The Block goes Sky High!

The Block...Australia's favourite renovation / reality show (and mine too, if you didn't already know), is back on the small screen for a sixth series...and this time, they're going UP! Yes, instead of a row of houses, the couples will be tackling six floors of a drab Melbourne hotel, transforming each of the floors into a 220m2 luxury apartment. Three bedrooms, five bathrooms, with open plan kitchen, living and dining, plus an enclosed terrace...all over 10 weeks! The couples will also build a huge roof terrace with 360-degree views of Melbourne. Oh, and they have a starting budget of only $80,000. That's not all...this season, there's no elimination round...just straight onto the job site. Five couples, battling it out to create the most impressive apartment, and of course, to make the most profit come auction time.

Love that there'll be a whole new set of obstacles and challenges for the contestants to face. How will they transform this dated hotel into a stylish apartment building worthy of top dollar? How will they navigate the stairwells and lift with building materials, furniture, and everything else that needs to go into their apartments? With all of the up and down stairs, how long until they're all completely exhausted? My quads are aching just thinking about it! How will they make sense of a superseded hotel floor plan? Can they demolish walls? Will the added pressure cause more drama? Who am I kidding...of course it will. Most importantly, who will be renovating the penthouse? With the first challenge already under way, that decision is looming...

The contestants hit the ground running. To determine who will be renovating which apartment, Scott Cam issued an epic challenge. Completely renovate one bedroom, and one bathroom. The catch? They only had 48 hours and a budget of $10,000 to deliver a 5-star hotel quality space. What?!! The smiles were wiped off their faces pretty quickly, and reality set in...

Meet the contestants! From left to right...representing South Australia, identical twins Alisa and Lysandra; Western Australia's Matt and Kim; New South Wales' Jarrod and Madi; Queensland's Johnno and Trixie; and the home team, Victoria's George and Bec. I've linked their twitter profiles above so you can give them a shout out during the show!

This season is going to be action packed! Two days in, and there's been a hospitalisation and plenty of tears. I'm loving it already! It's too early to pick a favourite couple, and I'm absolutely busting to see the challenge room reveals tomorrow night.

I apologise now for flooding your twitter stream with all things #TheBlock. Come and join me won't you? Find me at @heyLisaWarren.

PS. This season, I'm blogging on behalf of The Block Shop as well! Each week, I'll be sharing all of the The Block Sky High room reveals right here on Life as we know it, and where you can buy the beautiful pieces the contestants use yourself.

Day 13, Monday: Issue a public apology. This can be as funny or as serious or as creative as you want it to be.