Team accused of cheating before The Block’s week one room reveals

We’re barely a week into the current season of The Block, and already one team are facing accusations they’ve flagrantly broken the rules.

We’re barely a week into the current season of The Block, and already one team are facing accusations they’ve flagrantly broken the rules.

Sydney-based contestants Steph and Gian had a difficult first week on The Block, eventually dismissing their builder after costly mistakes started to stack up. As they raced to the finish line to try and deliver a bathroom for the judges, Steph’s father Nick turned up at the site for a visit.

He’d travelled from interstate to visit them. A qualified builder, he stayed on site late into the night before tools down – and was seen on camera helping out several times.

Steph said having her dad there was a life saver.

“It’s like the gods were aligned this week for my dad to be in town,” Steph told the cameras.

“This was a really hard week, and having someone that you trust there, that’s qualified also... he was just the perfect person.”

A contestant’s father flying in from interstate to help out was always going to ruffle some feathers, and Brisbane couple Leah and Ash had some questions about Nick’s involvement.

Namely, did he receive a site induction before his late-night visit, and would he be paid for his efforts. If the answer to either of those questions is “no,” Steph and Gian will have broken the rules.

Fellow contestant Kristy noted that he was still seen working on-site after midnight - after even his own daughter had called it a night. “What set me off was the commentary, ‘Steph has had a big day so we’ve popped her to bed,’” she revealed.

Steph's dad Nick gets to work.

Not that her father’s presence was much help to them anyway – Steph and Gian finished dead last in the bathroom judging, marking the second time in their first week that the judges have placed them at the back of the pack. The judges found much to like in their bathroom, but all called out the “rustic” wooden beams in the ceiling, which they said just looked messy and need to go.

Still, their score of 20.5 out of 30 was at least an improvement on the 14 they received for their kids’ room last Sunday.

Perth couple Kyle and Leslie won bathroom week with a score of 25, the judges loving the room’s warm feeling and unique curved ceiling.

Steph's dad was seen working late into the night.

Meanwhile, two past contestants on The Blockhave spoken out against this season’s extreme rule changes, saying the show is now “a walk in the park” for contestants.

And it appears some viewers agree, flooding The Block’s social media pages with comments criticising the rule changes.

Host Scott Cam announced a few changes to the game in Monday’s episode, designed to make life easier for contestants: They’d be given their entire budget for the renovation ($250,000 per couple) upfront. They’d be given the show’s full, 12-week production schedule in advance, so they could plan ahead. And Cam revealed he would also hire and pay for all plumbers and electricians on site, making them a communal resource so that individual teams wouldn’t run up massive bills employing trades when they didn’t have anything to do.

The changes were all welcome news to this season’s crop of contestants as they set about renovating five 1950s brick houses in Charming St, Hampton East – but 2021 contestants Kirsty Lee Akers and Jesse Anderson weren’t as pleased.

“This year’s block is a walk in the park! This would have been amazing to have, oh and the roof/walls and bed to sleep in looks awesome too,” the couple wrote on their joint account, under a photo of the season’s full schedule posted to The Block’s Instagram account.