Heavy/HGTV Keith Bynum and Evan Thomas of HGTV's "Bargain Block"
Renovation experts on HGTV are used to the scrapes and bruises that come with their line of work. But while filming the fifth season of “Rock the Block” on November 8, 2023, “Bargain Block” star Evan Thomas suffered an injury so severe that it required stitches.
Here’s what you need to know:
Evan Thomas Required Stitches for Injury He Blames on ‘Dangerous Art’
Thomas has been in Florida with his longtime partner and co-star, Keith Bynum, filming the next season of HGTV’s hugely popular competition show, “Rock the Block.”
On November 8, he posted a photo in his Instagram Stories of his bloodied hand, taken at what looked to be a medical facility with a metal table behind him. The image showed that he’d received several stitches in the space between his index finger and middle finger.
“DANGERS OF ART HANGING LOL,” he wrote over the photo, without providing any more details.
The next day, his friend and fellow “Rock the Block” competitor Leslie Davis of “Unsellable Houses” uploaded a photo to her Instagram Stories highlighting Thomas’ injury. In the image, Davis and her twin sister and co-star Lyndsey Lamb gave their best sad faces with Thomas in the middle, jokingly pouting while holding up his hand.
Davis wrote, “First set of stitches on the block…Hope we don’t have to amputate. 😜”
Thomas shared the photo in his Stories, adding a crying-with-laughter emoji. But some fans were confused by the image, thinking that Davis was holding up her own stitched-up hand. So, the two filmed a clarification, which Davis posted in her Stories and Thomas shared, too.
“Okay, I just want to update you,” Davis said, with Thomas sitting just behind her and smiling. “It is not me that got injured on the Block.”
Thomas then waved his injured hand in front of the camera and said, “It’s me!”
“It’s Evan,” Davis echoed. “That’s Evan’s hand. That is not a girl’s hand!”
Holding up her manicured hand, she said, “This is my hand. Much cuter.”
Thomas then showed his hand again and quipped, “Very ugly and manly.”
Laughing, Davis added, “Yes, very manly! So if you’re worried about a hand, be worried about Evan’s hand. Now, how do you think it happened? That’s the real question.”
As the camera panned back over to Thomas, he smirked and said, “Dangerous art!”
Fifth Season of ‘Rock the Block’ Comes With a Casting Twist
HGTV announced on October 26 that filming of a fifth season of “Rock the Block” was already underway at four homes located along the waterfront in Treasure Island, Florida. For the first time ever, the competition series will feature four past teams who did not win their seasons, returning for a shot at redemption.
The four returning teams are Thomas and Bynum of “Bargain Block” fame, Davis and Lamb from “Unsellable Houses,” Bryan and Sarah Baeumler of “Renovation Island” and “Battle on the Beach,” and Page Turner and Mitch Glew from “Fix My Flip.”
Bynum and Thomas previously faced off against Lamb and Davis during the third season of “Rock the Block,” which was won by “Married to Real Estate” stars Egypt Sherrod and Mike Jackson.
Meanwhile, The Baeumlers, Turner and Glew competed on the most recent season, which premiered in March 2023. The winners of that season were Michel Smith Boyd and Anthony Elle from “Luxe for Less.”
Ty Pennington, who suffered his own medical emergency while filming another HGTV show this year, has returned to host the upcoming “Rock the Block” season.
According to a release from HGTV, each of the teams will have a budget of $250,000 and six weeks to design and renovate four identical homes along the Florida coast, which each include a pool and boat dock. As usual, the team who adds the most value to their house will win the crown.
Whether footage of Thomas’ on-set injury makes it into the next season remains to be seen. Season 5 is slated to premiere in March 2024.