The Block 2026 Episode 40 recap: Courtney accuses Dan of conspiring against her

October 8, 2026

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This episode finds Foreman Dan in a panic over everyone’s lack of progress.

“We are in grave danger of five houses not finishing,” he says.

It’s almost as if laying up to 206 sqm of decking, tiling and filling a pool and creating an outdoor terrace isn’t something that should be attempted in one week.

Courtney and Sev have the biggest space to do, with the aforementioned 206 sqm of decking, so Courtney is quick to use the S word – stitch-up – when Dan and site manager Gmac tell her she can’t have decking right up to the water’s edge of her pool.

They tell her the edge of the pool has to tiled, otherwise stains and oils from the timber will leach into the pool.

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Dan tells Courtney she has to tile around the lip of her pool.

“How long have you had the design for now? And you’ve only just read it,” Courtney protests. “Nine in Six, who never miss a single beat and who have had our plans for over a month now have missed a detail, which is impossible because they never miss a detail.”

Dan’s having none of it. He says Nine in Six are looking for structural issues, not tiny details, and with five huge houses to supervise it’s not unreasonable that something so small, and, he argues, quite easy to fix, was overlooked.

“She should have looked at the specs of the Plungie pool and realised it wouldn’t have worked the way they designed it. She’s pointing the finger at everyone else but maybe she should be looking at herself,” he says.

Courtney won’t see reason, preferring to believe it’s more likely that Nine in Six engaged in a conspiracy to ruin her day than made a mistake.

“I do feel that they have known all along and have decided to let us know now,” she says.

As Courtney’s meltdown tapers off, Tayla is ramping up for a huge one of her own.

Yesterday a set of pool tiles were delivered to Chantel and Wyatt’s house, and while Chantel can see they’re not the ones she ordered, and agrees they’re ugly, she doesn’t care enough to get a new delivery so tells her tilers to go ahead and start laying them.

Courtney accuses Dan of conspiring with site managers to stitch her up.

When Tayla opens her tile delivery to find a tile she didn’t order, she calls the supplier, who lets her know that not only have her tiles been delivered to the wrong house, they’re already laid.

Tayla storms into the cafe, where Chantel is having a break with Lisa, Courtney and Sev, and demands the tiles be ripped off and returned.

To say Chantel couldn’t care less is an understatement.

“I just thought they were a bad batch,” she shrugs. “Just get more. I’m not taking them off. There’s no time to fix them and I don’t care that much.”

“Take them off before I actually smash someone,” Tayla rages as the other contestants look on with a mixture of amusement and horror.

“I think Chantel’s response was quite nonchalant because that’s been the theme throughout the competition,” Sev notes.

Tayla confronts Chantel, demanding she rip the tiles off her pool.

In any case, it’s all a storm in a teacup, because there’s enough of Tayla’s choice of tiles on site for her to tile her pool anyway.

And she, along with everyone else, cheers up with the news that their landscapers have secretly chosen a big-ticket item to put in each house’s outdoor area.

Three have chosen enormous outdoor fireplaces, Adam and Jolene’s landscaper has opted for a monolithic stone and timber outdoor setting and Lisa and Rosco’s team has chosen a spherical rusted iron sculpture from a local artist.

MISSED AN EPISODE? HERE’S ALL OUR RECAPS SO FAR

Episode 1: First tears shed on season 22 of The Block

Episode 2: ‘I will shut you down’

Episode 3: ‘I won’t help them again’

Episode 4: ‘You will only last five weeks’

Episode 5: Block couple ready to quit after scandal

Episode 6: ‘Everyone is in on it’: Chantel and Wyatt cry foul

Episode 7: Gloves are off as Courtney accuses Rosco of treachery

Episode 8: Dan fuming as Tayla barely lifts a finger

Episode 9: A huge prize causes bitterness in one contestant

Episode 10: Jolene and Tayla fume over controversial bathroom win
Episode 11: Lisa and Rosco fall behind again

Episode 12: Block star’s sad health update