The judge says personal taste does not drive her decisions on The Block. She also says time pressures led to some leniency this season that viewers did not necessarily see explained on screen.

Speaking to TV WEEK, Shaynna outlined the mix of practical and emotional considerations behind her marks, as viewers question the panel’s consistency.

Three Judges, Different Approaches

Shaynna said she, Darren Palmer and Marty Fox do not all arrive at their scores in exactly the same way, although their final marks often land close together.

Her own considerations include workmanship, the likely buyer, the layout, balance, suitability and how successfully a room meets the brief. How the space feels also counts.

“It is about the contestant nailing the brief,” she said.

After four decades in the industry, Shaynna says she can separate that assessment from the styles she enjoys personally. Her point was fairly direct: if preference alone decided the scores, contestants would be producing her favourite period interiors every year.

Darren has described his method on the show as four equally weighted categories: finish, design, inclusions and marketability, each worth up to 2.5 points. TV WEEK did not provide an equivalent breakdown from Marty.

Why Some Rooms Received Leniency

Shaynna said time constraints meant allowances were made during some judging. She maintained that the same leniency was available to every team, even where the television edit did not show that context.

Shaynna did not identify particular rooms or the points involved in those allowances. She also observed that contestants tend to feel judging disappointments more sharply than they question a winning result.

Asked whether she would revisit any of her marks, Shaynna said she would not.

She pointed to the difference between physically walking through a house and watching it on television. In particular, she said the textures in this year’s homes do not always translate on screen, leaving viewers to compare the shapes and dimensions they can see.

The people on the couch may still have their own scorecards. Shaynna is keeping hers.