Courtney and Sev returned to their landscaper Troy Lovett with a reduced plan for their backyard after a strained stretch over invoices and a shrinking budget, according to Real Estate's recap of Episode 47 of The Block 2026, published on 20 October 2026. The pair arrived on site to a cold reception, with Troy walking past Courtney's greeting without a reply. The episode follows the previous night's awkward phone call between the two sides.
Neither contestant knew how Troy intended to proceed, Courtney said in the recap. They were unsure whether he would keep working until the money ran out, whether he would complete the job and carry the cost himself, or what else he might do.
Why it matters
The standoff puts a spotlight on the money pressures that build late in a renovation season, when trades, materials and timelines all compete for whatever is left in a contestant's account. It also shows how quickly a disagreement over invoices can harden into a personal clash on a show built around deadlines.
Real Estate reports that the tension eased only after a direct question. Following an exchange about unexpectedly high bills and about who should have set aside a contingency fund, Troy asked the pair outright whether they believed he was trying to cheat them. Once Courtney and Sev assured him that no one was questioning his honesty, the three were able to work through what could be dropped from the week's plans to bring the project back within budget.
Water feature, decking and younger trees dropped
The cuts they settled on were concrete: a water feature was removed, some decking was deleted, and the trees chosen were less mature than originally planned.
Troy told them he would be on site for the week and would do everything he could to deliver the best result available. He said he remained confident the finished space would be something worthwhile, and acknowledged that if he ends up absorbing the cost of the outstanding bills, that would be a matter he has to settle with himself, because the responsibility sits with him as much as with the contestants.
With that dispute defused, the episode moved to a separate argument between Adam and Jolene over the side yard that gives their neighbours access to the back of the site. Real Estate reports that Lisa and Rosco and Chantel and Wyatt can only move landscaping materials into their backyards through Adam and Jolene's sideway or by carrying them through their own houses.
Jolene wanted to shut out Chantel and Wyatt, with whom she has been feuding, while still letting their friends Rosco and Lisa through. Adam preferred to keep the passage open for as long as possible so that everyone was treated the same way. Jolene described herself as fighting the battle alone and said she was tired of being cast as the difficult one while Adam was seen as the agreeable one. She also joked that marriage is supposed to come with a shared list of enemies.
A truce over dinner
The rivalry with Chantel and Wyatt appears to be continuing, but Jolene used the episode to end a different conflict. After weeks of trading insults with Courtney and Sev, she said she did not want to leave the show, the competition and the group without repairing that relationship. She said the two of them had set their weapons down, described Courtney and Sev as their strongest rivals, admitted she found them intimidating, and credited them with pushing her and Adam to work harder.
The winners' dinner that followed, attended by the four contestants and host Scott Cam, was notably cordial. Courtney and Sev echoed the sentiment, saying that without Adam and Jolene in the field they might have held back in some rooms rather than pushing as far as they did.
The episode also found time for lighter material. One contestant, described by Real Estate as affable, grew frustrated with the slog of wheeling load after load of soil across the site to his backyard, despite the efforts of his landscapers, the Cursio brothers. The recap notes that his enthusiasm for lifting heavy weights apparently does not extend beyond the gym.
The season's final challenge, a sports trivia quiz, produced poor scores across the board. Chantel's answer stood out: in a multiple-choice question, she named Shelley Craft as captain of the Matildas.
Viewers will be watching whether the trimmed landscaping plan is enough to keep Courtney and Sev's budget intact, and whether the truce with Adam and Jolene holds through the final rooms.
