So what did you think about Scott Cam fining Dan and Dani $1,000 for breaking the rules and using power tools after the noise curfew was in place? Do you think it was harsh? Not harsh enough? Do you think they were cheating or breaking the rules? I got in quite a discussion about this …
So what did you think about Scott Cam fining Dan and Dani $1,000 for breaking the rules and using power tools after the noise curfew was in place?
Do you think it was harsh? Not harsh enough?
Do you think they were cheating or breaking the rules? I got in quite a discussion about this on twitter last night. Are we branding them as cheaters or rule breakers?
If you were in the same situation what would YOU have done (regardless if there was a camera on you or not)?
I asked Dan and Dani what they thought about it last night. They were travelling whilst the show was airing (which was probably a good thing as social media was very unkind), but they wrote to me late last night saying they felt pretty awful about the whole thing. I’ll ask them to come over here on my blog today and comment if they can.
I’ll weigh in on this subject later today, but would love to hear your thoughts first before I do…
…
Dani emailed me and this is what she said (I have her permission to publish this):
Dan and I watched the episode in full this morning so we could bring ourselves up to speed with what everyone watched last night. We are both strong characters and had no problems admitting that we had done the wrong thing, although I think the difference with cheating and breaking the rules is that cheating tends to be done in secret or hidden from people and we made no attempt to hide what we were doing and freely admitted to it. I think at the time we were mostly disappointed that our neighbours had kept their feelings to themselves rather than come and express their concerns as I know that both Dan and I would have if it was another team struggling, but that is beside the point.
The Block is such an extraordinary situation that you often find yourself saying and doing things that you would never normally say or do, but I am not using that as an excuse for our behavior in this scenario as we knew that what we were doing was a violation of council noise restrictions and The Block rules. At the time however, we only considered the fine side of things and not the possibility of losing work on a Saturday, which as Lara stated was “selfish”….and it definitely was.
A lot of people are commenting that Dan and I think we have our own set of rules. I don’t believe this is an accurate take on things as we were not the only ones to go over noise cut off times that week whether it be at The Block or not, and whether its 5 minutes or 5 hours (which admittedly is much worse) it’s still a rule breaker and therefore we broke the rules on a number of occasions that week.
We discussed for a long time what we would do if we had won; would we donate the money to charity, split it evenly between the other teams, give the whole prize to the team that got second place or keep it for ourselves, however lucky we didn’t have to make that decision. The best team won fair and square, well done Brad and Lara!!
It’s difficult reading the more personal comments regarding mine and Dan’s personalities because as you well know people are basing their opinions on a small amount of footage from each day that is often the most dramatic. People that have met us have had only nice things to say and have encouraged us for the rest of the competition. As the old saying goes “You should never judge a book by it’s cover”. Now this doesn’t mean that I am an angel but we both take pride in our honesty and willingness to help others, however I am also guilty of judging characters on reality TV programs without thinking or realising that what I am watching is a snippet of someones day and life who is currently in the most unusual of circumstances.
Anyway I could go on forever about this, but it doesn’t change the fact that what Dan and I did was wrong and if we had our time over would definitely go about things differently.
…
UPDATED 3PM:
Here is what I think:
To say that I felt sorry for Dan and Dani last night was an understatement. I really did. I’ve walked the walk so I know exactly how they are feeling.
I can guarantee you that at the time (remember the show is not live) they were feeling a bit yucky about it, copped the fine and then moved on. I bet the rest of the contestants moved on too.
But as they wake up today, it’s like reliving a bad dream. They’d be shaking their heads and wondering why people are so serious about it. To them, the event was probably minor in the whole scheme of things. There is a lot of drama on The Block and this was probably just another day for them.
When Amie and I had our main bathroom dramas (with a tradie we sacked) and we thought we weren’t going to finish, it was a 24 hour drama. Stressful at the time, but over in the blink of an eye.
But parts of this drama have me wondering… Dan and Dani MUST have known they would have been fined/punished. They knew they would NOT be disqualified. They had to have known that.
Why do I say that?
It’s a tv show. Camera’s followed their every move, they would have known camera’s were asking the other contestants to comment on the noise, and they obviously still ran with it.
IF they were going to be disqualified I know they wouldn’t have gone through with the noise.
I know exactly where they are in ‘the game’… about halfway through, they’ve settled in to a routine, they are becoming friends with the camera guys, soundo’s and producers. You start to forget you’re making tv and you just settle in. This is where you can come unstuck. This is probably WHY Dan thought it was ok to break the rules – a bit of a laugh was had at the time, who will really care, oh I forgot I’m making tv…. This is what makes AWESOME tv though.
So this is where I stand…
At the time of the drama, they would have known there was a fine, they would have made a decision to cop the fine no matter what and their priority was to give it everything they’ve got. This is a game. Not real life.
If there were going to be serious issues from real neighbours it would have been dealt with and they would have stopped. But obviously there wasn’t.
I’m not sticking up for what they did. I do think if I was up against them I would have been really ticked off too. It wasn’t fair or good sportsmanship. I thought Dan and Dani would have known from last years series the audience can be so unkind, so let’s not give them any reason to hate us…
But I know, in their mind, they wanted to give everything within their power to get that room done. I have no idea how they fell behind, maybe I missed that? But the reality is, they weren’t going to finish… and they knew they had a good bathroom and desperately wanted to win.
They have been dealt a harder punishment from the Australian public than any $1,000 fine from Scott Cam. They’ll be forever known as cheaters and will find that hard to get around.
I can’t wait to see how the rest of the show unfolds and whether the other contestants alienate Dan and Dani now. I really hope they don’t. If they do, that shows bad sportsmanship on their part too. Anyone who personally attacks Dan and Dani though needs to get a serious grip. It’s tv, it’s edited and it’s not REAL. I will defend them as ‘people’ right until the end. Their little hiccup may not have been the best decision, but they’re still human.
It’s a game. And no one knows what will happen at the end of this game.
Amie and I sold our house for ZERO profit. Would we do it again knowing there was no prize? Absolutely!
Run with it people, be kind and move on. It’s only a game!
How good is this show?
…
So now, what do YOU think?
I’m so glad Dan and Dani ‘owned it’. Good on them. Onwards and upwards!
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Comments
Jennifer Wallace
Dan and Dani made a bad choice. We’ve all done it. We also have to remember that they are in a high pressure situation. The others didn’t do it, but D&D did what they thought they had to do to ‘survive’. In my opinion it was a bad choice – no respect for other contestants or the residents near the block. But it happened. Hopefully they learn from it and use better time management skills in the future (we can only hope). I think they should’ve been fined and disqualified from this week. There is no point flogging a dead horse.
Katrina
Agree, come and read the responses – I’ve updated the post.
Tinkster
It was the arrogance that annoyed me. They weren’t sorry “you would have done the same thing if it was you”…”lets win and stick it to them”. Thing was, they all had the same amount of time to get it done, and no one else needed the extra 18 hours work to get it done, so no, they wouldn’t have done the same thing.
I think they should have been disqualified, not just fined $1000
Paul
My wife and I are mad keen on The Block, and we were amazed that Cam only fined then $1K. It was kinda dumb to use power tools in the middle of the night, why did they not use hand tile cutting tools…they are available and do not make any noise!
Sheena
They were using slate tiles, hence the angle grinder. A simple tile cutter would never cut the tiles.
Sheena
So what Dan and Dani broke a couple of rules, all you out there saying you all follow the rules all the time and they should be flogged for breaking the rules. Get off your high horses because I can guarantee you have all broke rules in the past. We all make mistakes, maybe you should accept that and see each contestant as human – just because they are on a show doesn’t make them any less human than you and I. I love Dan and Dani, I’m not saying what they did wasn’t wrong but you can’t all sit there and say there is no way you would have done what they did when you have never been in that situation to find out. The other contestants can say they were in the same situation all they like, but contrary to many of your beliefs, just because they are all on the block doesn’t mean they are all in the exact same situation. They were all using different materials, had different plans for their rooms and have different time management skills. So each situation is different.
Another thing, personally I think everyone is just saying their favourite team had the best room and should win, and not actually looking at the quality and design of the rooms.
Dale and Sophies was well finished, however they tried to cram too much into such a small room and there is no way I would ever buy a house with a mirror behind the toilet! I felt their was nothing special about their room.
The brothers definitely had the feel of a hotel, however personally I wasn’t a fan of their tiles and I agree that their bath could have been MUCH better (looked cheap compared to the rest of the room) and as the judges said it was over styled.
Brad and Lara did the right thing by leaving their laundry out (I think its what won them the room) but I felt their bathroom was very cold, and their styling looked rather cheap (their choice of towels and robes etc) – I hated their tiles and the white glass panels however i did love the shelving unit.
Dan and Dani I felt had the best overall room, their bath (although rediculously over top price wise) suited the room perfectly. I LOVED their choice of tiles, the lay out of their room and their shower was amazing. Their styling was impeccable as the judges stated.
Naomi
Agree with you 100% Sheena. Anyone who is truly honest with themselves knows that sometimes you have to break a few small rules, unless you are completely spineless. All these people saying it was morally wrong obviously live in glasshouses.
Holly Castles
I think they deserved more than a fine. They said they would complain if the others did it so when the others complain Dani and Dan start mouthing off at them! Yeah it’s a competition but what’s the point of having the rules if you aren’t going to follow them, that’s cheating. Although if I was in the same situation yeah I might be tempted but definately wouldn’t be treating my team mates like that. They way Dan and Dani behave is so rude. I used to like them but just think they’re low now. Ohwell now dale and Sophie or brad and lara will hopefully win the best sports on the block which is what I wanted anyways!!!
Katrina
Come back and read the responses from Dani and I? K.
Monika / MB Captured
A little cheeky on their behalf to continue the cutting into the night, but I think the others teams did over-react a little bit. Though I am not on the block to know the full story or feel the stress they do!
Overall I loved Dan and Dani’s bathroom the most.
Elizabeth
I think the producers are being unkind. They are clearly setting Dani and Dan up as the bad guys (or the Shrew and her poor downtrodden boyfriend). I could see them going this way when they put Dale’s comments to air about Dani’s behaviour towards Dan. This is reality TV, it needs good vs evil and a plot line but I feel its trashy to be going this way.
On the subject of using the powertools … there must be great pressure to delover those rooms and its pushing them to do things they shouldnt. I also think they shouldnt have been disqualified for their room instead of fined. This would have sent a stronger message.
Katrina
Come back &read the responses from Dani and I? KC.
Nerida Atherton
None of us can say if we were in that position we wouldn’t do the same, you really don’t know till you are there and under that sort of pressure. I can understand them not wanting to deliver a second room on time, they must be so over bathrooms! They did the wrong thing, they acknowleged that, now every one move on! I hate to think how nasty it would have got if they had won the room.
63shells
Dan and Dani created a gorgeous bathroom however they knew the rules of the game and knowingly broke them – fullstop.
I think the fine was extremely light.
Katrina
While what Dan and Dani did was wrong people need to remember this is a TV show and what is shown is always beat up.
For the people personally attacking Dan and Dani over this they need to realise that with the right footage you can portray anyone in a negative or positive way. Of course channel 9 / Win is going to make a huge fuss about it and make it out to be a massive drama because it gets views.
You can’t pass judgment on someone from a reality show because at the end of the day it is made to get maximum viewers.
Karrie
I think it was really inconsiderate. Not just for the other couples on the block but for other neighbours. Can you imagine having to live next door to it? Noise restrictions are there for a reason, not just part of a game, but because it affects people in real life.
I’m disappointed in them, but considering some of their comments, it seems to be consistent behaviour for this couple.
I wouldn’t be friends with people like that in real life, so really, it doesn’t impact me.
Kym
I think they should have been disqualified from winning the room. They blatently broke the rules which in turn gave them a time advantage…..not in the spirit of the game. Don’t think the other teams would have done the same in the same situation…. bad decisions all around…the others had every right to feel p…d off!
Brendan Quirk
Ah…it’s a game. Everyone lighten up. D & D are why this show is rating so well. Go D & D !
Brendan Quirk
Ah…it’s a game. Everyone lighten up. D & D are why this show is rating so well. Go D & D ! Hope they win..
JoJo
I love their bathroom – job well done! They WERE my favourite couple on the block until last night, though. I feel that if the other couples could complete their bathrooms without resorting to rule-breaking, then why couldn’t they? Glad that they didn’t win, because they definitely had an unfair advantage as a result of their rule-breaking. No need to slam them personally, though, guys. They seem like nice enough people (Dan more so than Danni, she is getting slightly annoying!)
Michelle Hayward
I honestly think perspective and space is needed. It’s Reality TV so far as what they/the producers, choose to show us. How real is real? It’s like giving an interview and they edit it. I’ve had that happen. You give an opinion or you state something and it gets ‘half told’! Media makes me crazy! Having said that, yeah they broke the rules, the personal attacks don’t serve any purpose. We don’t know them! You can’t base an opinion on 20 minutes of tv a night, throw in the ads, the chatting, etc etc… we see the GREAT FOR TV parts! Let’s face it, why would they show anything else!?
H
Talk about a storm in a tea cup … and dont the media love to create just such a storm. I have no opinion either way but just for the record the bathroom Dan and Dani created was fabulous so they should be proud – as should all the other Block “contestants” – of their efforts.
Steph
Hmmm.. rules are rules, it’s unsportsmanlike like to break the rules.. personal attacks aren’t fair as we’ve all made the wrong decision in our time. I am intrigued to see how the others treat them now. I think they’ve probably unfairly portrayed Dani on TV. I do think they should have been disqualified for the room.
Jane
Please people give them a break! All of these personal comments are really out of order. They are just people!! How would you feel to wake up one morning to all of the derogative and slanderous comments that people are making about this couple??
(i personally would be devastated)Its not fair.
They are on a tv show and lets face it if there was no drama no one would watch it! Maybe every other team has done it a hundred times but its been edited out because it wasn’t so late or for so long, or whatever, but we will never no! Cheaters or not, people being bad sports sitting behind a computer judging makes them far lower then Dan & Danni cutting tile past curfew in my opinion.
Heather
Well said Katrina and I was keen to see your perspective on this, I’m only just catching up on the episode now actually.
I hate the Block website on Facebook, followers are getting very personal and I just don’t think its our position to judge. We were not in the game and are still not…it’s a shame it gets so nasty – particularly when the editing of footage can imply something about the contestants which is not the entire truth.