The Block’s Courtney and Sev face backlash over their latest win and copying accusations

After Courtney and Sev’s Rumpus Room win on The Block, they expect their competitors to congratulate them. Instead, they learn from Chantel that the other teams had been making negative comments about the win behind their backs, leading to an on-site confrontation that deepens the divide.

“It was shocking,” interior designer Sev, 38, tells TV WEEK. “You can tell someone that they don’t deserve the win, but it’s how you go about it. How they went about it was really aggressive. It was quite hurtful to Courtney and I. We had to accept that there was a fracture coming that was going to be quite detrimental to our friendship.”

While the confrontation plays out on screen as an uncomfortable and very out-of-character display of emotion from usually sunny Perth paramedic Lisa, the Gold Coast best friends allege it was behaviour they’d already seen.

“I had a couple of run-ins with Lisa up until this point,” Sev reveals. “She’s a very direct straightshooter and she loves confrontation. She hasn’t shied away from giving us her two cents.”

It’s the biggest week yet on The Block, with the Domain Buyers’ Jury Open House Challenge, a kids’ bedroom and a re-do room all on the agenda. But, at the same time as Sev and Courtney are falling out with Lisa, they’re also accused of copying Adam and Jolene after putting a mirror wall and new fireplace in their re-do living room.

Courtney retaliates with accusations of her own.

“Have a look at Lisa’s re-do room and then have a look at the guest suite of Chantel’s,” she hits back.

“There are so many parallels that run on that site, not only because we use the same sponsors, but we’re all given the same brief from Darren [judge Darren Palmer],” Sev adds. “There are some rooms that look exactly the same!

“At the end of the day, they’re not innovators in the sense of applying mirrors or fireplaces in spaces. They’re all things that have been done to death.”

Having winners’ targets on their backs clearly comes at a cost, and the girls tease that the tension only escalates.

“The bitchiness and cattiness that follows suit was water off a duck’s back to us,” Sev declares.

The Block airs Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm this week on the Nine Network and 9Now.