While The Block is one of the most lucrative shows on Australian TV for contestants, their financial compensation isn’t solely tied to the profit from selling their renovated homes.
Like other reality TV shows, the cast is paid a salary while on the show, but Mitch and Mark from The Block 2019 and 2021 reveal that it’s barely enough to get by.
“Contestants are paid $100 per day, so it’s tough to maintain bills. You need to have savings to be able to go onto The Block and be out of the workforce for 12 weeks and the duration of promotional work, etc., ” they said in a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA).
“When we did The Block, there were meals from sponsors — and they were amazing,” they added.
Mark and Mitch on why contestants don’t spill on what happens behind the scenes
It’s well known that most reality TV shows have input from producers to help form storylines and make interesting TV. However, it’s very rare for contestants to come out and talk about what happens behind the scenes.
In the AMA, Mark and Mitch specualted that the reason The Block contestants stay away from revealing behind-the-scenes details is to help them get a better edit, or boost post-show career prospects.
“There seems to be the sense of a ‘lure’ that if you play the game right, there might be other opportunities, but that generally is far from reality,” They wrote.
“On our last season we spoke openly and honestly about how we felt about the judging and their track record in predicting the winner of The Block – and on the night we won, our manager advised they had received an email telling them that we should stop our honest comments about the judging (which were a key part of the edit in the show) or we would never have opportunities again.
“Since then, we’ve had shows with Channel 10 and Channel 7, but never heard from The Block, or maybe it’s just a coincidence,” they concluded.
That might explain why they’re doing an AMA on Reddit!
The Block 2025 airs on Sundays at 7:30pm and Monday – Wednesday at 7pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.
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