”

Cress reveals that the 30 short-listed teams are flown to The Block headquarters in Melbourne and given the challenge of styling a room in 30 minutes.

The Block contestants. Clint and Hannah only had six days’ notice they had been selected for The Block. Picture Jay Town

“We get to see how they work as a team on camera — how quickly they make and execute decisions — by giving them a choice of 200 items they can put in a room,” Cress says.

“We can’t afford to have anyone on the show that has literally no idea what they are doing but, having said that, we don’t exclude couples that have no renovating experience.”

The Amos’ are a good example of that. Clint played rugby league for the Melbourne Storm. Hannah is a former hostess for Qantas.

“We applied last year but it wasn’t meant to be,” Hannah says. “We are huge fans of the show and self-driven and we make an awesome team. The timing was finally right for us.”

The Amos’ first fortnight on The Block has been a trial by fire that has left Clint in tears — and Cress couldn’t be happier.

Dean and Shay Paine won a whopping $755,000 on The Block. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis

“They don’t do it easy this season — they really struggle — but they never give up,” Cress says. “We figured it would be entertaining to see them — as underdogs and rookies — try and pull it off.

“Andy and Ben had never picked up a hammer in their lives but they were incredibly fast learners and gave it a red hot go and they did very well for themselves.”

Cress says the success of The Block is due to the right mix of contestants. He wants teams of all ages and from different states.

“There might be four or five great teams from New South Wales but we’re only going to pick one of those,” Cress says.

“You don’t want five couples who are all 45 years old. You don’t want five couples who are all 25 either.

The Block's Josh and Elyse are the youngest couple on this year’s season of The Block. Pic: Supplied / Nine

“Once you pick Josh and Elyse (the youngest couple on The Block at 28 and 24 respectively) that starts to define who else you select.”

This year’s season of The Block is unusual in that Josh and Elyse, Jason and Sarah, Ronnie and Georgia, and Sticks and Wombat got on the show first try.

But Cress says that he values teams that who apply to be on The Block multiple times because it shows they are determined and they will need that grit to survive 12 weeks of non-stop renovation.

“We can’t afford to f*** it up because we don’t have eliminations,” Cress says. “The five teams that we choose (need to be there for the whole show).”