It’s hump day on family bathroom week, which on The Block means the halfway-there optimism has already curdled into the halfway-there panic. Wednesday delivered some actual vindication, though: the $20,000 cash discrepancy that nearly sent Chantel and Wyatt home turned out to be a computer glitch, with the builder’s invoice counted twice. Small comfort after a day sitting at home wondering if the show owed them an apology, but they got one, and they’re back on site chasing the Cursio brothers, who finished waterproofing first despite the team losing 24 hours nobody else lost.
Key Moments This Episode
- DRAMAChantel and Wyatt are vindicated when it turns out their \$20,000 discrepancy was a computer glitch (the builder’s invoice got added twice), not the “stitch-up” they’d been accused of.
- RIDICULOUS PURCHASEThe stakes for Sunday’s reveal jump to \$250,000 worth of e&s kitchen appliances, on top of everything else already on the line.
- DRAMALisa and Rosco win the season’s first challenge at Peninsula Hot Springs, styling a glamping tent in 30 minutes flat for \$10,000 cash, a \$10,000 Snooze voucher and a night in the Eco Lodge.
- DISASTERHours after their challenge win, Lisa and Rosco’s own bathroom tiling falls apart: grout lines 3mm out, glue everywhere, and Dan (site manager) refusing to sugarcoat it: “How can you win a room when you’ve got quality like that?”
- ARGUMENTThe tiler shortage turns into an arms race, House One fielding five tilers while House Five scrambles to recruit more, with Rosco copping criticism for “going with the flow” instead of demanding backup.
- DISASTERAdam and Jolene fall further behind the eight ball, still chasing down a glazier for their shower screen.
- DRAMACourtney and Sev pitch arguably the boldest move of the week, relocating their powder room entry and adding a cavity slider, while quietly offering to bankroll another team’s tiling in exchange for an alliance.
The bigger news is what’s now on the table for Sunday: $250,000 worth of kitchen appliances from e&s, on top of whatever the auction brings. With budgets tight and that kind of prize looming, Scott Cam called the first challenge of the season, a 30 minute glamping-tent styling sprint at Peninsula Hot Springs, full furnish, bedheads to artwork, judged on the spot. Lisa and Rosco took it out with tent three’s coastal-contemporary look, banking $10,000 straight into the CommBank, a $10,000 Snooze voucher for trades, and a night in the resort’s Eco Lodge.
The irony arrived about an hour later. Back on site, Lisa and Rosco’s bathroom is being tiled by a single tiler who insisted he could handle floor and wall alone in five and a half hours, while House One has five tilers crawling over their room and House Five is recruiting more because of the $250K on the line. By the time site manager Dan walked through with Rosco, the tiling was out of square, glue everywhere, grout lines three millimetres out. “It was a bit of a disaster,” is how Rosco put it, which is generous.
Elsewhere, Adam and Jolene are still chasing a glazier for their shower screen and admitting they’re “behind the eight ball” (last year’s family bathroom winners went on to win the whole season, so the pressure is not imaginary), while Courtney and Sev are gambling on the boldest layout change on site, relocating their powder room entry and adding a cavity slider, a plan smart enough to impress the judges if they can actually finish it in time.
Moment of the day
“How can you win a room when you’ve got quality like that?”
Dan, standing in Lisa and Rosco’s bathroom, not sugar-coating it
The preview for Sunday is already promising chaos: House Four striking what they’re calling a deal with the devil, offering to pay for another team’s tiling if they win, and a judging walkthrough that swings from Darren Palmer’s “tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, yes” to Marty Fox refusing to even get in one shower. With one tiler standing between Lisa and Rosco and a finished bathroom, Thursday can’t come fast enough.
