Twins Julia and Ali Heaney have been ordered to spend some time away from The Block after host Mark Richardson became concerned about the amount of backlash they were facing from fans of the show online.
For the first time in Block history, Mark stepped in to tell the twins they needed to take a weekend off-site and spend some time with people they love.
“Go and see someone you love, go and see someone whose opinion matters to you and get completely away from this environment,” he told them.
The intervention came after the teams undertook the 24-hour community challenge, which saw each duo being assigned odd jobs to help out their local community.
Upon their return to Block HQ, the twins disappeared for a day – and the next morning, Mark raised the issue of having them take some time out.
“I think emotionally you guys are struggling. You’ve been getting an absolute pounding social-media wise. You guys are struggling, you have to admit over the past couple of weeks, it’s really ground you down.
“I think if you continue in this state, you won’t get the house finished to the standard that I want, you want and I think the market will want. What I feel is best for you guys is if you just flag this week,” he went on.
The incident comes after the twins were shown breaking site protocol at Block HQ, which caused some tension among their fellow contestants.
