Replacement contestant flees Block one week in

Just a week after being drafted in to replace Block quitters Joel and Elle, one-half of new couple Rachel and Ryan has flown back home to Sydney.

The reality of life on The Block caught up with new contestants Ryan and Rachel during Monday’s episode, with Rachel dashing back home to Sydney just one week after the couple had arrived on-site.

The professional renovators were drafted in at short notice to replace influencer couple Joel and Elle when they abruptly quit this season of The Block two days in.

It meant a mad scramble for Rachel and Ryan, who would be leaving their three young children – aged five, three and one – for several months.

Rachel and Ryan FaceTime their kids.

On Sunday night’s episode, the couple were shown dialling in on FaceTime for their kids’ bedtime – and it wasn’t an easy call, as their children were confused and upset by their parents’ absence.

“Unlike the other teams, Rachel and Ryan have had less time to get themselves and their children prepared for the separation,” Scott Cam reminded viewers.

“We left very quickly, and we left in a way where we had to pull a lot together in a short amount of time,” Rachel explained.

“We have a five-year-old, a three-year-old and a one-year-old, so for them, they’re not sure of what we’re doing here. They’re not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing – they just know mummy and daddy aren’t here.”

She revealed she and Ryan had told the children that “Mummy and Daddy are building a castle”, but they were still finding the separation difficult.

“They just want to be here, you know?”

Rachel said the children “just want to be here.”

In the end, Rachel had to leave the call to compose herself so her children wouldn’t see her getting upset.

“You just want to give them a cuddle. And they ask for a cuddle – there’s nothing worse than when your baby asks for a cuddle and you can’t give it to them. Them being upset, that breaks my heart,” she said as she fought back tears.

By Monday’s episode, the couple had taken some radical action: After just one week on The Block, Rachel had flown home to Sydney for a couple of days to be with the children, leaving Ryan to go it alone for 48 hours.

But as he told the cameras, it was definitely the right move.

“She’s really happy she made the decision to go home … the kids really needed it, and they got it. She tucked her two daughters in bed last night and they didn’t let go, so … she got some love and they got some love back.”

Ryan is flying solo on The Block for a couple of days.

Rachel and Ryan weren’t the only ones finding their first few days on The Block particularly tough – fellow contestant Sharon seemed broken after she and husband Ankur came dead last in the judging during Sunday’s episode.

Sharon was deflated after the judges’ scores rolled in, crying on camera as her husband comforted her.

“I’m over it and it’s week one, basically. I’m over it, and I’m so tired, and … maybe I don’t have a clue,” she said.

By Monday’s episode, she said she’d made a promise to husband Ankur that she wouldn’t beat herself up so much moving forward.

“That’s the pact that we’ve made to each other, because I’ve literally spent every day crying since I got here – and that’s not a good thing.”