The Block 2025 casting details leak as fan favourites tipped to return

Channel Nine surprised fans earlier this month when they announced that this year’s season of The Block will feature the return of some previous contestants. The upcoming twentieth season will see a group of 11 teams from eight seasons giving a helping hand to the new cast while also working together on a secret project.

A production insider tells Yahoo Lifestyle that the fan favourite Blockheads will only feature in one episode this season, however, their appearance is being used as a “test”. According to our source, Nine plans on gauging the audience’s reaction to the group of returnees to see if they should do a full All Stars season next year.

“Executives are dipping their toes in the water,” the source claims. “It’s not like The Block hasn't brought back previous contestants before, but Channel Nine is still unsure if audiences care to see returning renovators.

“However, if the one-off episode featured toward the end of the upcoming series is well received, then the public casting call will be scrapped by the casting team at Lucky Break Creative.”

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If The Block’s twenty-first season next year was to use a familiar cast, it would be the fifth time the show has brought back former contestants to compete after All Stars in 2013, Fans v Faves in 2014, Triple Threat in 2015, and Fans v Faves in 2021.

Next year’s season is tipped to begin filming in January 2025, with the network recently announcing the location as Daylesford, Victoria.

Who is returning for 2024?

The group of All Stars set to make a guest appearance on this year’s season are Steph and Gian (2023), Eliza and Liberty (2023), Omar and Oz (2022), Tom and Sarah-Jane (2022), Ronnie and Georgia (2017, 2021), Jimmy and Tam (2020), Andy and Deb (2019), Kyal and Kara (2014), Michael and Carlene (2014), Alisa and Lysandra (2013, 2014), and Dale and Sophie (2012).

Our insider tells us that Nine was very intentional when selecting the participants and chose not to invite any ‘villains’ back to the show.

“The reason this selection was chosen over others was due to the obvious fact the network was trying to mix the new contestants with those who walked away with a ‘hero edit’,” the source shares.

“Channel Nine did not want the newbies to hear the horror stories from some of the participants who have had a bad experience. The last thing they need is to be more anxious about how they will be portrayed this season.”

Despite this, multiple insiders are confirming that Channel Nine is hesitant to cast just the fan favourites if an All Stars series does get the green light for 2025.

“Fans might not admit this but they love to hate contestants. Producers can’t just fill the series with personalities like Eliza and Liberty,” our source continues.

“Very few viewers would know that last year’s ‘villains’ Kristy and Brett were easier to work with than most of their co-stars. Executive Producer Julian Cress celebrated his time working with the Adelaide duo last year and he was thrilled that they offered a ‘PG villain edit’ to the 2023 series. Without them, the series wouldn't have been the ratings smash it was.”

What else do we know about The Block 2024?

This year’s season of The Block is set to air on Channel Nine in August after the Olympics and is tipped to feature one of the most dramatic storylines in the history of the show.

Yahoo Lifestyle revealed in April that six weeks into shooting the season, one team decided to pull out of the competition. The Blue Team’s Jesse and Paige from Western Australia apparently decided to pull the pin as they buckled under the stress of the high-pressure environment, which a source tells us has been difficult to edit.

“You will just have to wait and see what happens but it is not something Australia has ever seen on The Block before,” a production insider told us. “The show absolutely has been the most interesting season to edit, mainly due to one team quitting the series. Everyone is running with the whole ‘nothing to see here’ mantra in terms of why the WA team packs up and leaves but there is obviously more to that story.”

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Meanwhile, hosts Scott Cam and Shelley Craft will be returning and real estate director Marty Fox is officially replacing longtime judge Neale Whitaker alongside Shaynna Blaze and Darren Whitaker.

Dan Reilly has also become the show’s sole foreman as Keith Schleiger wasn’t able to make the move to Phillip Island, although both Neale and Keith are expected to make guest appearances.

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