When The Block NZ co-host Shelley Ferguson exclaimed “So this is what it feels like to stand in the room shrouded in so much controversy” during her site visit to Sophia and Mikaere’s super-sized master suite, no-one suspected that the biggest drama surrounding the room was actually still to come.
Taking a huge gamble, and further damaging their already rocky relationships with the other teams, Sophia and Mikaere forged ahead this week with their contentious plan to combine two of their bedrooms, creating one super-sized master suite.
Much of the in-fighting this season has centred around these plans, so heading into last night’s judging with $10,000 on the line for the winning room, the Turangi-based couple were already public enemy no. 1 in the eyes of their block-mates.
Choosing to focus their energy into the room they thought was a certain to win, Sophia and Mikaere hustled all week, working down to the wire to complete their mega-sized bedroom and ensuite. However their fool-proof plan seriously back-fired after it was revealed that they had been caught flouting the rules and continuing to work on their master suite after the final 3pm tools down curfew.
After relaying the judges’ feedback, host Mark Richardson dropped a bombshell asking “Just before I write your score up I’ve just got a question, was there any drilling and styling that took place in your room after I yelled tools down?”
Initially playing dumb and saying “It honestly was not even in my mind that we’d done anything outside of the rules”, Sophia and Mikaere confessed after Mark produced video evidence of a drill being used, pictures being unwrapped and styling being completed after the 3pm deadline. In the most brazen act over-stepping the mark, Mikaere is shown removing a camera from the room.
Watch: The shocking double-blow that ruined this team’s room reveal chances | The Block NZ. Article continues below.
The team were instantly disqualified from this week’s judging with Mark sternly warning “Let that be a lesson, when I yell ‘tools down’ at the end of the week, I mean tools down”. However there was no monetary penalty handed down from the judges, unlike last season where Amy and Stu were fined $5000 for working after the tools down curfew.
For all their faults, Sophia and Mikaere accepted their fate and were keen to move on from the incident telling the cameras “We accept it, we accept the punishment you know, we’re disqualified but it’s not going to break us, it’s not going to break our spirit.”
Unfortunately the other teams weren’t feeling quite as forgiving, an enraged Lisa asking “who do you think you are? Like honestly, they think that they can get away with this?!”
Retribution from their scorned competitors followed quickly as the week’s winners Lisa and Ribz played ‘The Big Steal’ card they inherited with apartment two, entitling them to take $5000 from another team’s budget. “Karma is a B@!%h and you are getting yours and this is what you get!” Lisa explained.
A week of slogging it out ended with Sophia and Mikaere walked away empty-handed having lost time, money and whatever remained of their friendships. There’s certainly no love lost from out-spoken Lisa who reasoned “I don’t care how Sophia and Mikaere feel right now, you know tough titties, too bad, so sad, good bye”
With dinner wars starting this week, it appears the action might just be starting to heat up on The Block NZ Firehouse.