‘Rock the Block’ Controversy: HGTV’s Leslie Davis Issues Lengthy Apology to Castmate

Heavy/HGTV/YouTube Lyndsay Lamb and Leslie Davis of "Unsellable Houses" are competing on season 5 of "Rock the Block"

Friendly competition ended on a sour note in the latest episode of “Rock the Block,” which pits HGTV stars against each other in a six-week home renovation competition and brings in other network personalities to judge their work.

On the season 5 episode that aired on March 18, 2024, guest judge Kristina Crestin — the interior designer who typically co-stars with Jonathan Knight on “Farmhouse Fixer” — had to critique the main suites designed and executed by the four teams: Keith Bynum & Evan Thomas of “Bargain Block,” Bryan & Sarah Baeumler from “Renovation Island” and “Battle on the Beach,” Lyndsay Lamb and Leslie Davis of “Unsellable Houses,” and “Fix My Flip” co-stars Page Turner and Mitch Glew.

After Crestin listed the pros and cons of each space, she announced that Turner and Glew were the winners for the second time this season, leaving twins Lamb and Davis as the only team that hasn’t won a challenge yet. During a post-challenge interview alongside her sister, Davis expressed her frustration with a comment she now regrets.

“I disagree with everything she said,” Davis said with a straight face of Crestin’s crtiques. “And she needs to go back to Massachusetts — on the farm.”

Lamb gasped in shock at her twin’s comment and then countered, “I like her.”

The comment sparked controversy and seemed to fuel some viewers’ anger about Crestin’s decision. Crestin issued a response, trying to diffuse the situation with humor, but Davis has now issued a lengthy and serious apology to Crestin and others, calling her comment “uncalled for and rude.”

Here’s what you need to know:

Kristina Crestin Coyly Responds to Leslie Davis Comment & Social Media Backlash Over Her Judging

After the “Rock the Block” episode aired, viewers were very vocal on social media about their views on which team they thought did best. When the “Unsellable Houses” twins posted photos from the space they created, many fans expressed their frustration there and made it clear they’d picked up on Davis’ comment.

One wrote, “My favorite master suite, you gals rocked it out of the park by far!! Leslie is right… that lady needs to go back to her farm in Massachusetts!!! 🤭😂🙌🏼”

“When you said the judge needs to go back to the country my husband and I lost it,” another commented. “It was over.”

Crestin coyly responded to Davis’ diss in a selfie video she posted in her Instagram Stories on March 19, the day after the episode premiered. After saying it was “really fun to be back” on the block, given that she and Knight previously competed on the show, Crestin implied it wasn’t so fun to wake up to comments from divided viewers online.

She said, “Commentary this morning? That was interesting. Not my favorite experience so, you know, thanks half of you for what you had to say.”

While moving the camera to show she was standing in her yard on a lakeshore, Crestin then quipped, “And I just feel the need to clarify one thing. Just one thing only. I don’t live on a farm. In fact, I live on a lake. And I don’t have any animals besides a dog and I don’t grow anything.”

Laughing, she concluded, “So, you know, just felt the need to share that! Everybody, have a good night!”

Leslie Davis Responds to ‘Rock the Block’ Controversy With Lengthy Apology

About 24 hours after the main suite episode aired, Davis posted a lengthy apology video in her Instagram Stories to apologize for her comment and said she doesn’t remember saying it.

Posting from her bed in her pajamas, Davis said, “If you caught ‘Rock the Block’ last night, I made a comment at the end that was uncalled for and rude. Not at all how I meant it, I was trying to be sarcastic and funny.”

Davis continued, “I’m not even sure when I said it, honestly, I don’t even remember it. It was a long week, very exhausting and the main suite is very tough. But that doesn’t matter. It was uncalled for and, you know, sarcasm can be very hurtful. And I would never want to hurt somebody, especially somebody like Kristina, who is so kind and thoughtful and methodical in her words and decisions of how she judges and how she looks at spaces.”

“She had an incredibly hard job and I recognize that,” Davis said of Crestin’s role on the show, recalling when she and her sister judged the main bedroom suite during season 4 of the series. “We judged ‘Rock the Block.’ It’s almost harder than competing.”

Mentioning that she first met Crestin in Colorado “a few years ago,” Davis said she’s long been “blown away” by her creativity and composure and would never want to “minimize” her abilities.

“I am so impressed by her and from the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry,” Davis said. “And Kristina, I’m sorry if I offended you, I don’t know. But it was uncalled for and inconsiderate. So Kristina, I hope you accept my apology and just know that that’s not who I am, that’s not who I want to be, and TV is not worth being an unkind person.”

Davis also said she didn’t feel good about her kids, family, company, town or “my God” witnessing her comment.

“So, yeah, I’m sorry and I guess that’s all I can say,” she concluded.

Davis and Lamb also shared an Instagram photo of them in their main suite with Crestin, urging fans to be kind, and turned the comments off on the post.

“We know that if there is one thing harder than competing on Rock the Block, it’s being a judge on Rock the Block,” they wrote. “The ‘main suite’ challenge was definitely the toughest one yet and @kristinacrestindesign had a lot of work cut out for her this week—all of the designs were unbelievable!! Just a reminder, please be kind to people on social media—the judges, the other competitors, and other fans. 💗”