The Block delivered its biggest Living, Dining and Terrace Week reveal yet on Sunday, with spectacular ocean outlooks, a medical emergency for Rick, a fresh painting controversy, baby news for Dan and Dani, and one recurring problem that left judges Shaynna Blaze, Darren Palmer and Marty Fox increasingly frustrated: too many contestants had designed their rooms to look at televisions instead of the views.
With just over 24 hours remaining before reveal, the five teams were racing to complete enormous living, dining and outdoor spaces at Mount Eliza.
The scale of the properties — described as the largest tackled across 22 seasons of The Block — meant the contestants were dealing with a huge amount of floor space. More importantly, the living, dining and terrace areas were positioned as the primary vantage points for the properties’ ocean outlooks.
That put enormous pressure on every furniture choice and, as the judges would repeatedly point out, every decision about where a sofa, dining table or television should face.
For House 1, Adam and Jolene believed they were in a reasonable position as the remainder of their flooring went down.
House 2’s Chantel and Wyatt, usually confident about their time management, found themselves feeling unusually behind.
At House 3, Lisa and Rosco turned to family reinforcements. Rosco’s dad Jim was brought in on minimum wage — identified in one source as $25 an hour — to help with work including cladding, sanding and plastering, while Lisaconcentrated on homewares and styling.
Their two-and-a-half-year-old son Lando also visited the site.
The week had taken its toll on Rosco, particularly when it came to the fireplace, with him declaring he was ready to “wave a white flag”.
Over at House 4, Courtney and Sev were confronting a very different problem: money.
Early wins had been followed by heavy spending, leaving the pair with a shrinking budget for one of the most important weeks of the competition. They could not afford the dining table they originally wanted and decided against a fireplace, instead pursuing what they described as “quiet luxury”.
The financial restrictions left them describing the resulting atmosphere as “a little bit sombre”.
Meanwhile, House 5’s Rick and Tayla were pushing ahead with an outdoor sink, premium barbecue, bar and Tayla’sslushie machine.
But their room reveal suddenly became secondary to a much more serious concern.
Rick’s knee infection takes him out of action
Rick had been sent to hospital after developing what was described as a “serious” infection in his knee.
He was placed on antibiotics and ordered to rest with his feet up until Monday, but initially continued trying to work before host Scott Cam intervened and ordered him off site.
Rick explained what doctors had discovered:
“The infection had set in, and it was starting to travel so they had get IV into the system pretty quick.”
The medical situation left Tayla facing the final painting push without her teammate.
That created another problem.
Painting is treated as a fundamental contestant responsibility on The Block, and the issue had already become contentious earlier in the season after Chantel and Wyatt were accused of breaking the rules when their chippy painted for “less than five minutes”.
With Rick unavailable, Scott called in British Paints’ Tim and Krissy to help Tayla finish the painting.
The decision did not go unnoticed by the neighbours.
Courtney and Sev were sympathetic to Rick’s health situation but were also frustrated by the assistance, given the previous controversy over contestants receiving painting help.
Sev summed up the awkward situation with: “Pot calling the kettle black.”
Even Tayla was conflicted about accepting the assistance.
By judging, Rick remained absent after his overnight hospital stay, and it was confirmed he would need an extended break, with a replacement to be confirmed.
Dan and Dani welcome baby Fletcher
There was much happier news away from the renovation sites.
Foreman Dan and his wife Dani had welcomed their baby boy, Fletcher James Riley.
That meant Dan would also be replaced on site while the contestants continued their builds.
Before judging began, Scott had another announcement for the teams.
A Bar Crusher boat valued at $80,000 was added to the Plungie Prize pool. One source put the existing prize pool at $192,000, with the new addition taking the package beyond $250,000.
Then came another financial result.
For the second consecutive week, Chantel and Wyatt secured the CommBank Budget Award, collecting $10,000.
With the other business out of the way, it was finally time for the judges to see what the contestants had produced.
House 1 — Adam and Jolene
Adam and Jolene entered the week determined to finally turn their consistent performances into a room-reveal victory.
They also knew exactly how important this particular space could be when it came to selling their property.
Adam said:
“This week was so stressful because it is the room that’s gonna sell our house.”
The couple went big.
Their plans included a custom Christian Cole dining table, a feature fireplace and an enormous 3.6m x 3.4m wall mirror. One source valued the custom dining table at up to $20,000.
As reveal approached, the pressure was obvious.
Jolene joked:
“Kids at home, this is how you get divorced – come on The Block.”
Fortunately for the couple, the judges’ reaction suggested the stress and spending had produced their strongest result so far.
The dining table immediately established the scale of the room, with Marty impressed by the luxury of being able to accommodate so many people.
Darren summed it up simply: “Scale is luxury.”
The fireplace was another major success.
Shaynna said:
“This fire is so beautiful – it projects this beautiful soft heat.”
The judges responded to the warmth and richness of the overall colour and material palette, while the room’s detailing and connection to its location also worked in Adam and Jolene’s favour.
Marty believed the result would be “hard to beat”.
There were, however, questions over the orientation of the dining table. Darren wondered whether turning it in the opposite direction would have allowed diners to make better use of the water outlook, while Marty felt that opportunity should have been obvious.
Then there was the enormous mirror.
Shaynna said:
“The sense of space here is phenomenal, because we have that massive mirror.”
Marty was less convinced, arguing that from certain positions it created “a reflection of the solid wall” and effectively a “double wall”.
Darren strongly disagreed, calling that criticism “bullshit” and describing the mirror as “genius”.
The terrace did not receive the same level of praise.
The judges felt the outside space was “undercooked”, with Shaynna wanting a larger couch and Marty looking for a barbecue.
Still, the overall result was meticulously planned, warm and inviting — and had put Adam and Jolene firmly in contention for their first victory.
Budget estimate: $22,777.00. Cash spend: $40,054.36.
House 2 — Chantel and Wyatt
After several weeks of confidence about their ability to stay ahead of schedule, Chantel and Wyatt suddenly found themselves under pressure.
Without the Cursio brothers assisting in the room, the couple felt behind.
Styling was also shaping up as a familiar problem.
The judges had previously criticised their preference for an extremely restrained white and neutral aesthetic, but Chantelwas not ready to abandon it.
She admitted: “I do love beige.”
In a space this large, however, the minimal approach became even more obvious.
The judges’ response was brutal.
Shaynna said:
“I thought I was bored in the en suite – here I need a defibrillator, because this is dead.”
She continued:
“The issue with the room is the sheer amount of cold empty space throughout … this area is really dead; it leaves me totally cold.”
Marty agreed, describing the styling as “the definition of vanilla”.
He was even more explicit in another assessment:
“This is the definition of vanilla, there’s nothing here”.
For Darren, the bigger problem was not simply what Chantel and Wyatt had put into the room. It was where they had put it.
He felt the “scale and proportion” were “all wrong”.
The seating was too far from the coffee table and, most importantly, the lounge seats were “facing away” from the view.
The judges believed the television and living-room configuration should have been flipped.
Shaynna compared the result to a “corporate office” and also took aim at the carnations used in the styling, describing them as “a buttonhole flower” and “so far from sophistication”.
Her overall verdict was emphatic:
“This is the most boring execution I’ve ever seen of a multimillion-dollar house to try and sell a dream.”
The terrace offered some relief.
Darren thought what the couple had provided was “lovely”, and the table received praise, but the judges felt there simply was not enough furniture or amenity for such a substantial property.
Shaynna said:
“They’ve got to realise they’re not on the Gold Coast anymore.”
It was a difficult judging session for House 2, although Chantel and Wyatt could at least leave the week with another $10,000 CommBank Budget Award.
Budget estimate: $22,500.00. Cash spend: $23,385.16.
House 3 — Lisa and Rosco
For Lisa and Rosco, getting to reveal had required a major final push.
Despite having trades and family helping during the week, the pair had struggled, particularly with the fireplace.
Once the judges walked through the door, their attention immediately went to the proportions of the dining area.
The six-seat dining table was considered too small for a property of this scale.
But there was plenty the judges liked.
Marty said:
“I love this room; buyers are going to walk in here and love it.”
Shaynna believed Lisa and Rosco had finally nailed their palette, describing it as “just right”.
She pointed to the combination of finishes:
“Milky oak flooring, walnut in the buffet, chocolate and the beautiful colour on the walls …”
The fireplace also received a positive response.
Once again, however, the furniture orientation became a sticking point.
Darren thought the configuration was “fine for watching TV”, but believed it failed to capitalise on the view. His solution was straightforward: turn the furniture around.
Then the judges stepped onto the terrace.
Here, Lisa and Rosco had created separate cooking, lounge and dining zones, and Marty was impressed.
He said:
“I literally cannot fault it. It sells the sizzle.”
And added:
“I think it’s the best one we’ve seen.”
Darren did not entirely share his enthusiasm.
He questioned why the outdoor lounges were not directed towards the outlook and also wondered whether the barbecue would have been better positioned downstairs.
His frustration with the repeated failure to orient furniture towards the views had now reached breaking point.
“To say I am frustrated is the biggest understatement of the day”.
Despite those concerns, Lisa and Rosco had delivered one of the strongest combined spaces of the week and remained serious contenders for the win.
Budget estimate: $23,000.00. Cash spend: $40,181.39.
House 4 — Courtney and Sev
Courtney and Sev faced Living, Dining and Terrace Week knowing their budget would restrict what they could do.
There was no fireplace, their preferred dining table was out of reach and the pair had to find other ways of delivering the luxury they wanted.
Their built-in shelving became one of the main features of the living area.
The individual styling choices largely worked for Darren.
He said:
“That art is fantastic, the lamp, the side tables, the chair, the sofa – everything I see is really successful, it’s just the layout is wrong.”
That layout became the central criticism.
The judges liked the position of the dining table, but Darren could not understand why the living area had been designed around the television rather than the outlook.
His reaction was one of the strongest of the judging session:
“I feel like I’m taking crazy pills? I don’t understand how you can be gifted the best opportunity of any Block houses over 22 seasons, which is outlooks to the ocean, and just think – I’m going to make everything about a television.”
Marty thought the position of the lounge effectively “cut in half” the usable living area.
He warned:
“From a marketing perspective, it will confuse buyers when they see this lounge room compared to the others.”
Shaynna, meanwhile, was not convinced the shelving treatment delivered the level of luxury required.
“Rudimentary shelves, TV in centre – putting two cushions there doesn’t mean you want to sit there; it’s not a bench space, so really it’s just a fancy bookcase, and it doesn’t say luxury to me.”
Everything changed when the judges went outside.
The terrace furniture faced the outlook and immediately demonstrated the difference the correct orientation could make.
Marty said:
“We’re in the treetops here, that is what’s different.”
Darren was equally impressed:
“The layout out here is the most successful we’ve seen today; it’s almost as though it makes complete sense.”
He also praised the pair’s broader design decisions:
“I can’t fault Courtney and Sev’s decision-making in terms of style.”
But the praise came with an important qualification:
“The layout inside has really let them down, but the layout out here is the most successful we’ve seen today.”
The terrace ultimately emerged as one of Courtney and Sev’s biggest successes, even as their interior planning cost them valuable points.
Budget estimate: $15,245.00. Cash spend: $17,486.16.
House 5 — Rick and Tayla
Given everything that had happened with Rick’s health, simply reaching reveal was an achievement for House 5.
It was also an expensive one.
Rick and Tayla spent $49,593.30, the largest cash spend among the five houses.
Their dining space immediately drew criticism for another six-seat table, which the judges felt was undersized for the property.
The chairs were also considered a poor match for the table.
The living room contained plenty of individual elements the judges could appreciate: cabinetry, shelving, artwork, a green couch and the fireplace.
But spatially, the judges thought too much had been pushed towards one end of the enormous room.
Marty joked that the resulting empty area was big enough to become a “breakdancing area”.
He was considerably less impressed by the fireplace — which had taken multiple attempts to settle on — declaring:
“It looks like a pizza oven!”
Shaynna, however, could see the thinking behind the individual selections.
She said:
“The green of the couch is stunning, shelves, artwork is divine, but again for me it’s not hitting the mark.”
She described the theoretical thought process behind the space as “perfection”, but the final combination had not come together.
For Darren, it was another example of a team wasting the property’s outlook.
He was “infuriated”, said he could not remember the last time he had been this “pissed off”, and believed the furniture needed to be reoriented.
The positive news was that he considered it a relatively straightforward fix.
Outside, Rick and Tayla had made sure their terrace contained plenty of amenity.
There was a barbecue, bar and the unusual addition of Tayla’s slushie machine.
Darren and Marty regarded those features as points of difference, although the four-seat outdoor table again raised questions about whether the space provided enough seating.
Shaynna’s reaction to the slushie machine was considerably less enthusiastic.
By the end of the judging, Darren’s message was about thinking beyond individual design pieces and considering how future owners would actually live in the property.
“They need to think about who’s going to buy these homes and what they need so they can use these spaces comfortably, easily and in luxury.”
Budget estimate: $25,000.00. Cash spend: $49,593.30.
The Block Week 5 scores
After five houses and a judging session dominated by furniture layouts, undersized dining settings and missed opportunities to embrace the views, the scores finally arrived.
Darren Palmer awarded Adam and Jolene 9, Chantel and Wyatt 6½, Lisa and Rosco 8, Courtney and Sev 8, and Rick and Tayla 7.
Marty Fox gave Adam and Jolene 8½, Chantel and Wyatt 6½, Lisa and Rosco 9, Courtney and Sev 7, and Rick and Tayla 7½.
Shaynna Blaze scored Adam and Jolene 9½, Chantel and Wyatt 6½, Lisa and Rosco 9, Courtney and Sev 7½, and Rick and Tayla 7½.
That produced a final leaderboard of Adam and Jolene on 27 points, Lisa and Rosco on 26, Courtney and Sev on 22½, Rick and Tayla on 22, and Chantel and Wyatt on 19½.
Adam and Jolene finally get their win
After repeatedly falling short, Adam and Jolene had finally done it.
Their 27 points were enough to beat Lisa and Rosco by a single point and hand House 1 its first room-reveal victory.
The result also delivered a badly needed $10,000 cash boost from Chery.
For Lisa and Rosco, 26 points secured second place after a particularly strong response to their terrace.
Courtney and Sev finished third with 22½, narrowly ahead of Rick and Tayla on 22.
Despite winning the CommBank Budget Award, Chantel and Wyatt finished at the bottom of the room-reveal leaderboard with 19½ points.
The episode ended with more work already looming, including the start of the guest suite, comprising a bedroom and bathroom, as well as the promise of new faces and a Jackalope surprise.
After a week in which the contestants were handed some of the biggest spaces and most significant outlooks in The Block’s history, the judges’ message was consistent: having the view is one thing, but designing a multimillion-dollar home to actually enjoy it is another.
