For the first time ever on The Block, all hell breaks loose this week when one couple makes the controversial decision to down tools.
Overwhelmed by the mammoth task ahead and with little to no money left in the bank, Jason and Sarah reach breaking point.
“Our main carpenter decided he’d had enough of The Block and didn’t want to be a part of it anymore,” Jason, 46, tells TV WEEK of their week from hell.
“Then the auditor came and gave us more grief about our budget.”
“It just snowballed!” Sarah adds. “We were at loggerheads trying to work out how to get this room done.
“We had a really tight budget to do a master suite and I just couldn’t come up with any ideas about how we were going to achieve it with such a small budget. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
To add to the couple’s woes, their children – Henry, 12, Oscar, 10, and Greta, seven – were about to fly to the UK for a holiday with family.
“I’d been upset because the kids were going away and with all the terrorist attacks happening in the world I was even more worried about them,” nurse Sarah, 45, explains.
“I had a massive cry. I could have filled a swimming pool. I couldn’t stop crying.”
Sarah admits she’s thought about packing her bags and leaving the competition.
“There are some days where you don’t enjoy it, because you’re so stressed and pushed to the limit,” she says.
Foreman Keith Schleiger tells TV WEEK he’s worried the couple’s lack of budgeting could well be enough to send them home.
“I think the contestants think Scotty [host Scott Cam] will give them more money, but I’ve been told that’s not going to happen this time,” Keith says.
“We’re forecasting they’ll be leaving The Block in about five or six weeks if they keep going the way they’re going with their financing.”