The Block judge Shaynna Blaze didn’t mince words when it came time to judge the first bathroom of the season, delivering some tough feedback to this year’s least-experienced team.
In short: Stop ruining this grand old country house, or you’ll have her to contend with.
Blaze and fellow judges Darren Palmer and Neale Whitaker went for their second walk-through of the five country properties on The Block: Tree Change during Sunday’s episode, and for the most part, their critics were positive.
Then it came time to visit accountant Ankur and lawyer-turned-actress Sharon’s bathroom. After some tough critiques in the first challenge, Sharon was confident she’d done a lot better this time around.
“I think I nailed the brief of luxe, sexy, but heritage,” she said.
“There are absolute nods to heritage all the way through… I hope they take away the energy, that feeling of luxury and country warmth that I think the buyer will want.”
They did not.
“Last week, Ankur and Sharon took us to the winery – this week, I’m not sure where they’ve taken us,” said Whitaker as the trio entered the bathroom.
“Well it ain’t this beautiful Victorian house, that’s for sure,” said Blaze, pointing out the details that most disappointed her: “Just because you’ve put that type of tap, and that type of bath, does not make it heritage at all. If any house could get me angry, it’s doing Este to that beautiful house we’ve walked through,” she said.
Blaze even asked the other two judges to start their critiques and come back to her, as the sight of the bathroom had put her “on the back foot”.
Whitaker was similarly disappointed, complaining the bathroom felt like a “pastiche” and didn’t feel “authentic”.
There was some positive feedback from Palmer though, who said he liked the room but still pointed out a few issues – tiling and an unnecessary internal wall – two things that would be very hard to change.
Blaze then continued her critique, announcing: “Honestly, it’s not a bathroom I’m feeling good in.”
She said it was especially tough to swallow, given Sharon and Ankur had chosen her favorite of the Victorian houses on offer this season.
“This is the grand dame, the jewel in the crown. Are you going to treat her like this? Because if you’re going to treat her like this, you’re going to have to deal with me,” she said.
As expected after that tough critique, Sharon and Ankur came dead last for bathroom week with a score of 20.5. (Friends Omar and Oz were the surprise winners with a score of 26, a big improvement on their negative feedback from the first challenge.)
Sharon was deflated after the judges’ scores rolled in, crying on camera as her husband comforted her.
“It just feels like I got it completely wrong, again. The choices that got caned today – they were mine,” she said.
“I’m over it and it’s week one, basically. I’m over it, and I’m so tired, and… maybe I don’t have a clue.”
.