Everything We Know About The Block: Tree Change

The Block Australia is back for its 18th season and it's returned with a bang. Called The Block: Tree Change, the Channel Nine reality TV show shifts its focus from the city to the country this year with a few new twists.

With five pairs in the running to win, you can still expect plenty of drama and mud as they get stuck into the renovations. As we strap ourselves in for a high-energy season, here's everything we know about The Block: Tree Change.

While Melbourne suburbs have been a popular choice in recent years, the 2022 season of The Block is pre-filmed in a non-metropolitan area. Shooting took place in Gisborne South in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges which is 40 minutes away from Melbourne.

This year's contestants are put to a test like no other, as each team of two is required to build a 500-square metre house, tennis courts and a winery on 10 acres of land. And it doesn't stop there, as they have to also think about landscaping more than 700 square metres of land.

Sharon and Ankur have the least experience when it comes to building a house, but certainly no shortage of fans. You may already recognise Sharon Johal who famously played Dipi Rebecchi for four years on Neighbours. The lawyer-turned-actor and her accountant husband Ankur are determined to step outside of their comfort zones and bring it home.

"We are stressing bullets," says Sharon. "But hard work we are not scared of."

The Indian Australian couple hope to be positive role models for their community. Johal has often spoken up about issues that are sometimes considered taboo to discuss in South Asian communities, such as her decision to freeze her eggs after having a miscarriage last year.

"I think this is really important to talk about," says the 34-year-old. "We are happily married, we were trying to have a baby, and it didn’t work out. So as we wanted a bit more time, I froze my eggs."

Married couple Tom and Sarah-Jane are proud parents of their one-year-old daughter, Cleo and hope that they'll be able to give her a better future by going on the reality show.

The Melbournians who've been married for nearly three years own a house in Gladstone Park, Melbourne and also have a caravan at Lake Eildon in regional Victoria. Tom is a plumber and says he "could work 24 hours a day", while social worker Sarah-Jane is going to focus on being the stylist and shopper throughout the build.

Reality television appearances run in their family as Tom's brother has previously starred on My Kitchen Rules.

Dylan and Jenny are engaged and hoping to tie the knot in March next year, so what better way to spend some quality time together until then by appearing on The Block?

The couple already have some solid experience in this space, as 28-year-old Dylan is a builder and 25-year-old Jenny is an apprentice chippy.

"When I tell people I am doing my apprenticeship they always say you don’t build, you don’t do anything. But I do – I do everything," says Jenny, hoping to encourage more women to join the industry.

We've got two more familiar faces in the cast this year with beauty entrepreneur and lifestyle influencer Elle Ferguson and her fiancé Joel Patfull, who has played over 200 AFL games for the Brisbane Lions and Greater Western Sydney Giants.

"Lockdown was hard, and in all honesty The Block got us through it," says Elle on the couple's decision to apply for the show. “It was on four nights a week and I think we really did say, 'We could do it and it would be fun'."

But before you get too invested in Joel and Elle, it's been revealed that they are the team that walks out of the competition early this season. The couple departed the set early after Joel's mum, Trish fractured her neck during a fall at her Adelaide home. It's since been reported that the pair have bought a $4 million home in the Byron Bay hinterland.

Best mates Omar and Osman haven't renovated houses together but their own experiences in the construction industry will hopefully come in handy on The Block set.

Their experience on the show was unlike any other team when the practising Muslims observed Ramadan while taking on all the challenges around them. It's not something we see on mainstream Australian television very often.

"We are Muslim and I am Lebanese, but I am Australian Lebanese,” says Oz. "I’m a proud Australian and I want to show what two Muslim Aussies can do."

Omar was born in Afghanistan and came to New Zealand as a refugee when he was three. He's represented Afghanistan’s national rugby league team and also played professional NRL with the New Zealand Warriors.

Gold Logie winner Scott Cam returns as host alongside Shelley Craft. This year Cam will be pulling his tools out as he builds his own house to inspire the couples.

The 59-year-old TV star will renovate the original 1866 homestead built by Joseph McGeorge that was still standing when the site was purchased for the new series. He'll enlist the help of previous contestants Duncan Miller and Spence Thomson, as well as Sarah Armstrong from The Block Shop.

The Block fans will recognise the judges as Shaynna Blaze, Neale Whitaker and Darren Palmer return in 2022 for the room judging episodes airing on Sunday nights.

Foremen Keith Schleiger and Dan Reilly are also back. They will be on-site to chat to the contestants and keep them on their toes throughout the building process.

The Block: Tree Change premieres on Sunday, August 7 at 7pm on Channel 9 and 9Now. It's the same night that Channel 7's My Kitchen Rules and Channel 10's The Masked Singer also premiere. It will then continue to air as The Amazing Race Australia and Farmer Wants A Wife are aired by rival networks.

The Block: Tree Change finale will air on Sunday, November 6 at 7pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.

The winner of The Block receives $100,000 in prize money, along with whatever profit the couples' homes make on auction day. According to Channel Nine, "the median price for a five-bedroom house in the Gisborne area is $1.71 million". Well, that's not too bad at all.