The Block host Scott Cam tells the contestants in Sunday\u2019s season premiere that he considers them the luckiest contestants in the history of the show, having been tasked with building houses with water views in one of Melbourne\u2019s most exclusive bayside suburbs.<\/p>\n
What he tells them next doesn\u2019t make them feel so lucky.<\/p>\n
Not only will contestants be staying off site in one big share house nearby this year, but they\u2019ll also have to abide by the same strict work hours as their trades: They cannot start work on site until 7am each day, and they have to be finished by 6pm. On Saturday, the hours get even shorter: 9am until 3pm.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a marked contrast to how the show has traditionally run, with contestants pulling all-nighters on-site, sometimes presenting their finished rooms to the judges on little to no sleep after working mammoth shifts to get everything done.<\/p>\n
This time around, contestants will have to down tools and leave the site altogether when the bell rings, no matter how behind they are. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s going to be tough,\u201d Cam concedes. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou will have to work the same restricted council hours that anyone who is building within Mount Eliza is sticking to.\u201d
The Block\u2019s longtime foreman Dan says that, while tough, he thinks it can be done. \u201cIf I was a contestant right now, I\u2019d be very anxious at this time restriction. You\u2019d be thinking: How can we fit this into these hours? But you\u2019ve just got to have the right team with a good attitude, and you\u2019ve got to have good time management,\u201d he insists. <\/p>\n
The contestants themselves aren\u2019t so sure. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe hours are quite scary. Knowing that they work to midnight, one o\u2019clock last year,\u201d says Victorian dad Rick. <\/p>\n
Brisbane besties Courtney and Sev are more blunt: \u201cWe\u2019re stuffed. These are big houses, and to have that sort of reduction of hours and still hold to a 12-week program? It\u2019s a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Given this year\u2019s location, it\u2019s easy to see why producers would be keen to keep their neighbours onside throughout the build. <\/p>\n
Unlike some recent seasons filmed in more rural locations like Daylesford and Phillip Island, this year, he Block build is happening in the middle of a densely population residential area in one of Melbourne\u2019s most exclusive suburbs, surrounded by houses worth millions of dollars. <\/p>\n
Earlier in Sunday\u2019s premiere, Cam broke the news that contestants would be bunking together under one roof in a share house off-site, for the first time in Block history.<\/p>\n
While some are happy to have a proper roof over their heads for the whole season \u2013 compared to previous years where contestants have started out camping in tents before moving into the first finished rooms of their houses \u2013 others are unhappy at being forced to live in such close confines with their competitors.<\/p>\n
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