The first season of Australian

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

series '' The Block'', retroactively re-titled ''The Block 2003'', aired on the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

Jamie Durie Jamie Paul Durie (born 3 June 1970) is an Australian horticulturalist and landscape designer, modern furniture, furniture designer, television host, television producer, and author of eleven books on landscape architecture, garden design and ...

was announced as host and John McGrath was announced as Judge. The season premiered on 1 June 2003. The first season of ''The Block'' began airing on 1 June 2003 on the

, replacing ''

Backyard Blitz ''Backyard Blitz'' was a Logie Award winning Australian lifestyle and DIY television program that aired on the Nine Network from 2000 to 2007. It was hosted by Jamie Durie and was created by Don Burke and produced by his CTC Productions team. O ...

'' and ''Location Location'' in the network's flagship timeslot of Sunday at 6:30 to 7:30 pm (

AEST Australia uses three main time zones: Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST; UTC+10:00), Australian Central Standard Time (ACST; UTC+09:30) and Australian Western Standard Time (AWST; UTC+08:00). Time is regulated by the individual states a ...

). The series was presented by ''Backyard Blitz'' host

and filmed in Bondi, with the majority of filming being completed prior to the series airing for editing purposes.

Contestants

Selected from approximately 2,000 applicants, the four couples in the series were: * Adam Thorn (aged 30) and Fiona Mills (27), a married couple from

Banksia ''Banksia'' is a genus of around 170 species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and woody fruiting "cones" and head ...

. A data analyst and former sales representative, the couple had renovated three properties prior to competing on ''The Block''. They renovated the first ground-floor apartment (flat number one) and were widely considered the "show favourites" throughout the course of the series. Their apartment—which was the last to be auctioned—sold for $751,000 earning them the highest profit of $156,000 as well as the winning prize of $100,000. Mills appeared on the cover of ''

Ralph Ralph (pronounced or ) is a male name of English origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Old High German ''Radulf'', cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms are: * Ra ...

'' while the series was airing in July 2003. * Warren Sonin (37) and Gavin Atkins (35), a

sales manager Sales management is a business discipline which is focused on the practical application of sales techniques and the management of a firm's sales operations. It is an important business function as net sales, through the sale of products and ...

and

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

manager from Elizabeth Bay. * Paul (30) and Kylie Ingram (31), a plumber and travel agent married for two years * Phil Rankine (33) and

Amity Dry Amity Renae Dry, born in Adelaide, South Australia is an Australian singer-songwriter and a reality show contestant. Early career At just five years of age she started studying music and piano and performing on stage. She began writing original s ...

(24), marketing executive and singer married for a year from

Kirribilli Kirribilli is a Suburb (Australia), suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. One of the city's most established and affluent neighbourhoods, it is located three kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the Local governm ...

The combined auction profits were $443,000.

Room Wins

Auction

Reception

The first season was a ratings success with an average nightly reviewership of 2.239 million. The Grand Finale of the season had a viewership of 3.115 million viewers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Block (season 1) 2003 Australian television seasons 1