The Block’s newest contestants reveal why the 20th anniversary season on Phillip Island was the ‘hardest’ series to pull off: ‘There was no sleep’

The Block: Island premieres Monday night as the popular Channel Nine renewal series turns 20 in 2024.

And while there was plenty of celebration and joy on set, the newest batch of contestants also revealed exactly what made this important season so difficult.

In an interview with Ny Breaking Australia on Thursday, some teams complained about their lack of sleep, while most said they were struggling to cope with the enormous workload.

Engaged Perth couple Jesse and Paige, who are rumoured to have left The Block in week five, said they struggled with the construction of their House 1 from the start.

“I found the first bathroom in week one probably the most challenging, just because of the water resistance,” said Jesse, a 29-year-old carpenter.

“There’s so much to do and you wonder, ‘How are you going to get this done in one week?’”

Claims specialist Paige, 27, adds: ‘I found the bedrooms the hardest to do because there are so many elements to sort out and organise.’

In House 2, married couple Courtney and Grant, originally from New South Wales, suffered from constant sleepy eyes as they barely had time to catch up on sleep.

‘Not sleeping [was the most challenging]”, said Courtney, 32.

Grant, 29, added: ‘From week five onwards there were constant Saturday nights with no sleep.’

“You know what you’re getting into once you get to day two or three of the week and you’re like, ‘Okay, this is going to be a few all-nighters,’” Courtney added.

The couple went on to say that they struggled the most with Domain Week, as they had to finish the hallway, the upper floor and their study at the same time.

House 3 included the ‘fun brigade’ Ricky, 34, and Brayden, 37, a plumber and IT manager from Victoria, who said the bigger the rooms, the bigger the problems.

‘Definitely master bathroom [was the most difficult]’, they said.

“The larger rooms were the hardest because they required the most painting and work. The larger rooms were definitely the hardest.”

But the biggest house of all was House 5. Newlyweds Kristian and Mimi confirmed that this house had ‘the most living space’ and was ‘super challenging’ to build.

“It was definitely a challenge,” said Mimi, 28.

“But I feel like where we had challenges and other teams had a smaller room, other weeks they had a bigger room and we had a smaller room. [sic].

Her partner Kristian, 31, agreed, saying that ‘it all worked out in the end’.

This came after a senior member of staff at the long-running Channel Nine series broke her silence on a rumour that a team had thrown away their tools and left The Block.

Series co-creator and producer Julian Cress confirmed that the series will take a dramatic turn when one of the five teams leaves the show midway through the series.

“We didn’t make it through the entire series with all five teams,” he said TV Tonight on thursday.

‘We had to replace one on the way, that was a very dramatic moment.’

It was previously announced that Blue Team lovebirds Jesse and Paige abruptly left the series in the middle of filming.

Now Julian has revealed that they had an important reason for that.

“It was a very difficult decision for them to make, but there was a very strong reason why they decided to do it. Very, very dramatic.”

Julian said that audiences will be shocked when they see the drama on screen that leads to the Blue Team leaving the construction site.

“I’m not saying these people left because they were lazy. They wanted to do it, but it just became incredibly challenging at some point,” he added.

“Their reasons for leaving are remarkable. I think it will start an interesting conversation among the public.”

Fortunately, the producers were able to recruit sisters Maddy and Charlotte at short notice to replace the Blue Team, meaning that five couples will make it to the final.

The Block: Island premieres Monday night at 7.30pm on Nine and 9Now.