July 25, 2025 • 32 mins
This episode on TV RELOAD, I’m joined once again by the man behind Australia’s biggest renovation juggernaut. The Block’s executive producer Julian Cress!
Now, this is not just another season of The Block… it’s series 21 and they are about to officially clock over 1000 episodes.
But rather than rest on their laurels, Julian and the team have shaken things up in a huge way.
From strict tools-down rules that were implemented for mental health reasons , to a whole new breed of Blockheads you’re going to be obsessed with.
Julian spills the behind-the-scenes tea on how Daylesford turned on the charm. With “better-than-advertised” weather and support from the local MP-slash-Infrastructure-Minister!
And trust me, there are fireplace vibes and classic block drama in equal measure.
He also opens up about:
-
Why this season deliberately dialled back the nastiness and how that’s changed the kind of drama we’re seeing on-screen
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Whether he’s ever talked to Scotty Cam about his exit plan.
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The show’s evolution and whether The Block was ever in danger of “becoming Married at First Sight.”
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And yes… in relations to the clear message.. that this is a ‘nice’ ‘nice’ season Julian does confirm that someone this season will say “they’re dead to me” before the hammer drops on final auction — it’s tradition!
So settle in, whether you’re keen to see what changes this year has install or just tuning in for the Sunday room reveals — this is The Block like you’ve never heard it before.
Timestamps:
2:55 - The decision behind a "lighter" season of The Block
6:20 - How the new tools down rules added pressure
10:40 - Improvements for Blockhead mental health
15:30 - Ben's favorite contestant this season
20:10 - Has Scotty Cam discussed an exit plan?
22:30 - Was The Block in danger of becoming MAFS?
25:15 - Return of past Block favorites this season
27:40 - Is this really the end for Adrian Portelli?
29:00 - A momentous 1000th episode
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's in the news today, but it was actually on TV.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Reload the podcast last week.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Nee yday guys, Welcome back to TV Reload after a
little break. Thank you for all of your messages in
support over the last couple of weeks while I've been off.
Moving forward, I will be dropping two episodes a week
on weekends full of exclusives and previews on current TV
for Freeware, Television and all of your streaming platforms. This
episode of TV Reload, I'm joined by once again the
(00:25):
man behind Australia's biggest renovation juggernaut, The Blocks, Executive Producer
Julian Crez. Now this is not just another season of
The Block, it's series twenty one and they are about
to officially clock over one thousand episodes. But rather than
rest on their laurels, Julian and his team at Channel
nine have shaken things up in a huge way. From
(00:46):
strict tools down rules to a whole new breed of blockheads.
You are going to be obsessed with this season. I
know I've already picked my favorites. Julian spills the behind
the scenes tea on how Dalsford turned on the charm
with better than advertised weather and support from the local
MP slash infrastructure minister. And trust me, guys, there is
(01:07):
the fireplace vibes that we're expecting from Dalsford, but there
is still classic block drama in equal measure. He also
opens up about why this season deliberately dialed back the
nastiness and how that's changed the kind of drama that
we are seeing on screen, whether he's ever talked to
Scottie cam about his exit plan from the show, the
(01:27):
show's evolution, and whether the block was ever in any
real danger of becoming married at first sight. And yes,
in relation to the very clear message that this is
a nice, nice season, Julian does confirm that someone this
season will say to another contestant that you are dead
to me. It's tradition. So guys, settle in, whether you're
(01:49):
keen to see what changes this year has installed, or
you're just tuning in for the Sunday Room reveals. People,
I see you. This is the Block like you've never
seen it before. My name is Benjamin Norris, and this
is my chain with the executive producer, Julia Kres and
you are listening to TV reload. I'm so lucky that
we get to do this every year.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Yeah, and I'm glad to be here as always.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Don't be shy. We get to unpack the block and
it's like, you know, the back of your hand, not
the back of your head.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
I'll muddle through.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Band.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Where are you.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
I'm in Milano?
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Oh wow, my wife and I having a break after
many months of filming. Nice to get away and get
some warm weather.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
I'm going to Darwin in literally half an hour after
this interview, and that's how I can get out of
Melbourne and get to thirty two degrees.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Yeah, it was getting properly cold there and yeah, we
needed we needed some warm weather.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
You know, it's interesting because we talked about this when
we talked about Gisbon and then about how cold it
was when you did the first tree change, and you
were talking about how muddy it was and the crew
were hating the cold. You kicked off Dalsford and the
temperature was actually sort of high thirties.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Oh yeah, we were in incredibly lucky with the weather.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I was so grateful to the crew that they even
were willing to come to Dalesford after the experience of Gisbon,
where we ran into arguably the worst winter since World
War two and they suffered horribly through that. And when
we said we were going to go to Dalsford, it
was awesome that they all put the hand up and said.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Okay, let's do it. But we were so lucky with
the weather. It was sunny, beautiful.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
I mean that town really turned on some of the
best weather we've ever had.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
It's funny. I always go to Dalsford in the winter.
I always make sure there's a fireplace and there's some
smoke coming out of the chimney and there's that sort
of side of Dalesford, But I haven't spent any time
there during summer at all, so like I haven't experienced that.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Yeah, well we started in March, so we were sort
of going into that autumn period. Honestly, anything could have happened.
Even the locals were telling us, you know, throughout production
that everybody we ran into said, g you guys are
lucky with the weather. Usually by Easter it's starting to
get really cold, and we just didn't have that experience
this year. So the show looks incredible because it's just
(04:07):
always sunny in Dalesford.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
It turns out I think I heard you know the
lady who is it from the council. Not maybe it's
not the council. I can't remember someone really important from
the area. While you weren't there for the media day,
she was saying, you know, maybe we're misrepresenting the place
because it's come up with this beautiful weather and that's
not what it's like here all the time.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Oh that's Catherine. Yeah she is. She's a wonderful woman.
She and extremely bright. She's the federal member for that
area and also the federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Yeah, she's an incredible woman, and she really.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Embraced the show when she came down and had a
look at what we were doing and was very supportive,
which was awesome.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
She wasn't afraid to talk in public. I'm just going
to let you know. So when your absence, she got
up there and did a little spiel and it definitely
didn't look like that was her first bill on Dal'sford.
I can tell you no.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
She's been the member there for a long time. She's
much loved by the community. I think she really looks
after them in addition to all of her other important
duties helping run the country. But yeah, she can talk,
that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
I want to start off with an interesting question about
this show. I've been to see dales that have seen
the homes, I've watched the first week of episodes, and
I have to say, congratulations on delivering something that is
compelling and that you want to watch, you know, which
in a free to air landscape can be difficult. But
it does feel like you made some consciously measured decisions
(05:39):
about what you wanted to do that was different from
last year. The years before sort of was like, yep,
this is the block, bit of controversy, bit of conflict,
and then this year I kind of felt like I
walked away like I was slapped in the face with
a different interpretation of the block.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I mean, we always think long and hard about how
we're going to make the show each year. We're easily
born and we're making series twenty one, So we never
want to make the same show twice. You know, let's
be honest, that it would really get tired, not just
for the audience but for us. But yeah, I think
that there's a lot going on in the world at
the moment, you know, and not all of it's good. Yeah,
(06:16):
I mean, unless you're a Republican marga voter. You know, personally,
I don't think it's all great, and you know, there's
some real people going on all around the world, whether
it's trade wars or actual wars, and you know, I
think people are a bit down about it all. We
wanted to create a show which would be a bit
of a bright light, you know, for everyone, and something
(06:38):
that families can just really settle into and just have
a break from all this shit that's going on around
us all at the moment. So that fed into all
of the decisions decisions about the location for the show.
Because Dale Fit's an awesome location. It's not the number
one we can get away in Australia for nothing. People
(07:00):
go there because it's beautiful and it's a nice break,
you know, to get away. So we felt that setting
the show there would be a nice break for the audience,
you know, as a getaway, a place to go away
from everything else and enjoy. And I guess it informed
our casting as well.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
And the casting you've been really well and truly famous for.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
We have cast people previously to make sure that we've
got real variety, and real variety includes having people on
one end who are just sold of the earth ausies
who just want to have a go and build a house.
And on the other end, can include people who apply
to be on the show and say, you know, we
(07:44):
just want to go and stir some shit and have
some fun, right, And We've had people like that on
the show who I've really enjoyed working with.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
But I guess in this series, we.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Chose not to cast people who wanted to come on
and just shit. We cast five teams who all had
been desperate to be.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
On the show, who really saw the.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Opportunity, who really wanted to create something really special with
the home that they were building, in the rooms that
they were going to present, and you had a real
eye for that to see where things landed. Now, you
cannot put five ultra competitive couples into an environment like
(08:28):
that and make them build a house in twelve weeks
and not have conflict and not have drama. But I
guess we went into it with a view that there
might be less drama with neighbors sniping at each other
and more drama, more classic block drama. Let's put it
in those postrophes classic block where a lot of the
(08:50):
drama comes inside the house. You know, it's the struggle
daily for the couple to manage the build and manage
their teams, and manage their ad and manage each other,
their own relationship, and how that bounces around through all
of the pressure of you know, delivering a room on
a Sunday. And so we got all of that drama,
(09:13):
and then inevitably later as the series progresses, you'll see
that we end up with, you know, the other classic
block thing, which is at some point in every series
of the show, and it's not it's not scripted.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
It just happens.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Somebody at some point says they're dead to me, and
we're often running.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
You know, I love that you love this as well,
chewing it, Jules. I just think every year when I
talk to you, but I could see it in your eyes.
You love a little bit of you know, argie bargie.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Yeah, and we're at series twenty one. I mean, you know,
we made our thousandth episode during this series. I don't
think that we've been proven wrong that the audience likes
a bit of drama along the way. But as I said,
I think you're right in saying that we consciously approached
it in a slightly different way.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Yeah, And I think that some of those elements are
controlled by well, you've got these people in caravans that
are being told to put tools down much earlier than
any other season. It would be fair to say that
this was a very easy block in some ways, considering
that they're not working into the night, and I think that,
you know, nighttime people are different to daytime people. Let's
(10:24):
say that. But it does sort of control the elements
a little bit.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Yeah, it does.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
But the flip side of that, Ben is that previously
contestants had I mean do the math twenty four times
seven in hours to build a room and get it
ready for judging on a Sunday morning. By having a
fixed tools down time every day, and on a Monday
(10:49):
it was six pm, Tuesday was seven, Wednesday was eight,
Thursday was nine. You know, it was only Saturday that
we let them run to midnight. That significantly shortens the
hours that they've got to present a room on a
Sunday as well. So, yes, while it was probably a
really good decision to maintain their mental health, it also
(11:13):
put a significant amount of pressure on to manage their
time really much better than anybody ever has before to
actually make that tools down time on a Sunday, and
not everybody does it in this series, and there are
some real issues because you know, we used to I
think have people who sometimes really didn't do a whole
(11:37):
lot Monday, Tuesday, sometimes Wednesday, sometimes even Thursday, because they
knew that when they got to the end of the
week they could basically pull a couple of all nighters
and still get it over the line.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
Whereas what you'll see.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
In this series is people going, oh shit, we're really
going to have to think about what we do on
Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday if we're ever going to
make that Sunday morning reveal.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
So it's the thing that Scottie cam.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Has been saying to contestants, you know, every year on
every series, treat every hour like it's your last.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
This series is.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Really a very new kind of version of the show
where contestants have to treat every minute like it's their last.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
You tipped a few things there. Mental health has improved
from last year. Mental making sure the mental health of
the contestants has been looked after. But would you put
it down to the fact that they have to put
tools down, they're not there at nighttime. That's the most
significant change.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
No, it's a factor. But I think, I mean, you
met this cast, they may be. And I don't want
to cast any aspersions on anybody who's been on the
show before, because we've had some really wonderful people over
many years. But maybe they're just slightly more mature in
their outlook. I don't mean age wise, but just in
(12:50):
their general outlook. You know, we've got some of the
earth parents who spend their life trying to balance their
budget every week and raise those kids and get them
out the door and get them to school and get
them home and do it all again tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
And you know.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
That requires a certain maturity. I know, I've had to
grow up since I've had kids, and we've got you know,
we've got a couple of coppers from the Pilbro.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
That's that's tough work.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
We've had beat cops on the show before it turned
out to be some of our favorite contestants of all time.
But being a beat cop in Adelaide is a little
different to being a beat cop in the Pilbro. Yeah,
it's a really tough environment when you when you're trying
to try and be a copper and a you know,
in those communities and you know, the mining and indigenous
(13:39):
communities where you know, they've got a lot of a
lot of issues and a lot of things that they
have to deal with. And it's forty six degrees every
day and you're running around chasing people with guns. You know,
that's that's a that's a tricky environment. And just managing people,
you know, just needing to know how to manage people
and to diffuse a situation that could become you know,
(14:00):
violent or whatever requires a level of maturity that Britain
has just have, you know. And on top of that,
they've got kids and they've got to go home and
they've got to do that. So those people you just
know coming into it are going to be a bit
more mature. You've got Robbie and Matt who are both
former professional sports people, but I think more importantly have
(14:23):
both started small businesses that required significant riskilling as well.
And let's face it, you know they're both at the
top of their game. They're highly regarded. You know, a
barber and a hairdresser. These aren't simple jobs to do.
You know, you have to be an incredible people person,
but you also have to be incredibly skilled to do
(14:45):
it as well as they do it because they're both
quite famous at what they do, but then they also
both run businesses.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
And did you let the boys cut your head? Is
that a haircut from one of them?
Speaker 3 (14:55):
As you can see, I don't really need haircuts. But
my sign I send you with that hat on.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
And have a look. This is me without a hat on.
So yeah, scary huh. This is my Stanley Tucci hairstyle.
One thing Stanley and I have in common is neither
of us really need a hairdresser. But I will say,
like my children who are ten and twelve, you know,
they're a great barometer for me and Sarah, and they
(15:23):
spend a lot of time on that. I can't remember
them bonding as much so closely with the whole group
of contestants as they have this year. So that tells
me something that I hope translates into the show that
it's going to air and the audience that hopefully will
come to it, is that all those ten year olds
(15:44):
and all those eleven year olds and seven, eight and
nine and thirteen and fourteen, all of those kids of
those parents and those families who choose to sit down
and watch the blog, I believe that those children will
bond with these people in a meaningful way and really
just enjoy going on that ride with them, as my
children did. And that's an important factor for us when
we're making the show. We honestly we're making it for families.
(16:06):
You know, in the current television landscape, if you're not
getting bums on seats, and I don't mean one person
or two people, you need all four or five people
sitting on the couch around the country to really be
successful on free to air.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
It needs to be appointment television. Yeah, and it's funny.
I think I said this to you last year. My
partner's family are all in Bendigo, and I can tell
you from going up there there are a great vox
pop to find out what shows people are actually watching.
And in Bendigo, I feel like everyone watches Channel nine
for Married at First Sight and the block. It's appointment television.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
Thank you, Ben, you go.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
So you've had a change of casting people, so we
should talk about that really quickly. Has that paid off? Like,
do you think that the changing of casting team on
board has made an impact? Oh?
Speaker 2 (16:55):
No, I mean the casting director that we had for many,
many seasons is just x Line amongst the best in
the country. We consciously cast the show every year with
the casting director. The casting director who's come on board
this year is also just excellent. But you know, she
and all of us, you know, went into it with
(17:15):
a kind of a brief of you know, just shifting
the goalposts slightly in one way and seeing how that
turned out.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
And I mean, I.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Think the casting of last year's series was highly successful.
I mean, the ratings suggested that nobody who loves the
plot chose not to watch it. Because of anybody who
was there, it was a challenging show to make because
we had you know, there were some issues that came up.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
But you know, we're not a scripted show.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Mate, we are a proper reality show, and we get
what we get. Now, Yes, you're right, we can pull
some levers and you know, at the beginning and along
the way, and we can make subtle changes to the format.
The way that they're able to renovate. You know, you'll
know this year at their brand you builds, for instance,
which does it's something that we went down the path
(18:05):
of to a large degree last season, but have fully
embraced this season. And that changes the way that you
go about it. But it also has an effect on
the mindset of the people who are doing it because
it's cleaner, you know, it's the environment's cleaner, it's not
as dusty and dirty. And of course living in caravans
(18:28):
next to the site means that they're not living in
the rooms that they've just renovated, which means that that,
you know, because that can have a pretty serious impact
on mental health because you work like a dog to
create the most beautiful bedroom and present it to the
judges and you might win it or not, but you're
(18:49):
proud of it and it's stunning. And then you fall
into that bed covered in shit from a day of renovating,
and suddenly that bedroom just doesn't look like it to
and that plays on your mind, and you know, trying
to keep that house clean when you're living in it
is a real challenge. And this year the contestants for
the very first time didn't have to do that, and
(19:11):
they were able to walk away from that beautiful room
and go to their caravan and when they came back
the next morning, that room was still beautiful and it
is still today, and that has a real positive impact
on the mind of the contestant, which I think helped us.
And you know, this mental health issue is really important
in our own and I think we've all learned a
(19:32):
lot in the last few years as we mature as
a society and understand that some of these workplace issues more.
I mean, you know, some of the things that we've
put contestants through in the past, we just would never
do again. It was kind of mean looking back, you know,
it was it was the early days of reality television.
(19:53):
You know, the Block came on the air a year
in two, you know, this kind of reality competition. Tell
you know, we were only a year behind Survivor or
two years behind Survivor and Big Brother, So everybody's had
to learn a lot.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Well, I think the reality TV in general has learnt
a lot. But I think that in the last couple
of years, we've probably seen more conversations, more robust conversations
about the mental health of Block people. And it's like
a penny has dropped or something, and these people look
genuinely happy about a grueling and as you know, grueling
(20:28):
twelve week shoot.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Yeah, and I think that while the show still delivers
on all of those touch points, I mean, there were
some proper blow ups, you would have seen glimpses of
that in episode one and some of the things that
occur later in the series. But perhaps the fact that
they were all living in these beautiful, high spec titanium
(20:52):
caravans in this little caravan park together and being able
to go back to that helped diffuse some of those
is lingering issues and making them less important as time
went on, so that they could have those flare ups
and they could yell at each other and say, you're
effing dead to me. But you know, after a few days,
(21:15):
they could, you know, seeing each other doing their washing together,
hanging it on the hills hoist, you know, in the
caravan park, and being forced to live together like that
instead of being in these separate houses where they don't
see each other. Perhaps that helped to diffuse those things
and get them back on to it. You know what,
Let's just let bygones be bygones there and just let's
(21:37):
do this thing together and see it through to the end.
And that's what happened with this series, and that's something
that was a joy to watch. And I really hope that,
you know, the audience feels the same way I think
they will.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
I want to ask you a question, who do you
think is my favorite out of all of your block
your blockheads this year.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
I'm going to go out to live here and say,
Robbie matt.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
No, no offense, Robbie mccount love you. But I could
not get enough. And I steal from watching the episodes
and I'm, you know, lucky enough to see it in
a little bit in advance. I cannot get enough of Alicia.
I'm obsessed with her. She is who she is. She
says what she says, and I'm noticing something about her,
(22:21):
and that is that she might get involved with saying
how she feels, she might say that, but it seems
like she lets things go and moves on. There doesn't
seem to be this sort of residual conflict or vendetta.
After someone's done something to her, she can put them
to bed, is what I'm kind of saying.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Yeah, you've absolutely nailed that. That is that's Alicia to
a t. I mean, she's as outspoken as Georgia or
Lessandra and Elisa or you know a lot of people
that we've had on the show in the past. But
she says what's on her mind and then she moves on.
(23:00):
She's bloody hilarious too. I mean, there's stuff that she says,
the stuff that gets on her mind, that comes straight
out of her mouth, that she says to her husband
Sonny on a daily basis is pretty extraordinary.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
But I can't think.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Of two people who we've had on the show before who.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
Love each other as much as Sonny and Alisha. Do
you know?
Speaker 2 (23:21):
The level of support they have for one another is incredible.
But the things that they say to each other on
a daily basis, if my wife and I had one
single conversation that Sonny and Alisha have every day with
each other, we would get divorced.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Hey don't mention divorce, Julian. Last year, but that's all
we talked about was who's getting divorced from the block.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
We don't even men.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
They don't mention you, Sonny and Alisha never ever getting divorced.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
But because I'm running out of time, I'm going to
make these a bit of rapid questions for you. The
first one I'm going to go with is I read
Scotty Cares up for contract. Have you ever spoken to
Scotty cam about his exit plan? Do you even know
what that looks like? Let's not say or adding a
thing to that rumor. But let's talk about have you
ever talked about an exit plan?
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Scotti, Cam and Dave and I and Justin all agree
on one thing.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
We never thought we'd be here. He thought his he
thought his TV career.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Was coming to an end in two thousand and nine,
and then we asked him if he'd come on and
host The Bloc in twenty ten, and he was like, wow,
really shit.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
I thought this week, I thought it was done. And
that's that's fifteen years ago.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
He just feels lucky that he's still able to do
what he's doing as well as he does and get
invited back year after year to do it. If his
contract's up for a new you know, that's for the
nine network to decide. But as long as the audience
wants to watch The Bloc, he and Shelley are the
heart and soul of the show. I think that he'll
get a new contract, and I think he's up for it.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Was the show in any danger of becoming married at
first sight. I don't know about you, but I I
read the Internet. I think I finished the Internet. What
do you have to say about that conversation?
Speaker 2 (25:05):
It's just a very easy thing for people to throw out.
If you watch Married at First Sight and you watch
the block side by side, there's not a chance that
the block's going to become Married at First Site. The
shows couldn't be more different. And no, we were never
going to become that. Did we have a moment that
could have been something that could have happened I'm married
(25:26):
at First Site?
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Sure, but we've also done a thousand episodes and that's
happened once.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
The thousandth episode. Can I guess something? And I do
not know this, no one's told me this, but can
I guess something that's happening in the thousandth episode?
Speaker 3 (25:39):
Please?
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Do you do a marriage renewal for one of your contestants?
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Okay, something like that could very well happen in this series,
and it was very much driven by the contestants and
the producers. The thousandth episode, you can't choose where it falls,
you know, it just lands where it does. We didn't
even know going into it that we were going to
be doing our thousand episode. It was somebody eagle eyed
(26:04):
in post production and I think said to David Barbo,
you know, hey, we should do the math on this
and see what's happening?
Speaker 3 (26:11):
And he rang me and he goes Christ Jules, guess what.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
And we decided that we would make a moment of it.
But when not the sort of people who are going
to go out there and jump up and down and
you know, pump confetti into the room. Because we've got
two thousand episodes, we're a bit more humble than that
and grateful for it.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
But yeah, we don't. We don't let it go by
without mentioning it.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Okay, so get to mention this is a good one.
Is Marty Fox scouting a new location? Are you going
to Queensland?
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Marty Fox has also just come back from New York
and I know that he was having some really interesting
meetings recently in London. Marty Fox's plan is to take
over the whole world. So if you're watching where Marty
Fox goes to decide where the block's going to be,
it could be just about anywhere.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Maybe it'll be Annas Serres Julian.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
The idea of the block in New York City and
London is enough for you to have a nervous breakdown
that is probably too big even for the block.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
Oh no, we'd love to do it there I'd love
to make it in New York. I'd love to make
it in France, you know, in a chateau. But you know,
the reason why we've just made a thousand episodes in
a landscape of dwindling freeware audiences that are getting smashed
by streaming and everything else, is because we don't only
(27:30):
have the support of our audience, but we also very
importantly have the support of so many great sponsors, you know,
and we've just had you know, I think we've just
hit peak block this year with Bunnings coming on board
as well, you know, and just that was awesome. We
can't maintain the quality of our show unless we've got
people who are willing to help us fund it. We've
(27:51):
got no interest in making a block light, you know.
We want to keep the quality of the show, which
means we have to go and spend tens of millions
of dollars buying property and renovating it and all of that. So,
you know, without Bunnings, without Mcafe, without these businesses that
get behind us and help.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
Us do it, we'd probably all walk away.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
And that means that we can't we can't go and
make the show in a chateau in France because Bunnings
don't have a warehouse around the corner.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
Well maybe they should, Maybe they should, Matte, I want
to ask you about every year. Fans want to know
why you bring back previous contestants and can you tell
me do we get contestants coming back this year? Who
are they?
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Yeah, we basically approach it every year with no dickheads policy.
You know, we are great friends with so many of
the one hundred and fifty teams that have been on
the show, but not all of them, you know, let's
be honest, but most of them.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
And yes, this.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Year we reached out to a few of our old
mates and said, you know, would you like to come
back and help meet these contestants and give them a
shot in the arm and help them out. And everybody
just says yes immediately. And this year, if you want
a tip for somebody coming back, Stephan Gianne. And when
they do come back, they come back and they have
(29:07):
a massive surprise for everybody.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Well, I know what that one is, and I'm not
going to reveal that. I don't want to ruin it
for people. They can enjoy that for what it is.
One of my last questions is Adrian Ptelli. He says
that he's quit the block and he's not coming back.
Do you think that there's a chance when we roll
around to auction that he won't be able to help
himself or do you think that's God?
Speaker 2 (29:27):
No, I've spent a good amount of time with Adrian
over the years, obviously because of his interest in the show.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
He stood on the show.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Last season on camera at the end and said he
was done and that that was his last auction that
he would be attending. I mean, he's welcome to come
to the auction, of course, because he's a great bloke,
but he has said that he will not be buying
a property on the block again. And one thing I
know about Adrian is that he's a real gentleman. He's
(29:56):
a man of his word, and he is an honorable guy.
I believe that he won't I don't come back and
buy something again.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
Maybe he will. What's your idea on maybe Celebrity Block?
And if so with Celebrity if Celebrity Block works in
your mind, who would be someone you would have on
the Celebrity blockcast by Kathy Freeman or someone.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
I know I means love Kathy, but you would be
my first caught ben. I'll give I'll give you, I'll
give you, I'll give you one. I'll give you one.
Mitchell Stark, Who the hell is Mitchell Stark?
Speaker 1 (30:28):
Oh God, then.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
That's an Australian took he took five wickets for two runs.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
I'm all right with that. I'm okay with not knowing cricket.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
One of the one of the greatest cricketers of all
time and a top bloke, and I'd love to have
him on the block with his with his wife.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
The last thing I ask everybody who joins the pot
is what is something from behind the scenes, behind the
scenes secret? And I thought of this one for you
because no one likes to be put on the spot.
And up to five hundred and sixty episodes of this podcast,
I've realized giving someone something specific is probably easier than
trying to get you to dig it up yourself. Someone
said this to me while I was in Dalsford, and
that was that the landlord land tax in Victoria is
(31:10):
different to everywhere else in Australia. And that's probably why
you guys now look for locations that are in regional areas,
because it could change the way in which some of
the buying habits happen. Do you pick places now outside
of Melbourne because of that Victorian tax?
Speaker 3 (31:28):
That is bullshit. You know.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
We don't make our decisions based on boring drive policies
like you know, stay taxable. We decide where we're going
to make the show because we think that the location
is going to resonate with our audience. Everything is about
you know, our show has always been aspirational.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Man.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
It's always been trying to say.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
To people, Hey, look at this, look at the opportunity
that these people have, look at this amazing location. You know,
we started the show in Bondo, for God's sake, you know,
we went to vore Clues.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
You know, we don't. It's not about taxes.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
It's about how great is this and look at this
place and look at this opportunity that these people have got.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
And Dalesford is all of that.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
It's got nothing to do with tax It's about the
community of Dalesford and the backdrop and what a great
place it was to work.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
I have to let you go because I'm well over time.
Enjoy the rest of European summer. Good luck with this season.
I hope we're talking about the block for many years
to come. You are easily one of my top guests
every year. It rates really well for me, so thank
you for being so generous with your time.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
Very kind of you. Thank you, Ben. Love it.
It's in the news today, but it was actually on TV.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Reload the podcast last week.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Nee yday guys, Welcome back to TV Reload after a
little break. Thank you for all of your messages in
support over the last couple of weeks while I've been off.
Moving forward, I will be dropping two episodes a week
on weekends full of exclusives and previews on current TV
for Freeware, Television and all of your streaming platforms. This
episode of TV Reload, I'm joined by once again the
(00:25):
man behind Australia's biggest renovation juggernaut, The Blocks, Executive Producer
Julian Crez. Now this is not just another season of
The Block, it's series twenty one and they are about
to officially clock over one thousand episodes. But rather than
rest on their laurels, Julian and his team at Channel
nine have shaken things up in a huge way. From
(00:46):
strict tools down rules to a whole new breed of blockheads.
You are going to be obsessed with this season. I
know I've already picked my favorites. Julian spills the behind
the scenes tea on how Dalsford turned on the charm
with better than advertised weather and support from the local
MP slash infrastructure minister. And trust me, guys, there is
(01:07):
the fireplace vibes that we're expecting from Dalsford, but there
is still classic block drama in equal measure. He also
opens up about why this season deliberately dialed back the
nastiness and how that's changed the kind of drama that
we are seeing on screen, whether he's ever talked to
Scottie cam about his exit plan from the show, the
(01:27):
show's evolution, and whether the block was ever in any
real danger of becoming married at first sight. And yes,
in relation to the very clear message that this is
a nice, nice season, Julian does confirm that someone this
season will say to another contestant that you are dead
to me. It's tradition. So guys, settle in, whether you're
(01:49):
keen to see what changes this year has installed, or
you're just tuning in for the Sunday Room reveals. People,
I see you. This is the Block like you've never
seen it before. My name is Benjamin Norris, and this
is my chain with the executive producer, Julia Kres and
you are listening to TV reload. I'm so lucky that
we get to do this every year.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Yeah, and I'm glad to be here as always.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Don't be shy. We get to unpack the block and
it's like, you know, the back of your hand, not
the back of your head.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
I'll muddle through.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Band.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Where are you.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
I'm in Milano?
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Oh wow, my wife and I having a break after
many months of filming. Nice to get away and get
some warm weather.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
I'm going to Darwin in literally half an hour after
this interview, and that's how I can get out of
Melbourne and get to thirty two degrees.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Yeah, it was getting properly cold there and yeah, we
needed we needed some warm weather.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
You know, it's interesting because we talked about this when
we talked about Gisbon and then about how cold it
was when you did the first tree change, and you
were talking about how muddy it was and the crew
were hating the cold. You kicked off Dalsford and the
temperature was actually sort of high thirties.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Oh yeah, we were in incredibly lucky with the weather.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I was so grateful to the crew that they even
were willing to come to Dalesford after the experience of Gisbon,
where we ran into arguably the worst winter since World
War two and they suffered horribly through that. And when
we said we were going to go to Dalsford, it
was awesome that they all put the hand up and said.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Okay, let's do it. But we were so lucky with
the weather. It was sunny, beautiful.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
I mean that town really turned on some of the
best weather we've ever had.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
It's funny. I always go to Dalsford in the winter.
I always make sure there's a fireplace and there's some
smoke coming out of the chimney and there's that sort
of side of Dalesford, But I haven't spent any time
there during summer at all, so like I haven't experienced that.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Yeah, well we started in March, so we were sort
of going into that autumn period. Honestly, anything could have happened.
Even the locals were telling us, you know, throughout production
that everybody we ran into said, g you guys are
lucky with the weather. Usually by Easter it's starting to
get really cold, and we just didn't have that experience
this year. So the show looks incredible because it's just
(04:07):
always sunny in Dalesford.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
It turns out I think I heard you know the
lady who is it from the council. Not maybe it's
not the council. I can't remember someone really important from
the area. While you weren't there for the media day,
she was saying, you know, maybe we're misrepresenting the place
because it's come up with this beautiful weather and that's
not what it's like here all the time.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Oh that's Catherine. Yeah she is. She's a wonderful woman.
She and extremely bright. She's the federal member for that
area and also the federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Yeah, she's an incredible woman, and she really.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Embraced the show when she came down and had a
look at what we were doing and was very supportive,
which was awesome.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
She wasn't afraid to talk in public. I'm just going
to let you know. So when your absence, she got
up there and did a little spiel and it definitely
didn't look like that was her first bill on Dal'sford.
I can tell you no.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
She's been the member there for a long time. She's
much loved by the community. I think she really looks
after them in addition to all of her other important
duties helping run the country. But yeah, she can talk,
that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
I want to start off with an interesting question about
this show. I've been to see dales that have seen
the homes, I've watched the first week of episodes, and
I have to say, congratulations on delivering something that is
compelling and that you want to watch, you know, which
in a free to air landscape can be difficult. But
it does feel like you made some consciously measured decisions
(05:39):
about what you wanted to do that was different from
last year. The years before sort of was like, yep,
this is the block, bit of controversy, bit of conflict,
and then this year I kind of felt like I
walked away like I was slapped in the face with
a different interpretation of the block.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I mean, we always think long and hard about how
we're going to make the show each year. We're easily
born and we're making series twenty one, So we never
want to make the same show twice. You know, let's
be honest, that it would really get tired, not just
for the audience but for us. But yeah, I think
that there's a lot going on in the world at
the moment, you know, and not all of it's good. Yeah,
(06:16):
I mean, unless you're a Republican marga voter. You know, personally,
I don't think it's all great, and you know, there's
some real people going on all around the world, whether
it's trade wars or actual wars, and you know, I
think people are a bit down about it all. We
wanted to create a show which would be a bit
of a bright light, you know, for everyone, and something
(06:38):
that families can just really settle into and just have
a break from all this shit that's going on around
us all at the moment. So that fed into all
of the decisions decisions about the location for the show.
Because Dale Fit's an awesome location. It's not the number
one we can get away in Australia for nothing. People
(07:00):
go there because it's beautiful and it's a nice break,
you know, to get away. So we felt that setting
the show there would be a nice break for the audience,
you know, as a getaway, a place to go away
from everything else and enjoy. And I guess it informed
our casting as well.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
And the casting you've been really well and truly famous for.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
We have cast people previously to make sure that we've
got real variety, and real variety includes having people on
one end who are just sold of the earth ausies
who just want to have a go and build a house.
And on the other end, can include people who apply
to be on the show and say, you know, we
(07:44):
just want to go and stir some shit and have
some fun, right, And We've had people like that on
the show who I've really enjoyed working with.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
But I guess in this series, we.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Chose not to cast people who wanted to come on
and just shit. We cast five teams who all had
been desperate to be.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
On the show, who really saw the.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Opportunity, who really wanted to create something really special with
the home that they were building, in the rooms that
they were going to present, and you had a real
eye for that to see where things landed. Now, you
cannot put five ultra competitive couples into an environment like
(08:28):
that and make them build a house in twelve weeks
and not have conflict and not have drama. But I
guess we went into it with a view that there
might be less drama with neighbors sniping at each other
and more drama, more classic block drama. Let's put it
in those postrophes classic block where a lot of the
(08:50):
drama comes inside the house. You know, it's the struggle
daily for the couple to manage the build and manage
their teams, and manage their ad and manage each other,
their own relationship, and how that bounces around through all
of the pressure of you know, delivering a room on
a Sunday. And so we got all of that drama,
(09:13):
and then inevitably later as the series progresses, you'll see
that we end up with, you know, the other classic
block thing, which is at some point in every series
of the show, and it's not it's not scripted.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
It just happens.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Somebody at some point says they're dead to me, and
we're often running.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
You know, I love that you love this as well,
chewing it, Jules. I just think every year when I
talk to you, but I could see it in your eyes.
You love a little bit of you know, argie bargie.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Yeah, and we're at series twenty one. I mean, you know,
we made our thousandth episode during this series. I don't
think that we've been proven wrong that the audience likes
a bit of drama along the way. But as I said,
I think you're right in saying that we consciously approached
it in a slightly different way.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Yeah, And I think that some of those elements are
controlled by well, you've got these people in caravans that
are being told to put tools down much earlier than
any other season. It would be fair to say that
this was a very easy block in some ways, considering
that they're not working into the night, and I think that,
you know, nighttime people are different to daytime people. Let's
(10:24):
say that. But it does sort of control the elements
a little bit.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Yeah, it does.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
But the flip side of that, Ben is that previously
contestants had I mean do the math twenty four times
seven in hours to build a room and get it
ready for judging on a Sunday morning. By having a
fixed tools down time every day, and on a Monday
(10:49):
it was six pm, Tuesday was seven, Wednesday was eight,
Thursday was nine. You know, it was only Saturday that
we let them run to midnight. That significantly shortens the
hours that they've got to present a room on a
Sunday as well. So, yes, while it was probably a
really good decision to maintain their mental health, it also
(11:13):
put a significant amount of pressure on to manage their
time really much better than anybody ever has before to
actually make that tools down time on a Sunday, and
not everybody does it in this series, and there are
some real issues because you know, we used to I
think have people who sometimes really didn't do a whole
(11:37):
lot Monday, Tuesday, sometimes Wednesday, sometimes even Thursday, because they
knew that when they got to the end of the
week they could basically pull a couple of all nighters
and still get it over the line.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
Whereas what you'll see.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
In this series is people going, oh shit, we're really
going to have to think about what we do on
Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday if we're ever going to
make that Sunday morning reveal.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
So it's the thing that Scottie cam.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Has been saying to contestants, you know, every year on
every series, treat every hour like it's your last.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
This series is.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Really a very new kind of version of the show
where contestants have to treat every minute like it's their last.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
You tipped a few things there. Mental health has improved
from last year. Mental making sure the mental health of
the contestants has been looked after. But would you put
it down to the fact that they have to put
tools down, they're not there at nighttime. That's the most
significant change.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
No, it's a factor. But I think, I mean, you
met this cast, they may be. And I don't want
to cast any aspersions on anybody who's been on the
show before, because we've had some really wonderful people over
many years. But maybe they're just slightly more mature in
their outlook. I don't mean age wise, but just in
(12:50):
their general outlook. You know, we've got some of the
earth parents who spend their life trying to balance their
budget every week and raise those kids and get them
out the door and get them to school and get
them home and do it all again tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
And you know.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
That requires a certain maturity. I know, I've had to
grow up since I've had kids, and we've got you know,
we've got a couple of coppers from the Pilbro.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
That's that's tough work.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
We've had beat cops on the show before it turned
out to be some of our favorite contestants of all time.
But being a beat cop in Adelaide is a little
different to being a beat cop in the Pilbro. Yeah,
it's a really tough environment when you when you're trying
to try and be a copper and a you know,
in those communities and you know, the mining and indigenous
(13:39):
communities where you know, they've got a lot of a
lot of issues and a lot of things that they
have to deal with. And it's forty six degrees every
day and you're running around chasing people with guns. You know,
that's that's a that's a tricky environment. And just managing people,
you know, just needing to know how to manage people
and to diffuse a situation that could become you know,
(14:00):
violent or whatever requires a level of maturity that Britain
has just have, you know. And on top of that,
they've got kids and they've got to go home and
they've got to do that. So those people you just
know coming into it are going to be a bit
more mature. You've got Robbie and Matt who are both
former professional sports people, but I think more importantly have
(14:23):
both started small businesses that required significant riskilling as well.
And let's face it, you know they're both at the
top of their game. They're highly regarded. You know, a
barber and a hairdresser. These aren't simple jobs to do.
You know, you have to be an incredible people person,
but you also have to be incredibly skilled to do
(14:45):
it as well as they do it because they're both
quite famous at what they do, but then they also
both run businesses.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
And did you let the boys cut your head? Is
that a haircut from one of them?
Speaker 3 (14:55):
As you can see, I don't really need haircuts. But
my sign I send you with that hat on.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
And have a look. This is me without a hat on.
So yeah, scary huh. This is my Stanley Tucci hairstyle.
One thing Stanley and I have in common is neither
of us really need a hairdresser. But I will say,
like my children who are ten and twelve, you know,
they're a great barometer for me and Sarah, and they
(15:23):
spend a lot of time on that. I can't remember
them bonding as much so closely with the whole group
of contestants as they have this year. So that tells
me something that I hope translates into the show that
it's going to air and the audience that hopefully will
come to it, is that all those ten year olds
(15:44):
and all those eleven year olds and seven, eight and
nine and thirteen and fourteen, all of those kids of
those parents and those families who choose to sit down
and watch the blog, I believe that those children will
bond with these people in a meaningful way and really
just enjoy going on that ride with them, as my
children did. And that's an important factor for us when
we're making the show. We honestly we're making it for families.
(16:06):
You know, in the current television landscape, if you're not
getting bums on seats, and I don't mean one person
or two people, you need all four or five people
sitting on the couch around the country to really be
successful on free to air.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
It needs to be appointment television. Yeah, and it's funny.
I think I said this to you last year. My
partner's family are all in Bendigo, and I can tell
you from going up there there are a great vox
pop to find out what shows people are actually watching.
And in Bendigo, I feel like everyone watches Channel nine
for Married at First Sight and the block. It's appointment television.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
Thank you, Ben, you go.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
So you've had a change of casting people, so we
should talk about that really quickly. Has that paid off? Like,
do you think that the changing of casting team on
board has made an impact? Oh?
Speaker 2 (16:55):
No, I mean the casting director that we had for many,
many seasons is just x Line amongst the best in
the country. We consciously cast the show every year with
the casting director. The casting director who's come on board
this year is also just excellent. But you know, she
and all of us, you know, went into it with
(17:15):
a kind of a brief of you know, just shifting
the goalposts slightly in one way and seeing how that
turned out.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
And I mean, I.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Think the casting of last year's series was highly successful.
I mean, the ratings suggested that nobody who loves the
plot chose not to watch it. Because of anybody who
was there, it was a challenging show to make because
we had you know, there were some issues that came up.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
But you know, we're not a scripted show.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Mate, we are a proper reality show, and we get
what we get. Now, Yes, you're right, we can pull
some levers and you know, at the beginning and along
the way, and we can make subtle changes to the format.
The way that they're able to renovate. You know, you'll
know this year at their brand you builds, for instance,
which does it's something that we went down the path
(18:05):
of to a large degree last season, but have fully
embraced this season. And that changes the way that you
go about it. But it also has an effect on
the mindset of the people who are doing it because
it's cleaner, you know, it's the environment's cleaner, it's not
as dusty and dirty. And of course living in caravans
(18:28):
next to the site means that they're not living in
the rooms that they've just renovated, which means that that,
you know, because that can have a pretty serious impact
on mental health because you work like a dog to
create the most beautiful bedroom and present it to the
judges and you might win it or not, but you're
(18:49):
proud of it and it's stunning. And then you fall
into that bed covered in shit from a day of renovating,
and suddenly that bedroom just doesn't look like it to
and that plays on your mind, and you know, trying
to keep that house clean when you're living in it
is a real challenge. And this year the contestants for
the very first time didn't have to do that, and
(19:11):
they were able to walk away from that beautiful room
and go to their caravan and when they came back
the next morning, that room was still beautiful and it
is still today, and that has a real positive impact
on the mind of the contestant, which I think helped us.
And you know, this mental health issue is really important
in our own and I think we've all learned a
(19:32):
lot in the last few years as we mature as
a society and understand that some of these workplace issues more.
I mean, you know, some of the things that we've
put contestants through in the past, we just would never
do again. It was kind of mean looking back, you know,
it was it was the early days of reality television.
(19:53):
You know, the Block came on the air a year
in two, you know, this kind of reality competition. Tell
you know, we were only a year behind Survivor or
two years behind Survivor and Big Brother, So everybody's had
to learn a lot.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Well, I think the reality TV in general has learnt
a lot. But I think that in the last couple
of years, we've probably seen more conversations, more robust conversations
about the mental health of Block people. And it's like
a penny has dropped or something, and these people look
genuinely happy about a grueling and as you know, grueling
(20:28):
twelve week shoot.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Yeah, and I think that while the show still delivers
on all of those touch points, I mean, there were
some proper blow ups, you would have seen glimpses of
that in episode one and some of the things that
occur later in the series. But perhaps the fact that
they were all living in these beautiful, high spec titanium
(20:52):
caravans in this little caravan park together and being able
to go back to that helped diffuse some of those
is lingering issues and making them less important as time
went on, so that they could have those flare ups
and they could yell at each other and say, you're
effing dead to me. But you know, after a few days,
(21:15):
they could, you know, seeing each other doing their washing together,
hanging it on the hills hoist, you know, in the
caravan park, and being forced to live together like that
instead of being in these separate houses where they don't
see each other. Perhaps that helped to diffuse those things
and get them back on to it. You know what,
Let's just let bygones be bygones there and just let's
(21:37):
do this thing together and see it through to the end.
And that's what happened with this series, and that's something
that was a joy to watch. And I really hope that,
you know, the audience feels the same way I think
they will.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
I want to ask you a question, who do you
think is my favorite out of all of your block
your blockheads this year.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
I'm going to go out to live here and say,
Robbie matt.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
No, no offense, Robbie mccount love you. But I could
not get enough. And I steal from watching the episodes
and I'm, you know, lucky enough to see it in
a little bit in advance. I cannot get enough of Alicia.
I'm obsessed with her. She is who she is. She
says what she says, and I'm noticing something about her,
(22:21):
and that is that she might get involved with saying
how she feels, she might say that, but it seems
like she lets things go and moves on. There doesn't
seem to be this sort of residual conflict or vendetta.
After someone's done something to her, she can put them
to bed, is what I'm kind of saying.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Yeah, you've absolutely nailed that. That is that's Alicia to
a t. I mean, she's as outspoken as Georgia or
Lessandra and Elisa or you know a lot of people
that we've had on the show in the past. But
she says what's on her mind and then she moves on.
(23:00):
She's bloody hilarious too. I mean, there's stuff that she says,
the stuff that gets on her mind, that comes straight
out of her mouth, that she says to her husband
Sonny on a daily basis is pretty extraordinary.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
But I can't think.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Of two people who we've had on the show before who.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
Love each other as much as Sonny and Alisha. Do
you know?
Speaker 2 (23:21):
The level of support they have for one another is incredible.
But the things that they say to each other on
a daily basis, if my wife and I had one
single conversation that Sonny and Alisha have every day with
each other, we would get divorced.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Hey don't mention divorce, Julian. Last year, but that's all
we talked about was who's getting divorced from the block.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
We don't even men.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
They don't mention you, Sonny and Alisha never ever getting divorced.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
But because I'm running out of time, I'm going to
make these a bit of rapid questions for you. The
first one I'm going to go with is I read
Scotty Cares up for contract. Have you ever spoken to
Scotty cam about his exit plan? Do you even know
what that looks like? Let's not say or adding a
thing to that rumor. But let's talk about have you
ever talked about an exit plan?
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Scotti, Cam and Dave and I and Justin all agree
on one thing.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
We never thought we'd be here. He thought his he
thought his TV career.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Was coming to an end in two thousand and nine,
and then we asked him if he'd come on and
host The Bloc in twenty ten, and he was like, wow,
really shit.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
I thought this week, I thought it was done. And
that's that's fifteen years ago.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
He just feels lucky that he's still able to do
what he's doing as well as he does and get
invited back year after year to do it. If his
contract's up for a new you know, that's for the
nine network to decide. But as long as the audience
wants to watch The Bloc, he and Shelley are the
heart and soul of the show. I think that he'll
get a new contract, and I think he's up for it.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Was the show in any danger of becoming married at
first sight. I don't know about you, but I I
read the Internet. I think I finished the Internet. What
do you have to say about that conversation?
Speaker 2 (25:05):
It's just a very easy thing for people to throw out.
If you watch Married at First Sight and you watch
the block side by side, there's not a chance that
the block's going to become Married at First Site. The
shows couldn't be more different. And no, we were never
going to become that. Did we have a moment that
could have been something that could have happened I'm married
(25:26):
at First Site?
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Sure, but we've also done a thousand episodes and that's
happened once.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
The thousandth episode. Can I guess something? And I do
not know this, no one's told me this, but can
I guess something that's happening in the thousandth episode?
Speaker 3 (25:39):
Please?
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Do you do a marriage renewal for one of your contestants?
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Okay, something like that could very well happen in this series,
and it was very much driven by the contestants and
the producers. The thousandth episode, you can't choose where it falls,
you know, it just lands where it does. We didn't
even know going into it that we were going to
be doing our thousand episode. It was somebody eagle eyed
(26:04):
in post production and I think said to David Barbo,
you know, hey, we should do the math on this
and see what's happening?
Speaker 3 (26:11):
And he rang me and he goes Christ Jules, guess what.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
And we decided that we would make a moment of it.
But when not the sort of people who are going
to go out there and jump up and down and
you know, pump confetti into the room. Because we've got
two thousand episodes, we're a bit more humble than that
and grateful for it.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
But yeah, we don't. We don't let it go by
without mentioning it.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Okay, so get to mention this is a good one.
Is Marty Fox scouting a new location? Are you going
to Queensland?
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Marty Fox has also just come back from New York
and I know that he was having some really interesting
meetings recently in London. Marty Fox's plan is to take
over the whole world. So if you're watching where Marty
Fox goes to decide where the block's going to be,
it could be just about anywhere.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Maybe it'll be Annas Serres Julian.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
The idea of the block in New York City and
London is enough for you to have a nervous breakdown
that is probably too big even for the block.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
Oh no, we'd love to do it there I'd love
to make it in New York. I'd love to make
it in France, you know, in a chateau. But you know,
the reason why we've just made a thousand episodes in
a landscape of dwindling freeware audiences that are getting smashed
by streaming and everything else, is because we don't only
(27:30):
have the support of our audience, but we also very
importantly have the support of so many great sponsors, you know,
and we've just had you know, I think we've just
hit peak block this year with Bunnings coming on board
as well, you know, and just that was awesome. We
can't maintain the quality of our show unless we've got
people who are willing to help us fund it. We've
(27:51):
got no interest in making a block light, you know.
We want to keep the quality of the show, which
means we have to go and spend tens of millions
of dollars buying property and renovating it and all of that. So,
you know, without Bunnings, without Mcafe, without these businesses that
get behind us and help.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
Us do it, we'd probably all walk away.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
And that means that we can't we can't go and
make the show in a chateau in France because Bunnings
don't have a warehouse around the corner.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
Well maybe they should, Maybe they should, Matte, I want
to ask you about every year. Fans want to know
why you bring back previous contestants and can you tell
me do we get contestants coming back this year? Who
are they?
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Yeah, we basically approach it every year with no dickheads policy.
You know, we are great friends with so many of
the one hundred and fifty teams that have been on
the show, but not all of them, you know, let's
be honest, but most of them.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
And yes, this.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Year we reached out to a few of our old
mates and said, you know, would you like to come
back and help meet these contestants and give them a
shot in the arm and help them out. And everybody
just says yes immediately. And this year, if you want
a tip for somebody coming back, Stephan Gianne. And when
they do come back, they come back and they have
(29:07):
a massive surprise for everybody.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Well, I know what that one is, and I'm not
going to reveal that. I don't want to ruin it
for people. They can enjoy that for what it is.
One of my last questions is Adrian Ptelli. He says
that he's quit the block and he's not coming back.
Do you think that there's a chance when we roll
around to auction that he won't be able to help
himself or do you think that's God?
Speaker 2 (29:27):
No, I've spent a good amount of time with Adrian
over the years, obviously because of his interest in the show.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
He stood on the show.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Last season on camera at the end and said he
was done and that that was his last auction that
he would be attending. I mean, he's welcome to come
to the auction, of course, because he's a great bloke,
but he has said that he will not be buying
a property on the block again. And one thing I
know about Adrian is that he's a real gentleman. He's
(29:56):
a man of his word, and he is an honorable guy.
I believe that he won't I don't come back and
buy something again.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
Maybe he will. What's your idea on maybe Celebrity Block?
And if so with Celebrity if Celebrity Block works in
your mind, who would be someone you would have on
the Celebrity blockcast by Kathy Freeman or someone.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
I know I means love Kathy, but you would be
my first caught ben. I'll give I'll give you, I'll
give you, I'll give you one. I'll give you one.
Mitchell Stark, Who the hell is Mitchell Stark?
Speaker 1 (30:28):
Oh God, then.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
That's an Australian took he took five wickets for two runs.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
I'm all right with that. I'm okay with not knowing cricket.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
One of the one of the greatest cricketers of all
time and a top bloke, and I'd love to have
him on the block with his with his wife.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
The last thing I ask everybody who joins the pot
is what is something from behind the scenes, behind the
scenes secret? And I thought of this one for you
because no one likes to be put on the spot.
And up to five hundred and sixty episodes of this podcast,
I've realized giving someone something specific is probably easier than
trying to get you to dig it up yourself. Someone
said this to me while I was in Dalsford, and
that was that the landlord land tax in Victoria is
(31:10):
different to everywhere else in Australia. And that's probably why
you guys now look for locations that are in regional areas,
because it could change the way in which some of
the buying habits happen. Do you pick places now outside
of Melbourne because of that Victorian tax?
Speaker 3 (31:28):
That is bullshit. You know.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
We don't make our decisions based on boring drive policies
like you know, stay taxable. We decide where we're going
to make the show because we think that the location
is going to resonate with our audience. Everything is about
you know, our show has always been aspirational.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Man.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
It's always been trying to say.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
To people, Hey, look at this, look at the opportunity
that these people have, look at this amazing location. You know,
we started the show in Bondo, for God's sake, you know,
we went to vore Clues.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
You know, we don't. It's not about taxes.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
It's about how great is this and look at this
place and look at this opportunity that these people have got.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
And Dalesford is all of that.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
It's got nothing to do with tax It's about the
community of Dalesford and the backdrop and what a great
place it was to work.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
I have to let you go because I'm well over time.
Enjoy the rest of European summer. Good luck with this season.
I hope we're talking about the block for many years
to come. You are easily one of my top guests
every year. It rates really well for me, so thank
you for being so generous with your time.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
Very kind of you. Thank you, Ben. Love it.
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