The Behind-The-Scenes Drama Involving HGTV's Rock The Block

HGTV's "Rock the Block" Season 5 was insanely popular with viewers, but that's not to say everything was hunky-dory behind the scenes. Contestants Keith Bynum and Evan Thomas were particularly vocal about what they saw as shady dealings in the production. From abuse claims to questions about the voting process, let's just say Bynum and Thomas left the show feeling less than impressed. 

The first hint at "Rock the Block" drama came on April 9, 2024 one day after the show's "Surprise Bedroom Redemption" episode aired. At the time, Bynum took to Instagram to admit that he had been disappointed when he and Thomas didn't win the challenge. "It was really disappointing to know we got a perfect score from someone and still lost," he wrote. Granted, that's not exactly an explosive statement, but it certainly did point to things not adding up. Two days later, Thomas shared an Instagram post of his own on the matter ... and that's where things took a serious turn. 

In the now-deleted post, Thomas made no secret of the fact that he was side-eyeing the judging and the production team. "Was there some low balling going on? Keith and I decided to judge very fairly because it's the right thing to do, plus we didn't trust production at all ... But did the other teams reciprocate that, and if so, which ones? We'll never know!" he quipped (via Heavy). Suffice it to say, there's a lot to unpack. 

Evan Thomas may have questioned his co-stars' voting behavior, but the winner of the "Bedroom Redemption" challenge, HGTV stars Sarah and Bryan Baeumler were quick to shut down any speculation that they lowballed their competitors. "Well you know we couldn't vote for our own spaces so don't look at me," she commented in the deleted post along with a laughing emoji (via Heavy). She also went on to affirm that she was a massive fan of Thomas and Keith Bynum's work, and even added that sharing the top spot in the earlier "Living Room Redemption" challenge had been a high point for her. 

For what it's worth, Bynum was just as quick to make it clear that he and Thomas had no beef with the Baeumlers. In fact, it was quite the opposite. "You know we love y'all" he replied to Sarah. However, that's where things took yet another turn, as Bynum pointed to even more drama behind the scenes. He added, "Seeing what y'all went through was hard to watch. This has nothing to do with winning or losing, it's bigger."

Bynum didn't go into any detail as to what the Baeumlers experienced, but it seemed like it was a similar ordeal to what he and Thomas also endured. After all, Sarah had alluded to tension during production in her comment. "This whole season has been a battle (in more ways than one)," she wrote. Whatever went down behind the scenes was clearly pretty serious.

Evan Thomas didn't leave his commentary on the "Rock the Block" producers at saying he and Keith Bynum didn't trust them. Far from it, he actually followed up with an even more pointed statement. "The lead producers are professional liars and manipulators but that's a story for another day lol," he wrote (via Heavy). The yikes are yikes-ing!

Now, it's no secret that many reality shows are crafted through smoke and mirrors, and there have long been theories over whether HGTV shows are fake or not. That said, when it comes to "Rock the Block," it seems there may have been something darker afoot. After all, in response to Thomas' Instagram post, Bynum had commented, "The truth will come out on the abuse and lies. I can't wait!!!"

At the time of writing, details on those decidedly bold claims remain scant. However, Bynum has continued to allude to the drama being exposed, and he's also hinted that whatever happened could be one of HGTV's biggest scandals. Just a few days after Thomas' post, Bynum took to Instagram to share two truths. The first, he explained, was that he loved Thomas (side note: aww!). But, he added, "The second is, things done in the dark eventually come to light. #ndasareforever." There's been no word on whether Bynum plans on breaking his own NDA, or if he knows someone else who's planning to speak up. Whatever might be revealed sounds like a major bombshell.