The Block 2024 episode 17 recap: After one final nasty fight, Jesse and Paige walk off the show

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And so, the moment we all knew was coming has arrived. Jesse and Paige have officially left the (half-finished) building.

In their five weeks on The Block, the engaged couple have gone from nauseatingly loved-up to a pair who are constantly arguing or crying (usually both).

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There’s nothing all that unusual about that. The Block puts most relationships to the test with the pressure of constant deadlines, gruelling hours and separation from friends and family (all under the constant watch of the cameras).

But it soon became clear that Paige and Jesse’s on-camera spats were just the tip of the iceberg and, behind closed doors, things had become toxic as Paige struggled to cope.

Foreshadowing the seriousness of the situation, the episode starts with a Lifeline PSA before hitting us with the couple’s tearful announcement they are heading home so that Paige can prioritise her mental health.

Paige tells the other contestants of her decision to pull herself and Jesse off the show.

“She’s not always like this. Tiredness and fatigue turn you into a different person,” Jesse explains of his fiancé’s behaviour on The Block.

Paige has wanted to leave since their first disastrous week but Jesse had urged her to stick at it. But when tempers became so flared that neighbours Courtney and Grant could hear their shouting through the walls, a producer intervened.

“I don’t want to be here. I am doing what’s best for me not for you,” Paige could be heard shouting at her fiancé.

“What about what’s best for us?” Jesse countered.

But Paige wasn’t backing down, firing back: “There is no us. I am not prepared to be selfless enough for us to compromise my mental health this much.”

When Jesse asked if she’d thought about how her decision to walk out made him feel, she snapped: “I don’t give a f*** how you feel! Deal with it yourself. I have no resilience left in me. I’ve got nothing.”

Courtney and Grant later admitted it hadn’t been the first time they’d heard the couple arguing.

Jesse and Paige quit the show citing Paige’s mental health concerns.

At the producer’s urging, the couple sat down with a counsellor (without cameras) where they ultimately made the decision to leave the show.

Breaking the news to their fellow contestants left everyone reeling. All agreed that they wished they had done more to support them.

Explaining their decision to the group, Jesse said he had to put Paige’s needs ahead of his desire to see the renovation through.

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Kylie agreed that it was braver for the couple to step away to get the help they needed than to plough on.

Once the couple had departed the worksite, host Scott Cam assured the remaining contestants that Channel 9 would be making sure that Jesse and Paige continued to get the support they needed.

Jesse’s devastation at leaving is clear.

With Jesse and Paige gone, the teams got back to the job at hand — renovating their main bedrooms and walk-in robes.

Unfortunately, being a public holiday, the teams were forced to make a slow start as they were not allowed to receive deliveries or use power tools on site.

That’s where having a veteran Blockhead like Duncan on the team comes in handy. Shrewd old Duncan — who has been enlisted as Ricky and Haydn’s builder — suggested the boys have their timber sent to his house (and not the worksite) where he got to work with his saw. It’s within the rules and it gave them a nice little head start, which they will need to take on the likes of Kristian and Mimi, who have cash to burn after securing three out of four victories.

This week, Kristian and Mimi have been able to upgrade their wardrobe to include some fancy leather finishes and a bunch of coat hangers valued at $300 each!

They also scored a (pretty ugly) Gucci frock and a pair of earrings to adorn those pricey hangers.

The couple also won a luxurious night away where they had dinner with Scotty and Block veterans Ronnie and Georgia.

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Over a nice bottle of red, they quizzed Ronnie and Georgia, who have won the most rooms in Block history but never managed to win big come auction day, on their renovation strategy.

Any smugness they felt after having time with Ronnie and Georgia soon faded when they caught sight of the shrewd game-players inside Jesse and Paige’s abandoned worksite.

It soon became apparent, as Georgia made calls and began ordering furniture, that these All Stars weren’t just there for a tour.

“Were they buttering us up before they slaughter us,” Mimi moaned to Foreman Dan, fearful that Ronnie and Georgia were about to become their new competition.

Dan calmly pointed out the fact that Ronnie and Georgia talked a good game but were yet to win The Block but that did nothing to reassure Kylie who was furious they were on the show.

Unimpressed (though this seems to be her factory setting), Kylie said she would walk out if they became her new competition, before treating Georgia to a signature death stare.

Realising he had to act before Kylie got herself booked on a flight back to Cairns, Scotty sheepishly explained that it was all a big prank.

Ronnie and Georgia were just helping out for the day so that the new team, who were not former contestants, wouldn’t be completely behind the Eight ball.

Did that news bring a smile to her face? Of course not.