Episode 29 Recap | It was crunch time on The Block 2026 on Sunday as a tense final push through Kitchen Week ended with a bitter body corporate showdown, unfinished rooms, some of the strongest judging feedback of the season and Adam and Jolene walking away with the week’s massive $100,000 prize after delivering the judges’ favourite kitchen.
The final 24 hours began with the Blockheads attending an Anzac Day dawn service before returning to site for another punishing day of work.
There was coffee, there was even a smile from G-Mac, and for a brief moment spirits appeared high.
That did not last.
With the contestants required to present not just a kitchen but also a butler’s pantry, powder room and lift, virtually every house was racing the clock.
As the pressure began to show, Jolene summed up the atmosphere with a simple observation: “I’m sensing some tension!”
At House 3, Lisa and Rosco had trades working across the property and the growing chaos was enough for foreperson Leonie to step in and attempt to restore some order.
At House 2, Chantel and Wyatt encountered problems with their cabinetry hardware and needed different coloured handles, while Courtney and Sev at House 4 were trying to secure a wine donation from Crittenden Wines.
Adam and Jolene, meanwhile, had an eye-catching Grafico wallpaper treatment running through their lift and lift shaft.
But it was House 5 where the biggest time crisis was unfolding.
Rick and Tayla were in serious danger of not finishing.
The situation was complicated by Rick continuing to deal with his knee infection. He kept working, but frustration was mounting inside the house as Tayla searched for jobs to complete and her father became increasingly exasperated.
At one point, Rick urged her to “f**king do some work”.
With the deadline looming and their kitchen still requiring substantial work, Tayla decided there was only one option left: call a body corporate and ask the other teams to agree to an additional two hours of work.
What followed became one of the most heated meetings of the week.
Lisa and Rosco supported the request, but Adam and Jolene, Chantel and Wyatt and Courtney and Sev were far less enthusiastic.
There was $100,000 on the line and not everyone believed Rick’s injury justified changing the rules.
Adam believed the request was relying too heavily on Rick’s condition, remarking that “She pulled the sore knee card”.
Jolene was even more frustrated and argued the problem was not simply Rick’s knee, questioning whether Tayla had spent enough time working on site.
Her frustration boiled over.
“She’s just so bloody entitled, she’s a brat,” Jolene said.
For Tayla, the request was straightforward. She was not insisting the other contestants remain on site themselves and told them: “You don’t have to stay, just say yes”.
Sev was not convinced.
“There’s $100,000 on the line,” she responded, suggesting that if Rick was unable to work because of his knee, the team could potentially substitute him with family or friends who could assist.
The argument then took another turn.
Tayla raised footage captured by Rick which appeared to show Tim from British Paints working inside Courtney and Sev’s property.
She questioned whether the other team had received outside assistance while opposing extra working time for Rick and Tayla.
Courtney and Sev rejected the suggestion they had improperly brought in Tim to paint their kitchen, and the situation did not ultimately develop into a cheating scandal.
They also pushed back by pointing to assistance Rick and Tayla had previously received when Rick was hospitalised.
Courtney was unimpressed by the argument.
“Perhaps if both people on the team were on site a little bit more and working harder, they wouldn’t be in this position,”
The mood only deteriorated from there.
Jolene, already unhappy with the way the discussion was unfolding, refused to shift her position. She also had memories of Week Two, when teams allowed assistance for Courtney and Sev before they went on to win the valuable kitchen appliance package.
Chantel and Wyatt eventually decided they would rather have more sleep than additional working hours and also voted against the proposal.
That left Lisa and Rosco questioning why the other contestants would not assist Rick despite his injury.
The requested extension was defeated.
There would be no extra time.
By the following morning, however, there were already some regrets as contestants confronted the reality of what still needed to be done.
For Rick and Tayla, the consequences were particularly clear. Knowing they could not complete everything, the pair made the decision to skip some of the painting and concentrate on getting as much of the kitchen, butler’s pantry and powder room presentable as possible.
Then came tools down.
With the contestants finally forced to stop, host Scott Cam had some business to take care of before judges Shaynna Blaze, Darren Palmer and Marty Fox began inspecting the rooms.
The prize pool attached to the Plungie prize was increased with a 100-inch LG television and Sonos sound system from JB Hi-Fi.
There was also a win for Lisa and Rosco, who received the $10,000 CommBank Better Budgeting Award.
Then it was time to find out whether the kitchens themselves lived up to one of the biggest weeks of the competition.
House 1 — Adam and Jolene
After initially scoffing at words such as “bougie” and “luxe” earlier in the season, Adam had undergone something of a transformation by Kitchen Week.
Surveying what they had created, he declared: “From the dunny to the kitchen, it’s luxe.”
The judges largely agreed.
One of the first things to become apparent was how effectively the kitchen connected to the outlook.
Marty had previously questioned the huge mirror in the adjoining living room, but from the kitchen island he could now see the exterior view reflected back into the house.
It forced him to reconsider his earlier criticism.
“Looking at the layout, it’s probably one of the best kitchens I’ve ever seen [and] I’ve been in the game nearly 20 years,”
A key decision was the orientation of the huge Dekton Ava stone island bench towards the view.
Rather than putting the sink in the island, Adam and Jolene shifted it to the bench running along the side of the kitchen, leaving the centrepiece largely uninterrupted.
Darren was struck by how “elegant and considered” the kitchen felt and singled out the fittings and hardware.
“Taps and handles are jewellery … and these knobs and handles are elegant.”
The judges also responded strongly to the large four-door fridge, its charcoal interior and the ovens with five cooking modes.
The favourable response continued in the butler’s pantry, where Shaynna praised the colour palette and the progress Adam and Jolene had made with their styling.
Then they reached the powder room.
Marty immediately told Darren to “get your hands on this” as attention turned to the wall treatment.
Darren was impressed.
“I don’t even care that there’s a toilet in here, this is probably one of the most beautiful finish rooms in this house,”
There were still criticisms.
The judges questioned the tapware over the powder room basin, while Shaynna thought the door could have been positioned differently.
Those concerns were not enough to dampen the overall response.
Adam certainly had no doubts about the toilet.
“Can we talk more about the dunny?
That’s the best-looking dunny I have ever seen in my life.
I am going to build a long drop in the back paddock and render it like that.”
Another feature that impressed was Jolene’s wallpaper treatment inside the lift, with the Grafico detail continuing through the lift shaft and creating the effect of moving through the treetops.
The judges gave the overall result a round of applause.
Adam and Jolene’s budget estimate was $23,519.44, while their cash spend came in at $25,281.82.
House 2 — Chantel and Wyatt
Chantel had been concerned after leaving Wyatt to keep the build moving during the public holiday slowdown.
Several details had gone wrong, including power points installed at an incorrect height, mismatched handles and an unfinished powder room.
Even so, the first impression of their kitchen was strong.
Marty immediately saw a “really great shot” that could be used in the eventual property campaign.
Shaynna loved the back wall, including the Cosentino stone, shelving and downlights, and she was impressed by the curve at the end of the fridge cabinetry.
Her assessment of those details was simple: “These details say high end.”
But the judges soon found problems.
The main sink had been placed in the middle of the island, a choice Shaynna felt could make it difficult to retain the sleek, minimalist appearance once the kitchen was being used day to day.
Marty could see consistency in the broader design of House 2, something he believed could benefit the property on Auction Day, but he struggled with the emotional feel of the kitchen.
“For me it’s just … yeah, it’s cold,” he said.
“It does the job, but it’s cold.”
Darren and Shaynna agreed with that assessment.
The butler’s pantry also divided opinion. Darren liked its curved bench treatment, but he could not understand some of the storage choices.
Then came the unfinished powder room.
Despite Chantel and Wyatt not exactly being enthusiastic about the judges seeing it, the inspection went ahead.
Shaynna did not soften the verdict: “To me, this is a really bad fail.”
Chantel and Wyatt had estimated a budget of $20,000 and recorded a cash spend of $27,713.37.
House 3 — Lisa and Rosco
If Adam and Jolene were going to be beaten, Lisa and Rosco soon emerged as a major threat.
They had made several bold choices, including dark walnut and deep oak cabinetry that ran directly against the expectation of a light, bright coastal kitchen.
The judges loved it.
Shaynna was surprised by how much she enjoyed the arched detailing around the shelving and bar area, admitting: “I never thought I’d love an arch again.”
The design also defied Darren’s earlier “light, bright, and white” direction, but the darker cabinetry worked with the adjoining living room and gave House 3 its own identity.
Then there was the island.
Its sheer scale became an immediate talking point.
The enormous bench was large enough to provide an eating area closer to the living room while still accommodating the sink at the opposite end.
Shaynna was ready to turn it into a dance floor.
“I have danced on many bars and this is perfect,”
The praise was not limited to appearance.
The judges liked the storage, appliance placement and practical planning, while the butler’s pantry was regarded as providing what a buyer would expect from such a space.
Shaynna was so taken with the result she said: “I would live in here without a doubt.”
Marty believed the darker kitchen offered potential buyers an alternative to what they might ordinarily imagine in a coastal home.
“Beachside buyers always want light and bright, whereas they don’t know that they can have this and it works.”
He believed buyers could fight for the property when it eventually went to auction.
For a period, Shaynna appeared to be heading towards a score of 10.
Then the judges entered the powder room.
The tile and paint selections attracted criticism and the room was considered cramped, costing Lisa and Rosco some of the momentum they had built in the kitchen and pantry.
Their budget estimate was $21,154.76, with a cash spend of $21,311.69.
House 4 — Courtney and Sev
There was an enormous amount riding on Courtney and Sev’s kitchen.
The pair had secured around $250,000 worth of appliance upgrades earlier in the competition, giving House 4 a level of kitchen amenity the other contestants could not match.
The judges immediately noticed.
Marty could imagine the commercial-style appliances appealing strongly to a buyer serious about cooking, while Darren believed their inclusion created an undeniable sense of amenity.
“There’s no way that you are going to be walking in here and not be impressed by the amenity,”
Despite the commercial influence of the appliances, the judges thought Courtney and Sev had managed to soften the kitchen successfully through the cabinetry and curved elements.
Sev’s custom-designed pendant light also attracted attention.
There were, however, questions about functionality.
A second sink hidden behind cabinetry was considered unnecessary and the doors leading to the butler’s pantry became a significant point of criticism.
The judges believed buyers might dislike them, and removing them would not be straightforward because the cabinetry on each side did not align.
Once inside the pantry, there was still plenty they liked.
The powder room also earned a strong response.
Darren described the execution as “simplicity plus” and was impressed by how polished the compact room felt.
“This looks really finessed and beautiful and expensive and visually appealing, which is odd because it’s got a dunny in it,”
Shaynna went even further, calling it her favourite powder room of the day.
Courtney and Sev’s budget estimate was $22,555.00, while their cash spend reached $23,584.41.
House 5 — Rick and Tayla
After the drama surrounding the failed request for extra working hours, Rick and Tayla entered judging knowing their spaces were not completely finished.
But the judges’ first reaction gave them reason to hope.
The illuminated stone splashback immediately grabbed attention.
It was described as “special”, “exceptional” and “such a feature”.
The curved island bench and appliance selections also won approval, while Shaynna was particularly impressed by the change in Tayla’s styling.
“I’ve never seen restraint from Rick and Tayla, ever.
There’s restraint here,”
She also described Tayla’s styling as “gorgeous”.
In another assessment of the room, Shaynna went even further.
“This is the best room they have done!
I have never seen such restraint from Rick and Tayla ever!”
The judges were unaware that some of the fridge props had been taken from the share house kitchen, but what they saw in the finished styling impressed them.
Rick also received praise for his construction work.
The judges highlighted his treatment around the perimeter of the Velux skylights as evidence of his building experience.
The major problem remained the unfinished painting in the butler’s pantry.
Marty nevertheless described it as “This is the best butlers I have seen today” and said the incomplete work may have cost the pair dearly.
“If they’d just had a bit more time to paint, this could be my winner.
It really is that good.”
Darren agreed with the strength of the pantry and became even more animated in the powder room, where the bold colour choice delivered exactly the level of drama he had wanted to see.
His verdict: “Impact, drama, a big colour choice!”
It represented a considerable turnaround for House 5 after the stressful lead-up to tools down.
Their budget estimate was $16,000.00, while their cash spend reached $21,744.98.
The scores
With judging completed, attention turned to the scoreboard.
Darren Palmer awarded Adam and Jolene 9½, Chantel and Wyatt 8, Lisa and Rosco 9½, Courtney and Sev 9½ and Rick and Tayla 8½.
Marty Fox gave Adam and Jolene the night’s perfect 10, while Chantel and Wyatt received 7½, Lisa and Rosco 9½, Courtney and Sev 9 and Rick and Tayla 8½.
Shaynna Blaze scored Adam and Jolene 9½, Chantel and Wyatt 7½, Lisa and Rosco 9½, Courtney and Sev 9 and Rick and Tayla 8½.
With such a large prize at stake, Adam and Jolene chose to play the bonus-point gnome they had won through the cooking challenge.
As it turned out, they did not need it to finish ahead.
Their scores from the judges already put them half a point in front before the bonus was added, with the gnome lifting their final result to a perfect 30 points.
That made Adam and Jolene the winners of Week Seven.
The result came with the major $100,000 prize package, including $30,000 in gold bullion, $60,000 in Dekton for landscaping and $10,000 cash.
They also secured a luxury getaway courtesy of Chery, with a night aboard a $1.2 million boat on the bay.
Behind them, Lisa and Rosco secured second place with 28½ points.
Courtney and Sev, despite entering the week with their huge appliance advantage, finished third on 27½ points.
Rick and Tayla were fourth with 25½ points, while Chantel and Wyatt finished the week in fifth place with 23 points.
Final leaderboard
Adam and Jolene — 30
Lisa and Rosco — 28½
Courtney and Sev — 27½
Rick and Tayla — 25½
Chantel and Wyatt — 23
By the end of the night, the kitchens had been judged and the money awarded, but the fallout from the body corporate had not disappeared.
Some teams were already reconsidering whether rejecting those extra hours had been the right call, while the tense exchanges involving Rick and Tayla, Courtney and Sev and Adam and Jolene had exposed fractures that looked set to carry directly into the next stage of the build.
And there is little breathing room.
The contestants now face another double-room assignment, with rumpus rooms and Kinsman laundries next on the agenda as the interiors of the houses move closer to completion.
Fake story. Fake show.