Get ready to celebrate more than one incredible milestone for Australia’s favourite renovation show, The Block, in the beautiful country town of Daylesford in Victoria.

The Block is back for its 21st season – which includes its 1,000th episode – and will premiere Sunday, July 27, at 7.00pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.

Daylesford, about 80 minutes from Melbourne, is known as one of Australia’s top weekend getaway destinations and the capital of spas and mineral springs.

For the first time in the show’s history, the teams this year will build homes from scratch that are exactly the same in layout and size, once again designed by longtime Block architect Julian Brenchley.

Also new this year, all-nighters are outlawed, and the building site will be locked every night. This means time-management skills from the contestants are a must, or some rooms won’t be completed in time.

Host Scott Cam is back for his 19th season, joined by co-host Shelley Craft in her 18th season with The Block. Plus, Dan Reilly continues in his role as sole foreman, while Marty Fox, Shaynna Blaze and Darren Palmer return for the make-or-break weekly room judging.

“Since all the houses have identical layouts, it really comes down to the contestants’ own creativity where they’ll have to think outside the box to catch the judges’ eye for a win,” Scott Cam said. “They have to produce something spectacular from week one.”

Shelley believes the unique twist of the houses being new builds will resonate with Block viewers and also help the contestants.

“For the contestants it’s a fresh start every week,” she said. “Rather than a dirty, grubby, messy start where they had to demolish a room and rebuild it in a week, coming into a clean frame is a much better mindset to be in.”

The five teams who will build a house in Daylesford are:

PlumberSonny (44) and dental practice manager Alicia (42), married couple from QLD
Barber Robby (37) and hairdresser Mat (41), best mates from SA
Geologist Han (29) and social media and marketing analyst Can (31), couple from WA
Police officer Britt (30) and police officer Taz (30), married couple from WA
Dance teacher Em (33) and engineer Ben (32), married couple from VIC

The Block’s executive producer and creator, Julian Cress, said the five couples cast this year have brought the show back to basics for season 21.

“What the audience can expect this year is what I would call a classic Block series,” he said. “We have a really diverse cast of hard-working people who are very competitive, engaged with their design, and of course we will have some high and lows.”

Julian said Daylesford was an idyllic location for The Block. The production and the entire crew moved there for three months during the build and were embraced with open arms.

“There is a reason why Daylesford is the number one weekend tourist decision in Australia – it’s a very beautiful town with an amazing community. We hope to show how incredible Daylesford is to not only Australia, but to the rest of the world.”

And this year there will be another first for Australian television: a purpose-built Sponsor Village onsite, which transforms how sponsor interaction is done on a program like The Block.

Some facts and figures about the history of The Block:

186 contestants
103 homes renovated
210+ bathrooms built
103 kitchens built
Broadcast in more than 170 territories around the world
Over $39 million in prizemoney given away

The Block moves to Daylesford and premieres on Sunday, July 27, at 7.00pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.