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For those who have long dreamed of taking part in The Block whilst watching others compete from the comfort of your couch, this article is for you!
Speaking exclusively with TV Week, long time show co-host Shelley Craft has dished on what to expect from the 2023 season, as well as offering her advice on prospective renovators.
”All I can reveal about next year is that we will be headed back to the heart of Melbourne, to the bayside suburb of Hampton,” Shelley reveals.
”I don’t know what exactly we are doing, but I can say is that we are all terrified because every year we go bigger and badder than the year before.”
Shelley with co host Scotty Cam and the contestants on The Block: Tree Change.
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Shelley of course is referring to the 2022 season of The Block: Tree Change, which saw contestants take on the biggest renovation project the show has seen yet, renovating not just country homes, but the 10-acre yards surrounding them in rural Victoria.
Previous seasons have seen contestants build houses from the ground up, renovate run down houses that were beyond the point of recovery before Channel 9 breathed their budget into them and brought them back to life, and many more ‘lost cause’ renovation projects that in the real world, many would not attempt.
”What we achieved last year I thought was second to none, however we could go even bigger than Gisborne [in the 2023 season of The Block], I just don’t know about the new season, but what I do know is that I am very, very nervous.”
Scotty Cam accused Elle and Joel of quitting The Block: Tree Change for ”no reason.”
(IMAGE: Nine)Speaking on the daunting nature of next year’s season, Shelley said that whilst the show ”isn’t for everyone,” the experience was well worth it.
”I think anyone who auditions will be shaking in their boots, it’s the toughest reality show out there,” Shelley admits.
”To be perfectly honest I am surprised that we have never had anybody leave before.
”We’ve had lots of threats thrown around from season to season, but no one has actually walked off before.”
The exception to this is of course the polarising departure of influencer Elle Ferguson and ex AFL player partner Joel Patfull who sensationally quit the show only days into filming the 2022 season, citing ”personal reasons.”
WATCH NOW: Inside Shelley Crafy’s ‘Pacifo Home’ on Belongil Beach. Article continues after video.
Despite the experience, monetary success isn’t always guaranteed, as we saw with this year’s disastrous auctions, but Shelley says there’s more to competing then the potential prize money at the end.
”I hope people realise that you’ve got to come in [as a contestant on The Block] with a great attitude as well as a desire to win a lot of money,” Shelley says.
”As much as we are looking to auction and this is a real estate competition, we don’t know what the market [real estate] is going to be doing, we cannot control that, this is a reality show.
”But you should be in it for the experience, be in it for the life changing opportunity, suck it up and really enjoy what you have embarked upon because you auditioned for a reason, it can’t have just been for the money.”
Shelley continued: ”Just keep in mind what you are coming in for and come in with a good attitude because whilst the windfall can be great that’s not why people audition, there’s nothing that comes close to the challenge and the sense of achievement from competing on the show.
”The couples that don’t embrace this have a rough ride.”
It’s tough, but worth it for the experience Shelley says of contestants on The Block.
(IMAGE: Channel 9)While an official air date for the 19th season of The Block has not yet been released, filming usually wraps in July with an air date of August.
The open casting call did close in October 2022, with additional rounds of casting presumably underway.
”If you are auditioning, best of luck, I’ll see you there in March,” said Shelley.
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