Country of origin New Zealand No. of seasons 5 | Original language(s) English | |
Created by Julian Cress
David Barbour Presented by Mark Richardson
Shannon Ryan
Shelley Ferguson Judges Victoria Bidwell
Stewart Harris
Jeremy Hansen
Janice Kumar-Ward
Shelley Ferguson
Mark Gascoigne
Jason Bonham
Bernadette Morrison | ||
The Block NZ is a New Zealand reality show based on the popular Australian reality television series The Block. The first season premiered on TV3 on 4 July 2012.
Contents
- Development
- Differences from the Australian series
- Profits
- Season 1
- Season 2
- Season 3
- Season 4
- Season 5
- Season 6
- References
The show is hosted by former Black Cap Mark Richardson and Shelley Ferguson, while Peter Wolfkamp serves as site foreman. It follows four couples as they compete against each other to completely renovate, room by room, four neighbouring houses in Auckland, and then sell them at auction. Each couple keeps any profit made on the house, and the winner receives a bonus cash sum.
The current main sponsors are hardware chain PlaceMakers, car manufacturer Honda, AMP bank, and restaurant franchise Pita Pit. Throughout seasons 1–2, car manufacturer Mazda was also a main sponsor, but for season 3, the sponsorship was awarded to car manufacturer Honda. Other previous sponsors include Bunning's Warehouse and BP's Wild Bean Cafe.
The series premiered in Australia on 9Go! on 12 August 2012.
Development
The show was initially announced on 24 February 2012, when a casting call went out and saw over 1,000 couples apply. The four couples selected for the first season were announced on the official Facebook page on 17 June 2012.
Differences from the Australian series
The series differs from the original Australian version in several ways. In the New Zealand version, the final contestants have been pre-determined by the show's producers. This contrasts to the Australian version, where the final couples are decided from a shortlist in an elimination week. In the New Zealand version, the show aired twice a week in the first season, thrice a week in the second season, and four times a week in the third season, as opposed to the Australian show's Sunday to Thursday schedule. In all four seasons thus far, there are challenges to determine auction order rather than contestants deciding amongst themselves, or being randomly drawn out, and the final challenge winners never have prices knocked off the original reserve price.
Profits
Season 1
The first season of The Block NZ premiered on 4 July 2012 and ended on 6 September 2012. It was set in the Auckland suburb of Takapuna.
Season 2
The second season of The Block NZ premiered on 26 August 2013 and ended on 4 November 2013. It was set in the Auckland suburb of Belmont.
Season 3
The third season of The Block NZ premiered on 26 August 2014 and ended on 18 November 2014. It was set in the Auckland suburb of Point Chevalier.
Season 4
The fourth season of The Block NZ premiered on 29 September 2015. It was set in the Auckland suburb of Sandringham. The title for season four was The Block NZ: Villa Wars.
Season 5
The fifth season of The Block NZ premiered on 29 May 2016 and was filmed in the Auckland suburb of Meadowbank. The title of this series is "Girls vs Boys" with two of the teams being made up of females and the other two made up with males.
Season 6
On 14 August 2016, TV3 announced the series will return for a sixth season.