The eighteenth season of Australian reality television series The Block, titled The Block: Tree Change, premiered on 7 August 2022 on the Nine Network. Hosts Scott Cam and Shelley Craft, site foremen Keith Schleiger and Dan Reilly, and judges Neale Whitaker, Shaynna Blaze and Darren Palmer, all returned from the previous season.
Production
Applications for the eighteenth season of the series opened in September 2021 until 18 October 2021, looking for couples aged between 18 and 65 years old being sought by casting agents. Filming is expected to be a 10–12 week shoot period from late February 2022. In September 2021, the eighteenth season of The Block was officially confirmed at Nine's 2022 upfronts, and for the first time the series will be heading to a regional location, the Macedon Ranges, where the contestants will be transforming country houses.
The Block in 2022 was located on McGeorge Road, in Gisborne, Victoria.
In early April 2022, the day filming was scheduled to commence it was confirmed by sources that a contestant had tested positive to COVID-19. Filming was delayed by a week with filming commencing mid-April.
The Block auctions (or Block-tions) for the houses were held on Saturday, 5 November 2022, with the final episode of 2022 airing the next day on Channel Nine and 9Now at 7:00pm (AEDT) on Sunday, 6 November 2022.
Contestants
This is the ninth season of The Block to have five couples.
House Couple Age Location Relationship Occupations 1 Tom Calleja & Sarah-Jane Wilson 34 & 30 Gladstone Park, VIC Married with a child Plumber & Social Worker 2 Rachel & Ryan Carr Both 36 Oyster Bay, NSW Married with children Makeup Artist & Plumber 3 Ankur Dogra & Sharon Johal 41 & 35 Melbourne, VIC Married Accountant & Actress 4 Dylan Adams & Jenny Heath 28 & 25 Palm Beach, QLD Engaged Builder & Apprentice Chippy 5 Omar Slaimankhel & Ozman ‘Oz’ Abu Malik Both 30 Western Sydney, NSW Best Mates Former NRL player & Building Maintenance Manager
Team controversy
Originally in the first 48 hours of the series, there was another team, Joel Patfull & Elle Ferguson, however they left the series abruptly in the first night without notice as they found the series was not “on brand” for them, therefore the team were replaced by Rachel & Ryan. Elle posted on Instagram that reason they left was because of Joel's mother having a bad fall, but the real reason was exposed on the show. Joel and Elle were portrayed as runaways and troublemakers who put in no effort on the show, and they were generally disliked by the public.
Score history + Teams' progress summarised through the competition Teams Tom & Sarah-Jane Rachel & Ryan Ankur & Sharon Dylan & Jenny Omar & Oz Rooms Scores Main Bathroom 25½ 23½ 20½ 25½ 26 Guest Bedroom 23½ 24½ 27 26½ 23½ Master Ensuite 26 23½ 27 23½ 27½ Master Bedroom & Walk-in-Robe 28½ 27½ 28 25½ 22½ Guest Bedroom & Bathroom 30 26 22 24½ 29 Kitchen 30 24 24½ 28½ 28½ Living & Dining Room 25½ 29½ 19 22½ 25½ Hallway, Laundry & Breezeway 26½ 25 23 27 20½ Kids Bedroom 27½ 28½ 26½ 29 21 Guest Bedroom & Re-do room 28 28 23½ 27½ 25 Working from home space 26 24½ 19½ 22½ 24 Landscaping 30 26½ 19½ 26½ 28½Super Power Leader Board 297Scott Cam Announced Tom & Sarah-Jane as the Domain Super power leader board winners at 297 points 284½ 260½ 282 273
Weekly Room Budget Week Room(s) Budget Costs Tom & Sarah-Jane Rachel & Ryan Ankur & Sharon Dylan & Jenny Omar & Oz 1 House Decider $5,000 $4,892 $4,247 $4,640 $4,907 $4,660 Main Bathroom $22,000 $22,722 $33,211 $29,693 $28,003 $20,599 2 Guest Bedroom $19,000$8,854 $14,926$13,403 $12,145$10,681 3 Master Ensuite $22,000 $19,057 $27,165 $32,916 $24,350 $25,873 4 Master Bedroom & Walk-in-Robe $21,000 $21,992 $21,235 $37,213 $30,358 $20,048 5 Guest Bedroom & Bathroom $30,000 $26,613 $30,124 $36,855 $26,459 $38,319 6 Kitchen $21,000 $31,956 $20,358 $25,362 $24,322 $30,492 7 Living & Dining Room $23,000 $61,844 $37,898 $60,459 $36,614 $55,611 8 Hallway, Laundry & Breezeway $25,000 $56,804 $53,519 $60,014 $36,279 $73,814 9 Kids Bedroom $15,000 $12,884 $10,160 $14,826 $6,085 $14,344 10 Guest Bedroom & Re-do room $13,000+ $5,000 $12,589 $11,675 $12,187 $19,062 $27,426 11 Working From Home Space $25,000$23,209 $24,140$15,104 $24,207 $23,798 12 Landscaping $90,000 Total costs $336,000 $303,416 $288,658 $342,672 $272,791 $345,665
Weekly Room Prize
Week Room Winning team Prize 1 Main Bathroom Omar & Oz $10,000, a $250,000 kitchen upgrade & a mature to plant in their garden 2 Guest Bedroom Ankur & Sharon $10,000 & a mature tree to plant in their garden 3 Master Ensuite Omar & Oz $10,000 and a mature tree to plant in their garden 4 Master Bedroom & Walk-in-Robe Tom & Sarah-Jane $10,000, an extra $5,000 for scoring a 10, a walk-in wine cellar and a mature tree to plant in their garden 5 Guest Bedroom & Bathroom $10,000, an extra $5,000 for scoring a 10 and a mature tree to plant in their garden 6 Kitchen $10,000, an extra $15,000 for scoring three 10's and a mature tree to plant in their garden 7 Living & Dining Room Rachel & Ryan $10,000, an extra $10,000 for scoring two 10's and a mature tree to plant in their garden. 8 Hallway, Laundry & Breezeway Dylan & Jenny $10,000 and a mature tree to plant in their garden 9 Kids Bedroom $10,000, an extra $5,000 for scoring a 10 and a mature tree to plant in their garden 10 Guest Bedroom & Re-do room Tom & Sarah-Jane $10,000 split ($5,000 each) and the mature tree prize was won by Tom during a coin toss Rachel & Ryan 11 Working From Home Space Tom & Sarah-Jane $10,000 and a mature tree to plant in their garden 12 Landscaping $5,000 and a Next Generation Ford Ranger
Results Judges' Scores Colour key: Highest Score Lowest Score
+ Summary of Judges' Scores Week Area(s) Scores Teams Tom & Sarah-Jane Rachel & Ryan Ankur & Sharon Dylan & Jenny Omar & Oz 1 Main Bathroom Darren 8½ 8½ 7½ 9 9 Shaynna 8½ 8 6½ 8½ 8 Neale 8½ 7 6½ 8 9 Total 2 Guest Bedroom Darren 8 8½ 9 9 8 Shaynna 7½ 8 8½ 9 7½ Neale 8 8 8½ 8½ 8 Total 3 Master Ensuite Darren 9 9 9 8 9 Shaynna 8½ 7½ 8½ 7½ 9 Neale 8½ 7 9½ 8 9½ Total 4 Master Bedroom & Walk-in-Robe Darren 9 9½ 9 8½ 7½ Shaynna 9½ 9 9½ 8½ 7½ Neale 10 9 9½ 8½ 7½ Total 5 Guest Bedroom & Bathroom Darren 9½ 9 7½ 8½ 9½ Shaynna 9½ 8½ 7½ 8 9½ Neale 10 8½ 7 8 10 Total 6 Kitchen Darren 10 8 8 9½ 9½ Shaynna 10 8 8 9½ 9½ Neale 10 8 8½ 9½ 9½ Total 7 Living & Dining Room Darren 8½ 9½ 6 7½ 9½ Shaynna 8 10 6 7 9½ Neale 9 10 7 7½ 9½ Total 8 Hallway, Laundry & Breezeway Darren 8½ 8½ 8 8½ 7½ Shaynna 9 8½ 7 9 6½ Neale 9 8 8 9½ 6½ Total 9 Kids Bedroom Darren 9 9½ 9 9½ 7 Shaynna 9½ 9½ 8½ 9½ 7 Neale 9 9½ 9 10 7 Total 10 Guest Bedroom & Re-do room Darren 9½ 9½ 8 9 9 Shaynna 9½ 9½ 8 9 8 Neale 9 9 7½ 9½ 8 Total 11 Working from home space Alisa 8½ 8 6½ 7½ 8 Lysandra 8½ 8 6½ 7½ 8 Darren 9 8½ 6½ 7½ 8 Total 12 Landscaping Darren 9½ 9 6½ 9 9½ Shaynna 9½ 9 6½ 9 9½ Neale 10 8½ 6½ 8½ 9½ Total
Challenge scores + Summary of challenge scores Week Challenge Reward Teams Challenge Description Tom & Sarah-Jane Rachel & Ryan Ankur & Sharon Dylan & Jenny Omar & Oz 1 House decider Makeover a bedroom in 48 hours with a budget of $5,000 First choice of the houses 3rd(House 3) 2nd(House 4) 2 Nosey Neighbour challenge A quiz on country housing $5,000 and 1 bonus point - - - - 3 Letterbox challenge $500 to build the best postbox that will be installed at the front of their houses. $10,000 & a night away - - - - 4 Grape Escape Challenge Stage 1: Grape CrushingStage 2: Wine Blending Stage 3: Label Design Prize 1:$10,000 $50,000 of Wine Prize Prize 1 Prize 3 Prize 2 - - 5 Topiary Challenge Clipping a shrub into a shape $10,000 and 1 bonus point - - - - 6 Antique Evaluation Challenge $100 to buy an antique item for their kitchen and reevaluate it for the highest price $12,000 fireplace from Schots plus $1,000 Copper JugBought for: $35revaluation: $85 Collectible SpoonsBought for: $90revaluation: $90 TeapotBought for: $50revaluation: $80 Gold-plated Tea CupBought for: $30revaluation: $70 6 & 7 Team Challenge The Blockheads have the task of renovating Tim and Tyler's house over two weeks $10,000 colspan=2 8 Driving Challenge Each contestant will have to back their trailer from the first checkpoint into the second, then drive to the third checkpoint and reverse the whole way back The team combined who has the fastest score get $10,000 - - - - 9 Sculpture Challenge Make a sculpture out of clay incorporating some automotive design aspects A fully loaded blue Ford Everest worth $80,000 Can you handle it The Side Window The Console The Headlight 10 Domain Property ChallengeClean and style their houses for domain buyers jury and photoshoot $10,000 and 1 bonus point 26 votes Danny Willis award the gnome 12 votes 16 votes 19 votes 11 Cleaning Challenge Clean a hotel suite each for their families to stay in $10,000 - - - - 12 Simmons Home Defects Challenge Blue tape Nate is back and he's giving $5,000 to the team that's done the best job at fixing all their defects. $5,000 - - - -
Auction + Auction results Rank Couple Reserve Auction Result Amount sold for after Auction Profit made Total Profit Auction Order 1 Omar & Oz $4,080,000 $5,666,666.66 style="text-align:center" $1,586,666.66 $1,686,666.66 1st 2Ankur & Sharon$4,080,000Passed in $4,250,000 $170,000 $170,0004th 3 Rachel & Ryan $4,080,000 Passed in $4,249,000.50 $169,000.50 $169,000.50 3rd 4 Tom & Sarah-Jane $4,080,000 $4,100,000.99 style="text-align:center" $20,000.99 $20,000.99 2nd 5Dylan & Jenny $4,080,000 Passed in $3,900,000 $0 $05th The Auctions were held on Saturday November 5, 2022, with the episode being aired the following night. Omar & Oz broke the record for the highest amount of profit ever made in a Block auction, taking home a total profit of $1,686,666.66, which equates to $843,333 each. Meanwhile, the other auctions did not fare so well. High interest rates and inflation lead to the lowest result since 2011, with favourites Tom & Sarah-Jane taking home just $20,000.99. Rachel & Ryan passed in their home and it sold immediately after for $4,249,000.50, netting them a profit of $169,000.50. Ankur & Sharon and Dylan & Jenny followed Rachel & Ryan's strategy by passing in their homes in hope for a better result down the track. On 11 November, Ankur & Sharon's house sold for $4.25 million giving them a profit of $170,000. On 13 February, Dylan and Jenny's house was sold for an undisclosed amount more than 3 months after auction. In May 2023, it was revealed their house had sold for $3.9 million, $180,000 under reserve, meaning they did not make any profit.
Ratings + The Block 2022 metropolitan viewership and nightly position Colour key: – Highest rating during the series