Ankur says he was ambushed, and all the other gossip on The Block in one place.

To catch up on all The Block recaps and gossip, check out Mamamia’s recaps, and visit our The Block hub page. 

The Block is proving to be the gift that keeps on giving. 

After the reality reno program kicked off earlier this year, it became clear this season would be unlike any other. 

Watch the trailer for The Block Tree Change. Story continues after video. 

So far, The Block Tree Change has seen five teams set out on renovating five family homes in the countryside of Gisborne South in Victoria's Macedon Ranges. The contestants are battling it out to win a sweet $100,000 in prize money, on top of the profit their home makes on auction day.

We only have just a few days left until The Block wraps up for another year, but the drama is still coming in hot. 

Here's absolutely everything that's gone down so far during this season of The Block. 

Ankur and Sharon defend their 'overspend' on The Block.

On Monday night’s controversial episode we saw Ankur be prodded by Foreman Keith and Dan for being an accountant and not being across their house’s finances.

This followed after their landscaping bill had come in a whopping $26,000 over budget.

Sharon defended her husband on TV, Keith and Dan apologised and everyone moved on. However, the pair have  criticised the reno series in a new radio interview. 

Foreman Keith and Dan on The Block. Image: Nine.

Ankur told Hit NSW Breakfast with Maz & Matty that he was still “angry” about the run-in and argued that other contestants who worked in construction and plumbing didn’t have their qualifications brought into question – despite the fact they’d made mistakes in those areas too.

“That’s why I got so upset when they ambushed us in yesterday’s episode. Shaz is like a machine – ‘let’s get to the auctions’ – but I don’t know how to feel about it to be honest,” he explained.

Ankur also went on to defend the landscaping bill, saying there is no way he could’ve known that the cost would have come in over budget as landscaping was initially being organised without contestants’ input in scenes viewers will never get to see. 

Image: Nine.

“There’s stuff they don’t show. The landscapers and executive producers were in chats for six weeks without the contestants knowing. We hadn’t even seen the invoice – it went directly to (host) Scott Cam. Then they come and ambush us and ask, ‘Haven’t you SEEN the budget?’ I’m like, you might want to show that part of the show instead of ambushing me again,” he said.

Sharon shared why she was so offended over the situation, saying: “Quite clearly, we’re probably not going to be renovators after this, so don’t cut off the only livelihood that my husband has. That’s when Tigress Sharon came out and I was like, ‘Do you know what? STFU. I’m not copping that.’”

Ankur and Sharon say they’ve “checked out” of their relationship with producers.

The pair, who said Monday night’s episode was their “tipping point”, told Maz & Matty they had “definitely checked out of (their) relationship” with producers on The Block.

Sharon also argued they never got a fair edit on the show. 

“Everybody thought we didn’t do any work around The Block – we pulled the most all-nighters out of everyone, because our house was bigger. Scotty always likes to have that jab, ‘[Your house] is only 14 square metres bigger.’ It’s not that. 

"We’re saying that the old build is harder for us to create, because we’ve got to demo it and we’ve got to frame up. The new build, which everyone else had much earlier in the piece, is already framed up and ready to go.”

The Block 2022 auction date has been leaked. 

Fans have been waiting patiently to know when exactly they'll be able to watch one team walk away as the winner of The Block 2022. 

Channel Nine has confirmed the auctions will air Saturday, November 5.

The indicative prices for the homes range from $4 million to $4.4 million (yes, our jaws are on the floor).

Winners for The Block have been predicted. 

While it's true that we will never quite know who wins The Block until auction day, House One is tipped to win. 

Bookmakers Sportsbet and TAB have them sitting at $2.62 and $2.25, making Tom and Sarah-Jane the favourites to win. 

Parents Rachel and Ryan and best mates Omar and Osman are battling it out for the second spot, with engaged couple Dylan and Jenny following not far behind. In dead last is married couple Ankur and Sharon.

Fans not impressed with Omar and Oz's recent disqualification on The Block.

Following the Living and Dining room reveals, fans criticised The Block for being unfair towards Omar and Oz for the price they paid on their baby grand piano. 

The boys were able to nab the $36,000 instrument for $7,500 – meaning they broke a big Block rule which states contestants cannot get more than a 50 per cent discount off any item they buy for their spaces.

Image: Nine. 

Omar and Oz were not only disqualified from winning Living and Dining room week, they were also stripped of three points from the tally board – which could disastrously impact their auction order at the end of the season. 

Fans were not happy and took to Twitter to call out the fact Sharon and Ankur were able to get away with nabbing an $800 mirror for $100 for a challenge weeks earlier. 

Ok, Ankur & Sharon should also be in trouble.

$800 mirror for $100 is way more than 50% discount

#TheBlock

— Ian Brown (@1anBrown) September 25, 2022

#TheBlock funny how only Omar and Oz are getting grilled for their costs? I smell a rat and the judges and Scotty are making sure that the boys can’t win a room

— shamza (@shamza86650083) September 25, 2022

This is a stupid rule. They’re being punished for being good negotiators. If they can get a $36,000 piano for $7000, then good on them! #TheBlock

— Alexia (@alexiaxx52) September 25, 2022

Other viewers felt the original price for the piano was not realistic. 

36k?...I don't know.#theblock pic.twitter.com/lwUvtTtAab

— Those SKYRAILS NEWS 🚫🚝🏚🚫 (@ThoseSkyrails) September 25, 2022

Either way, the boys were not happy with Scotty's decision with Oz saying, "It would have been nice if someone came up to us and said that couldn't be done." 

Ankur and Sharon have allegedly been "ripped off" by their tradies. 

Listen. We're not in the business of shaming hard-working men, but according to So Dramatic, the tradesmen hired by Ankur and Sharon "ripped" the pair off. 

"Sharon and Ankur were getting ripped off by their builders throughout the whole show," one insider shared. "They f**ked them over big time, ripped them off, and stole stuff from them."

According to reports, the Melbourne-based couple's situation had become so hostile, they turned to "production for help".

Things are set to heat up even more for the pair who have allegedly been left in the dust by their tradesmen as they end the season. 

Ankur and Sharon were not the only contestants who threatened to leave The Block.

While The Block experience has been undeniably hard for Sharon and Ankur, one insider told So Dramatic that the storyline playing out on TV at home is not the whole truth.

It's not really secret that the Melbourne-based pair were keen to pack up their bags and go home only just a few weeks into the experiment, but a source explained several teams made it clear they were unhappy during filming. 

"Yes, Sharon and Ankur wanted to leave, and producers begged them to stay multiple times," the source told So Dramatic. “But everyone wanted to leave at some point. All of the contestants were saying it.”

Viewers at home watched on as Scott Cam called Ankur and Sharon ungrateful with the source adding that he had "made it into a big thing when it wasn't like that".

Ankur and Sharon on The Block. Image: Nine.  

"Everyone had breakdowns, cried, and threatened to walk off and leave the show," the insider explained. 

Even Jenny allegedly had moments of tears "multiple times" thanks to their build being shut down more than once by The Block foremen, Keith and Dan.

"She spat the dummy big time about that," the source said. "But they’re not showing everyone else threatening to because they can’t have the whole cast wanting to walk off.

"It would look bad for the show."

According to one source, The Block suffered from a rat infestation.

While it appears The Block houses are coming together quite nicely, it reportedly was not a liveable situation for the first few weeks on site. 

According to So Dramatic, the contestants were forced to sleep in "inhumane" conditions. 

"The Block houses were riddled with mice and rats. It was inhumane," an insider told host of the So Dramatic podcast, Megan Pustetto. "Especially the first few weeks when we had nowhere to sleep because none of the rooms had been built."

The source added that contestants could hear rats "running through the house".

Dylan and Jenny on the first episode of The Block. Image: Nine. 

"But even then, the rats were everywhere. You could hear them running through the house when you were trying to sleep or they would show up dead when you were building," they shared.

It was also reported by the Daily Telegraph before the show even aired that the Blockheads were being forced to sleep in freezing rooms without insulation. The insider's comments to So Dramatic have shown that perhaps the allegations were true. 

"It was also freezing cold in the houses with no insulation or power. To expect anyone to sleep there is just horrible," they said.

Omar and Oz allegedly break a MAJOR rule by asking for help from an interior stylist.

A series of text messages have been leaked showing Block contestants Omar and Oz allegedly receiving help from an interior stylist. 

So Dramatic reported that an insider had shared screenshots of texts where they asked for help, received tips and even advice from the stylist. The identity of the interior stylist has not been revealed.

Image: So Dramatic! 

The messages, which were originally shared on The Block Facebook fan group, showed the stylist telling Omar to "do shaker style with brass handles" for one of their spaces. 

Image: So Dramatic! 

According to Domain, there are 10 rules contestants are supposed to follow on The Block:

• No help from any outside designer
• All painting must be done by contestants
• All trades must be paid the award rate
• All trades must be inducted
• No more than 50 per cent discount on any trades goods
• No working ahead
• No power tools after tools down
• No power tools on Sunday or public holidays
• Contestants must hire their own trades

Ankur and Sharon respond to "cheating scandal" allegations.

After the cheating shenanigans that took place a few weeks ago, Ankur and Sharon have taken to social media to call out... Scott Cam. 

ICYMI, the couple got into a little bit of trouble when footage showed the pair denying that they had googled the wine 'recipe', despite The Block host pointing out that it wasn't actually cheating. 

However, things didn't look so good for the contestants when they doubled down and insisted that they were wine connoisseurs who knew the wine well, having drank it while in COVID lockdown. 

The pair took to social media to address the controversy. 

"There are absolutely no rules that we cannot use our phones or search the net/google anything. This part of the challenge required us to create a 2022 blend of the wine, which doesn’t exist," they wrote.

"We took a chance and thought it couldn’t be too far off the 2015 blend, notes which were readily available. THAT was our strategy, and it worked."

Ankur and Sharon went on to mention Scotty, claiming he'd known "the whole time" that they had googled the wine's tasting notes.

They also mentioned that the texts shown between them on screen were completely fake.

"C'mon Scotty, don’t be shy, we told you and the winemaker we had the tasting notes the whole time," the pair said. "A 'cheating scandal' needs to involve cheating, and you said it wasn’t? Also, I don’t call my Wife babe, hmm who’s sending these texts?"

Ankur and Sharon have also since limited comments on their post to slow down the steady stream of hateful messages they've been receiving. 

"We don’t feel like being threatened over a reality TV show. Cheers for the #villianedit mates!" the pair wrote.

Speaking of, here was the full wine scandal on this season of The Block.

If you thought 2022 was going to be different than any other year, then you thought wrong, because another scandal has erupted on The Block and it involves none other than Blockhead newbies, Ankur and Sharon. 

While they may not be the most experienced contestants to compete on the reality renovation show, they've managed to perform relatively well so far (ICYMI, they've won one room and one challenge). 

But a few weeks ago, The Block was thrown a curveball when it became clear to Scott Cam and the rest of the contestants that Ankur and Sharon were buckling down on a little white lie. 

On one episode, the pair won the $50k wine challenge which saw the teams recreate a wine from Levantine Hill Winery, by tasting and mixing several wines together. At the end of the challenge, Scotty said the pair's wine was "actually, like exact". 

Image: Nine. 

Ankur and Sharon claimed their triumph came down to pure skill, but the show revealed that the pair had decided to google the tasting notes. The problem followed when Scotty and Shelley asked the Blockheads how they got their wine so similar to the original.

"He was amazed by how close you got, which led us to the idea that maybe, you knew how to make it," Shelley told the couple. 

Ankur responded: "No, so we basically drank a lot of that in COVID. The 2015 one is what we smashed. It’s one of my favourite wines."

He added: "Shaz’s dad is a wine grower and makes his own wine."

The response didn't go over well with Scotty who later said the couple had lied "straight to the face".

"I’m actually alright with them looking up the recipe… But now," he explained. "You know how I feel about people lying to me… Straight to the face!"

Scotty later organised a wine tasting to catch the couple out on their lie, which eventually happened when Ankur incorrectly guessed a glass of pinot noir was rosé.

Ankur tried to defend himself to the cameras, but it didn't go so well. 

"I knew it was a pinot, and I said it was rosé because I had a VB at Tommy’s place before I had to come here, so my palate was smashed," he said.

Reports have surfaced of a Blockhead's link to a man involved in a crime syndicate.

The Daily Telegraph claimed that Block contestant, Omar Slaimankhel (who is currently competing with his best mate, Oz), was driving with an alleged drug importer moments before they went on the run back in 2021.

The report said the Blockhead was driving with Mostafa Baluch when he cut off his own ankle bracelet – which sparked a major manhunt for Baluch. 

He was found 16 days later hiding in a shipping container on the back of a truck. He was believed to have been trying to cross the border to Queensland. 

There was never any suggestion that Omar was part of any alleged crime, or knew that Baluch was going to cut off his bracelet and go on the run. He was also never charged by NSW Police. 

Omar and Oz on The Block. Image: Nine. However, what has been called into question is whether Nine knew of Omar's links to Baluch. 

He was fitted with an ankle monitor in June last year after he was arrested and charged with multiple offences. His arrest was part of an investigation into an alleged organised crime sting plotting to supply 900 kilograms of cocaine from Ecuador, worth an estimated $270 million.

According to the Daily Mail, Baluch and Omar know each other through a "family connection". The day Baluch decided to go on the run, he and Omar had dinner. 

A Network spokesman told news.com.au that Omar was unavailable to answer questions, adding that they were unaware of his relationship with Baluch.

"All contestants undergo rigorous background checks before appearing on the show and we have no knowledge of this alleged incident," the statement read.

Scott Cam responds to questions regarding Omar knowing the alleged drug importer. 

Host of The Block, Scott Cam, told the Daily Mail earlier that he had "no idea" about Omar's personal relationship with alleged drug importer, Mostafa Baluch. 

"I had no idea about this during filming at all," the TV host said.

"I can’t really talk about him due to what’s happened, and I wasn’t aware of it."

Contestants criticise Ankur and Sharon's score from the judges.

The quality of Ankur and Sharon's guest bedroom was called into question after fellow contestants had a look inside. 

Tom and Sarah-Jane called out everything from the paint job to the choice of cornice and ceiling rose. 

"I mean. Love Sharon, love Anks but this is… crap," Sarah-Jane said.

Tom said: "Dylan and Jenny’s room is next level good, how there is even half a point between them two… I’ll never know... House Three has burned my f**king retinas, that was horrible."

Later, Sarah-Jane and Rachel (from House Two) debriefed on the phone, saying: "I’m dead… That’s a last place… I can’t even comprehend."

Read more: "A dog's breakfast." All the photos from The Block's guest bedroom reveal in one place.

Elle Ferguson says producers "stretched the truth" on their shock exit from The Block. 

In the second episode of The Block, we learned that Bondi-based influencers Elle Ferguson and Joel Patfull had unceremoniously quit the show. Scott Cam explained to the remaining contestants that the pair had up and left in the middle of the night. 

Their departure conveniently followed right after they received harsh criticisms from the judges on their House Decider Challenge Room.

"They have left their show. They didn't say goodbye, they didn't say thanks for having us. They just left," Cam told the eight remaining Blockheads. 

While reports at the time declared that the pair had left due to Joel's mother falling ill, Cam denied the rumours. 

"They didn’t give us a reason why they were leaving. They never mentioned anything to us about visiting their sick mother," the TV host said.

Joel and Elle are yet to make an official comment regarding their decision to leave The Block, Image: Channel 9. 

The contestants responded furiously, with Sarah-Jane lamenting that she had seen it coming and that "they were miserable the whole time".

However, since the episodes have aired, more reports have emerged. 

An insider close to the couple told The Daily Telegraph that the pair "believe that they have been used to stir up interest in Sunday night's premiere". 

The source went on to allege that Nine had "stretched the truth" for their abrupt exit.

"[Nine] need this season to work as there's a lot at stake,' they said. "Elle and Joel were the most high-profile talent on the show and they don't have them anymore, so they still need to find a way to incorporate them in their promos."

They added: "It's clear what Nine's tactic is and, to be honest, it's working for them."

Either way, the people we're eager to hear from the most is Joel and Elle themselves, who are yet to address their decision to quit the reality show.

The Block has been criticised for its "condescending" Acknowledgement of Country. 

One Indigenous leader has criticised Channel Nine for using the Acknowledgement of Country before kicking off with a new season, labelling the gesture as devaluing to Indigenous people. 

Wurundjeri elder Ian Hunter told The Daily Telegraph that the use of the acknowledgement on The Masked Singer (which is on Network 10) and The Block was 'totally unnecessary'.

"It should only be used where appropriate such as a citizenship ceremony," he explained.

"When too many people use it very lightly it devalues our ceremonial programs – it's condescending."

Mr Hunter's comments follow after The Block aired an Acknowledgment of Country prior to Sunday's premiere. 

"The Block and the City of Melbourne respectfully acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi, Wurrung and Bunurong Boon Wurrung peoples as the traditional custodians of the land on which this production has taken place, and pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging. Always was, always will be, Kulin Nation land," the statement read.

It is reported that the cast and crew from The Block were required to take Indigenous cultural training before they began their renovations.

Listen to The Spill, Mamamia's daily entertainment podcast. Post continues after audio. 

The critical tradie shortage that stopped The Block in its tracks. 

In July, reports emerged that the reality reno show was dealing with a critical labour shortage due to the construction industry, which proved to be unstable. 

The building company working with production went as far as to post an urgent call out for trades workers. 

"We desperately need help completing the current series of The Block, Tree Change. Carpenters, Cladding Crews, Skilled labourers, Trade Assistants," the program's building company, Nine In Six, wrote.

"Wages, Casual, Subbies we won’t discriminate. Immediate start, Five Weeks to go Location Gisborne Victoria. Send us a message if you’re keen."

As a result, labourers came to the rescue, and Scott Cam told news.com.au that the final few days had been saved. 

"We always knew there were going to be supply chain and tradie issues, but towards the end we got desperate, so we put that call out and we got a couple of young carpentry teams. Terrific blokes."

This article was originally published on August 9, 2022 and has since been updated with new information.

Feature Image: Nine.

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