Nine Network juggernaut The Block goes back to the future

Yep, spoiler alert: the five houses in the latest season of The Block are finished and the results - some amazing, some still showing signs of panic - were open for inspection for a media launch last week.

But that's as far as the on-the-ground intel goes - the rest is strictly hush hush - as The Block season 2023 goes to air on Sunday night. And, of course, the auctions are still far down the track, happening at the end of the season, when the winner will be determined by the real estate market, or, at least, how much money developer Danny Wallis wants to throw at it ($23,223,333.33 perhaps?).

After the trials and tribulations of taking the long-running renovation show into the country last year, to Gisbourne in the Macedon Ranges, this season returns to The Block's tried-and-true stamping ground - the 'burbs of Melbourne.

The five houses being renovated are circa 1950s, side-by-side in the aptly named Charming Street, in East Hampton, 14 kilometres south-west of the city centre, not so far from the bayside suburbs of Hampton and Brighton. The original houses were single-storey, blonde-brick humble abodes that are, I'm sure we're allowed to say, transformed into beautiful modern homes.

Like they have done for the last 20 years, five couples are competing to do the best renovations and get the most money at auction - and take home anything over the reserve as well as $100,000 in prizemoney. Since the first season of The Block aired in 2003, the show has given away more than $32 million in winnings.

Back to the launch party and Nine head of content Adrian Swift is upbeat as he addresses the crowd.

"We were very worried about coming from the massive scale of Gisbourne to the funny little brick veneers of Charming Street, but I really do think this is one of the best series we've ever made," he says.

Swift says The Block is "part of Nine's DNA. It is our touchstone program", as he compared it to the network's other flagship offerings.

"It's not like the tennis because if Novak Djokovic is playing, everyone knows who'll win. It's not like Lego Masters because none of our judges cry, and it's not like 60 Minutes because it never runs to time. But this season is very much like MAFS [Married at First Sight]. You'll see what these crazy people get up to. The MAFS dinner parties have nothing on this season of The Block," he says with a Cheshire Cat grin.

The five couples are Victorian sisters, personal assistant Eliza (37) and integration producer Liberty Paschke (34); WA parents, firefighter Kyle (36) and teaching aide Leslie (34) Cottone; Queensland parents, first-aid officer Leah (32) and builder Ash (38) Milton, South Australian couple, project manager Kristy (34) and safety officer Brett (34) Beames, and Sydney couple, architect Steph (27) and start-up worker Gian (27) Ottavio.

"This Block is about the people and you've done an amazing job with the houses, but mostly by torturing each other," Swift says, kind-of-tongue-in-cheek, addressing the contestants.

"I've worked in three different continents, I've worked for all sorts of networks, this is my fourth time with Channel Nine and this is the best show on Australian television. It's beautifully made, it's beautifully cast.

"The things they make are beautiful in themselves and that last moment, that reality moment when we go to auction, I think we've all seen over the last couple of years, that is the ultimate reality television. We sure as hell can't produce that... anything can happen."

That's not to say this season of The Block was not difficult. Everyone says it was gruelling. "God-awful" was the Melbourne sisters' summary. Leslie Cottone, from WA, says it was difficult but she and her husband wanted to do something beyond their everyday life.

"It's crazy, it's hectic but I love people, so I just loved all the people that we worked with," she says.

"It's hard, it's monotonous at times because it's all day, every day and you never stop. You get to Sunday and think you're going to get some relief and then you don't. So you've got to find the motivation on Monday to go again."

There's also a new judge this season, real estate agent Marty Fox, who is loathe to sugarcoat anything. "He's been liked and not liked but that's what a judge's job is, to say it like it is," Scott Cam says.

The ever-smiling Shelley Craft, celebrating her 16^th season on The Block, is also now a real estate agent, working with her husband at their agency in Byron Bay.

"It's a bit weird having me at opens because people do a double take and they're not quite sure," she says, with a laugh.

"[But] there is nothing I love more than building and renovating and real estate."

And despite her sunny personality, Craft says over the years she has learned to be less of a mate to the contestants and more an authority who dispenses some tough love now and again.

"They did audition and they asked to be here and even in the toughest moments, I hope that they do remember that they wanted a life challenge, they wanted to set themselves up for something different and they wanted to open up and create new opportunities for themselves and The Block does do that," she says.

Long-time host Scott Cam, meanwhile, is happy to blow off reports he's about to leave Nine, saying he recently signed a "multiple-year deal".

"So to all my friends at The Daily Mail, keep up the good work," he says with a laugh. "I love The Block, I love the Nine Network. I've been here 24 years and I couldn't think of going anywhere else."

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