hta.AU.“SMUG CTS”: Profanity scandal erupts on the block! Leaked memos raise questions about ignored bullying warningss1

Instead, both teams walked away with a modest $5000 cash injection and the deeply unappetising prospect of sharing a celebration meal together.

“A tie with our enemies, yay!” Courtney said sarcastically. Seeing everyone else laughing at the prospect of the two teams sharing a table, Sev asked, “Do we hate each other that much that it’s funny?”

In fairness, Jolene had good reason to have a bitter taste in her mouth. Hot on the heels of copying her mirror and fireplace, Courtney and Sev added a car-wash station and a bespoke wine cellar — both concepts hand-picked by Jolene. Worse still, it emerged that Sev paid roughly a tenth of the recommended retail price for her wine rack, whereas Jolene only received a 50 per cent discount from the same maker.

Lisa rumbled the deal, noting that the girls were supposedly outlaying $86,000 on their entire backyard and garage, which somehow included a cellar valued upwards of $100,000.

“So, it doesn’t add up,” Lisa complained. “This deal is dodge. The rule is anything you buy you must pay 50 per cent of the recommended retail price for it unless they are a sponsor. We are following the rules and delivering nothing. We can’t compete with someone who isn’t following the rules and delivering something they got for nothing.”

When Lisa asked cellar seller Rob how much the rack cost, he answered cryptically that “the value was in the eye of the beholder.” Sev had found a loophole by classifying the custom timber racks as artwork, where pricing is left to the artist’s discretion.

When Lisa and Rosco pressed for receipts, Sev confirmed she paid $14,500. Rosco was disheartened that his own garage would sit empty simply because he played by the rules.

Unsympathetic, Sev snapped: “It’s not up to us for you to figure out how to play the game and know what to put in your garage to build that asset.”

Courtney, still aggrieved that Rosco and Adam had family working on site for minimum wage, added: “You figured out how to get your dad to come and work here for $25 an hour, and we figured out we could get a wine cellar.”

Sev was further annoyed that Jolene sent Lisa and Rosco to do her dirty work, arguing Jolene should be grateful to receive a discounted piece herself. Jolene, meanwhile, slammed Courtney and Sev as “smug c**ts” for wrangling the deeper discount.

It was left to Scott Cam to point out that the ubiquitous Christian Cole dining tables so popular with Block contestants (including Adam and Jolene) were classified as “art” rather than furniture, allowing for similarly huge discounts.

Ultimately, judges Marty Fox, Shaynna Blaze, Darren Palmer, and guest Dave Franklin were equally impressed by both pieces of joinery, which stood head and shoulders above the blank or unfinished garages delivered by the other three teams.

The judges were underwhelmed by Jolene and Adam’s spartan front yard, with Shaynna noting its lack of screening trees or fence meant it felt like a “fishbowl”. However, she groaned with delight at their side garden, praising its walled alfresco area for providing total privacy, while Marty felt the arbours were ready for a magazine cover.

They were equally enamoured with Courtney and Sev’s layout. Dave declared their outdoor shower one of the best he’d seen, and Marty swooned over the arbours making the back gate feel like a grand entrance. Marty’s sole critique was the lack of lawn, warning that the stone steppers were a safety hazard: “All I see is kids with cracked heads.”

Where Courtney and Sev lacked lawn, Rick and Tayla delivered. With no cash for mature trees, they rolled out Lilydale turf far and wide. Spotting a cricket set on the grass, Marty smiled that they were selling the family dream. Their garage was less popular, with Darren criticising time spent on wallpaper, wall sconces, and LED strip lighting over practical flooring.

Lisa and Rosco also left work unfinished after discovering cracks in their garage foundation. Choosing to repair the concrete properly before applying flooring cost them points with the judges, though they hoped it would pay off on auction day. They did, however, win the weekly budgeting prize, pocketing $10,000. Their garden was a hit, with boundary olive trees adding instant privacy, a seating area with a massive outdoor fireplace, and a Zen garden featuring their reclaimed sauna.

Finally, Chantel and Wyatt suffered another harsh critique. Shaynna flattened their garage effort as a “white box with a couple of things in it” prompting Dave to joke that they’d built a panic room instead.

Their attempt at a cellar turned out to be a disappointing bank of black cabinets. However, the judges saved genuine praise for their undercover side garden — complete with a pizza oven and Smeg BBQ — which Shaynna declared their best space on The Block so far, even if it wasn’t enough to secure their first win.