The Block 2026 might only be in its first week, but design choices and high-stakes drama are already dividing viewers.
Pink team Courtney and Sev sparked instant controversy when they revealed they’d be using micro-cement to recolour their brand new wardrobes.
The polarising move raised eyebrows across the board, with The Block‘s guest judge, Damian Corney, telling New Idea all about the long-term shortcomings of the material.
Amid the backlash, Courtney and Sev have broken their silence, telling us that regret set in almost immediately.
“I had regrets the minute I started saying it,” Sev exclusively tells us.
“It just happened in the moment, but we knew that we had to do it.”
“There were a lot of solutions being thrown at us on how we could redress the face of the cabinets. And in that moment, with all our experience and all our due diligence, we knew the micro cement was going to be the best approach.”
“A lot of people are rebutting that, but we were just going off industry knowledge and the fact that our contractor was giving us that faith too.”
“Overall, when we were looking at that room, we wanted it to be a cohesive space and blue cabinets would have been quite jarring.”
Courtney admits she knew they were going to receive blowback from Scott Cam and Shelley Craft during the walkthroughs, but said micro-cement had been their quickest solution under the time pressure.
“We were really under the pressure,” she says.
“That all comes into play with the longevity and all that sort of stuff.
“But it’s definitely, as Sev said, it was the only solution that we were comfortable with.”
Major budget risk
They further raised eyebrows in Wednesday’s episode when they estimated their weekly costs would fall in at $18,100 – more than $8,000 over Scott’s proposed budget!
Given that they spent a huge amount renovating House 3, when they actually have their eye on House 4, there were major concerns over their costly spending so early on.
However, the determined team insists they stand by their decision, believing it was the only way that they could win the house they really wanted.
“We went through a lot of features, and we knew they were all going to be costly features,” Sev explains.
“During our Scotty and Shelley walk around, there was a lot of emphasis on how badly we had exhausted the proposed budget that Scotty had nominated.”
“Again, he just sort of stares at you and you start freaking out inside.”
“But we always said that that week that we were just going to go hell for leather because what was up for grabs wasn’t just $10,000 and off to the next week type of thing – it was a house!”
“So at that point, the idea of a budget didn’t even come into play.”
While it remains to be seen whether their huge gamble will pay off, they insist it was a risk they were more than willing to take.
“Let’s pray to baby Jesus and hope that we land this,” Sev adds.
Why House 4?
They’ve certainly made an impression during week one, with some viewers also questioning their determination to win House 4, given that, along with House 5, it has more obstructed sea views.
However, they insist there is a lot more to the houses than meets the eye, citing their extra 50sqm of floor space, larger backyards and direct beach access as huge selling points that have been overlooked.
Likewise, Sev says they didn’t like how overlooked the pool and backyard areas were in Houses 1-3, given that their outdoor space is more restricted in one frontyard area.
“We didn’t get too much time in those homes, but we quickly were able to identify the pros and cons, and they outweighed that view for us any day because we’re about day-to-day livability,” Sev shares.
“That view is momentary. You’re not going to be sitting and staring at that view every single minute of your day when you’re in that house.”
“So for us, it was that floor plan needed to make sense. We wanted to be able to be on the Golden Mile that had beach access.”
“And then we saw a massive opportunity to possibly go to a rooftop, which would then capitalise on their views.”
Will they ultimately land House 4? We will find out on Sunday night.
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