Neale Whitaker spent 13 years as a judge on The Block, lighting up prime-time television with his impeccable style and scorching room evaluations. However, Neale claims there’s one pitfall to being a judge on the nation’s most popular home renovation show.
“One of the big drawbacks of being a TV judge is that people assume that you judge when you’re not judging,” Neale told Home Beautiful editor Elle Lovelock on The Edit podcast.
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“I’ve always said, ‘no, no, no, no, no. Please don’t think I do that’, because I really don’t. I only do my judging when the cameras are rolling. The minute the cameras stop rolling, I am no longer a TV judge.”
Neale, who otherwise had glowing reviews of his time on The Block, found the assumption he would be judging people’s homes led to him become something of a social pariah.
“It is amazing how in all the years I was doing The Block, which is 13 years, the invitations really dried up,” he continued. “People didn’t want me coming to their home and judging them.”
“In all the years I was doing ‘The Block‘, which is 13 years, the invitations really dried up. People didn’t want me coming to their home and judging them.”
— Neale Whitaker
The blow to his social life “didn’t make [him] happy at all”, so Neale would like people to know one thing: “I absolutely don’t [judge peoples’ homes].”
“Everyone’s home is different. Everyone’s home is their home,” he continued on The Edit. “If you come to my home, you’ll probably see things you think, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe they’ve got that.’ You know, no one’s home is perfect. I can guarantee that a home that is absolutely perfect in every respect is going to be bloody boring!”
Neale was a judge on the Channel 9 juggernaut between 2010 and 2023 (seasons 3 to 18), and was replaced by Marty Fox in 2024 (season 19).
Since leaving The Block, Neale confessed the invitations have “picked up a bit”. However, now that he’s back on screens judging renovations on My Reno Rules, he fears the invites will “dry up again”.
Fortunately, his new co-judges (along with the rest of the industry) have nothing but lovely things to say about Neale. Fellow My Reno Rules judge and interior stylist Julia Green recently confirmed to Home Beautiful that Neale is, indeed, “delightful”.
“I absolutely struck gold with [Neale and Simon Cohen],” she told The Edit. “Neale Whitaker, who is obviously a design icon, we love him. How could you not love Neale? He’s just the most delightful man!”
“I didn’t expect to leave [filming the series] loving them, and I did,” Julia added of her fellow judges. “I have a place in my heart for both.”
You can currently watch Neale back in the judge’s chair on My Reno Rules, which airs Tuesday nights on Channel 7.
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