The Block: Meet this year’s contestants

With the biggest renovation job in the history of the reality show, this year’s season is going to be one of blockbuster proportions.

Good news reno fans — this year’s season of The Block is hitting screens on Sunday night.

With the biggest property renovations in the show’s history — and a small budget by comparison — The Block is sizing up to be a season of blockbuster proportions.

Here’s everything we know so far.

WHO ARE THE CONTESTANTS?

DEB AND ANDY

The couple want to use any money from The Block for a good cause.

The couple from NSW have four children, including two they have fostered — and they want any winnings from The Block to help them take on more children in need.

ELISE AND MATT

The couple are from Perth.

She’s a fashion manager and he’s a carpenter — prepare for glamorous room renovations.

TESS AND LUKE

They might be newlyweds, but they’re definitely still a threat.

The newlyweds from Queensland have an edge on the competition — with Tess an advertising designer and Luke a carpenter.

JESSE AND MEL

The couple are Block super fans.

Jesse is a real estate agent and Mel a contracts administrator, but both of them have been super fans of The Block for years, with the Melbourne couple applying multiple times.

MITCH AND MARK

Mitch and Mark are well prepared.

The longtime couple have been preparing for their stint on The Block for months, making sure they are in the best physical and mental shape to take on the competition.

The Oslo Hotel in St Kilda. Picture: Nicole Cleary.

WHERE IS THE BLOCK BEING FILMED?

This year’s season of The Block will be based in Melbourne’s St Kilda again, with teams tasked with renovating a site estimated to be twice the size of last year’s project The Gatwick Hotel.

Five teams will renovate the notorious Grey Street Oslo Hotel, a budget guesthouse where rooms last year were being rented out starting from just $44 per night.

Nine purchased the three-storey property for $10.8 million, and it will be transformed into luxury apartments.

WHO ARE THE JUDGES?

Despite rumours Nine was considering changing The Block’s judges, Shaynna Blaze, Darren Palmer and Neale Whittaker have all confirmed they are returning to the show.

The trio shared social media posts of themselves at the Oslo Hotel as construction got underway earlier this year.

WHAT CAN VIEWERS EXPECT THIS SEASON?

This year’s The Block looks set to be the most dramatic yet, with a drop in property prices meaning the days of couples taking home six figure sums on auction day may be behind them.

Contestants will still have only a week to renovate each room despite each apartment being the combined size of the Gatwick and Elsternwick properties from the last two seasons.

With a budget of just $220,000 per couple, Blaze has predicted there could be unfinished rooms this season.

“This season’s contestants are going to have to make a lot of compromises because there won’t be the funds to stretch the whole way through,” Blaze told the Herald Sun in March.

“If they’re not careful with their money we’re probably going to see a lot of unfinished rooms — that is a fact.”

The Block premieres Sunday 7pm on Nine