Returning: The Block

Nine returns The Block to screens in two weeks time, in all-out assault at the ratings.

The hit Reality show will begin 7pm Monday April 16 as eight couples battle for four places.

This year the show features four dilapidated, period terrace homes in South Melbourne that all face strict local council building regulations.

The teams are:

Andrew & Mike, brothers from Sydney.
Brad & Courtney, boyfriend & girlfriend from Perth.
Brett & Rana, mother & son from Melbourne.
Brad & Lara, boyfriend & girlfriend from Sydney.
Dale & Sophie, husband & wife from Melbourne.
Larry & Jessie, father & daughter from Brisbane.
Brendan & Michelle, husband & wife from Melbourne.
Dani & Dan, boyfriend & girlfriend from Melbourne.

Returning to the series are host Scott Cam and Shelley Craft, judges John McGrath, Neale Whitaker, joined by Shaynna Blaze (Selling Houses Australia) and foreman Keith Schleiger.

Update: Meanwhile Celebrity Apprentice Australia is confirmed to begin from 8pm, April 18. Together with The Voice, Nine is hoping Reality shows will help reverse its under-performance in 2012 thus far.

After the phenomenal success of last year’s series, The Block is back in 2012 for its fifth season – the biggest yet.

This year, 7 o’Block promises to be the toughest competition so far, with more surprises, twists, and a renovation project more challenging than ever. When complete, each one of four renovated terraces will be three storeys high, with stunning rooftop views of Melbourne’s city skyline. The terraces will have at least three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, plus study areas and two outdoor areas.

Once again we introduce eight teams from across Australia striving to take their place among the final four couples who get to move into The Block.

The new series begins with eight determined couples competing in a tense 24-hour, do-or-die Elimination Challenge to see who makes it through to the major thrill ride: the full property renovation.

With little more than what they’re wearing, the final four will be taken out of their comfort zones and dropped into a frantic ten-week contest to renovate equally dilapidated terrace houses in inner-city South Melbourne.

With no running water and dirt floors in the rundown terraces, this series is definitely not for the faint-hearted. Couples must first contend with the twin pressures of little money and very little time, then compete against each other in a series of challenges – while delivering a renovated room every week.

The pattern for The Block is now familiar to audiences the world over. Equal budgets, this year a record $125,000, are given to all four final couples, and then they’re on their own. They sink or swim according to their abilities in Creativity, Design, Planning, Budgeting, Execution and Selling.

They must live amongst their renovations for the ten weeks of the series, abide by council restrictions, budget to pay their own tradies, and purchase all the furniture and fittings – while putting up with a TV crew filming them every minute of every day.

Their efforts will also be constantly scrutinised by the critical eyes of the judges, Neale Whitaker, John McGrath and Shaynna Blaze, who makes her debut in this year’s series.

To play for prizes and cash that go towards their budget, the couples will be taken off-site to compete in amazing challenges led by The Block’s host Scott Cam and “challenge queen” Shelley Craft. The challenges in this series have another big twist – the couples will be competing for all-important bonus points which they can use during the weekly judgements to help them win the $5000 weekly room prize.

When the time comes to sell at auction, the couples are responsible for that too. Each couple must engage a real estate agent as well as overseeing the marketing of their property for sale, fully furnished. Everything they put in over ten weeks of renovation – every appliance, fitting and furnishing – goes to the buyer.

In the tradition of The Block, each couple will get to keep the profit from the auction of their own property. And after the last auctioneer’s gavel goes down, the couple whose property makes the most over reserve wins an additional $100,000.

Additional source: Herald Sun