The Block 2026‘s Chantel and Wyatt broke the show’s ‘number one’ rule during Sunday’s episode by enlisting the help of their tradie, Lachy, to paint their guest bedroom in order to get it finished on time for judging.
The Gold Coast couple said that he only helped for a matter of “seconds” and stressed that they didn’t know it wasn’t allowed. However, fellow Blockheads Tayla and Lisa were out for blood, devising a plan to call a second Body Corp in an attempt to have Chantel and Wyatt slapped with a time penalty or another punishment for their rule break.
In an exclusive interview with Chattr, Chantel and Wyatt doubled down on their claim that the painting work Lachy did was extremely minimal.
“It would have been half a metre. Like, 20 to 30 seconds,” Wyatt told us.
Chantel added that she had no clue about the painting rule, and said that it was a genuine mistake, which is why she doesn’t believe it should have blown up so much.
“Apparently, it’s a very well-known thing. It’s in The Block book of rules, and I was like ‘Dan, show me where that’s written down. Where is this rule book?’ We went hunting for the rule book, but there is no rule book. It’s just a made-up rulebook for rules that everyone’s supposed to know.”
Chantel explained that everything was fine between the The Block teams, and they all seemed to understand that she and Wyatt didn’t have any ulterior motives.
“We had a [first] small Body Corp down at McCafe, and I think from that moment I knew Tayla was going to be a little bit spicy,” Chantel explained. “I explained exactly what happened in the painting situation there at that Body Corp, and everyone said ‘Okay, no problem,’ and everyone was cool with it.”
Chantel and Wyatt believe Tayla and Lisa wanted them out to improve their own chances to win the room reveal
Chantel explained that when the second Body Corp was called, which was pushed for by Lisa and Tayla, it frustrated her that they were actively trying to get the Gold Coast couple punished over their mistake.
“They were conspiring behind our backs. The second Body Corp, that’s kind of when it all unleashed. I was taken aback because they kind of barked at us, they went hard at us, and we kind of just lost it because I was like, I’ve explained this to you guys already about a few hours ago, and so what is all of this about now?”
Wyatt added that he believes Lisa and Tayla’s motivation for pushing for a punishment over the accidental rule break ran much deeper.
“I think because they were so far from finished and they could see we were painting on Friday, because I went home with paint on me, and they obviously knew that they weren’t even up to painting yet. They’re like, ‘How could you possibly be at that point? You must have been cheating for so long.’ So they were probably a bit jealous of the progress we were making,” he said.
“They obviously wanted to slow us down or get us out of the race because obviously it was a big week. It was a house decider, so if they could eliminate us from the competition, it would make it easier for them.”
Chantel agreed with Wyatt’s theory, saying that she believes the other contestants judged them from day dot.
“That’s definitely how it came across at the time. Obviously, they didn’t know I had any experience on site, so we were just kind of like a ditzy fitness couple, and they couldn’t understand why we were ahead of the pack. So I think it definitely was a jealousy thing.”
Chantel and Wyatt explain exactly what happened behind closed doors when their tradie was painting
Chantel and Wyatt revealed that Lachy had painted less than a metre of the wall — which took a matter of seconds — before they were caught by foreman Dan.
“Not kidding, the second he touched the wall with that brush, Dan was there,” Wyatt said.
“So basically, we started painting as you’ve seen in the episode. I started rolling the middle of the ceiling, having no idea what I was doing, and then we basically finished all our chippy work. So I said to the chippies, like, ‘Alright, well, tomorrow I’ve got a bit of painting. If you’re coming in, help me paint’… and that was the plan,” he continued.
“We’re telling everyone at the share house, we’re getting our chippies in tomorrow to do the painting,” Chantel added, reiterating that they had no idea that it wasn’t allowed.
“Then Saturday rolls around, and Saturday morning I get Lachy all set up. We do a lot of taping up first for the first hour or so, and then get the paint ready, and as soon as Lachy goes to cut in — he just taps the brush on the wall — Dan shows up,” Wyatt explained.
The couple said they don’t believe that Dan’s timing was a coincidence.
“We were all mic’d up, and so I think they waited for the best moment to catch us, and I was like a deer in headlights. I stood up, and I was like, ‘I don’t understand what’s wrong,'” Chantel said.
She explained that after talking extensively with Dan about it, he believed that they were telling the truth about not knowing about the painting rule.
“When I approached him after, he’s like, ‘Look, I believe you, so I’m gonna let this one slide.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m so like, I genuinely did not know. Please, like, do not like, you know, give us any time restraints or anything like that,’ and he’s like, ‘I believe you.'”
MasterChef Australia airs on Sundays at 7pm and Monday – Wednesday at 7:30pm on Channel 10 and 10Play.
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