“I’m not copping that”: Block contestants slam show in fiery interview
Block contestants Sharon and Ankur have opened up about how they have “checked out” of their relationship with the team making the renovation show, following a smarting jab at the couple during Monday night’s episode.
In a live radio interview with Hit NSW Breakfast with Maz & Matty, the couple shared how their portrayal during the landscaping week episode was the final straw for them.
The episode in question showed Sharon and Ankur being informed by foremen Keith and Dan that they were $26,000 over budget, with Keith then asking why Ankur hadn’t been more across the figures given his day job as an accountant.
The couple took great offence to the question, with a tearful Sharon accusing Keith of attempting to damage her husband’s professional reputation and the foreman backing down and apologising.
During the interview, Ankur said he was “angry” about the interaction, pointing out how other contestants who work in plumbing and construction hadn’t had their qualifications called into question when issues came up during their builds.
“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 said.
Ankur also claimed that he couldn’t have known the figures, given that the landscaping was being organised without contestants’ input and that they didn’t receive the invoice.
“There’s stuff they don’t show. The landscapers and executive producers were in chats for six weeks without contestants knowing,” he said.
“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.”
Calling Monday’s episode a “tipping point”, Ankur said he and Sharon had “definitely checked out” of the relationship they had with the Block team, with their auctions just a week away.
Sharon explained why Keith’s question upset her and that it prompted “Tigress Sharon” to come out and defend her husband.
“Quite clearly, we’re probably not going to be renovators after this, so don’t cut off the only livelihood that my husband has,” she said.
“That’s when Tigress Sharon came out and I was like, ‘Do you know what? STFU. I’m not copping that.’”
She also rallied against her portrayal on the show as “actress Sharon”, claiming her past acting work was being used to show her in a negative light.
“Always referring to me as ‘actress Sharon’ instead of just ‘Sharon’. They don’t say ‘social worker Sarah-Jane.’ We’re in week 11, and just annoyed with the set-ups and the storylines,” she said.
As for the amount of work the couple have undertaken over the course of the show, Sharon hit back against claims that they hadn’t done anything - and claimed they had in fact worked harder than the other contestants.
“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,” she explained.
“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.”
But, the couple’s rough experience on the show will soon be over, with the contestants’ houses heading to auction on November 5 and the season finale to air the day after.
Image: Nine