A friend commented the other day that everyone is getting along too well on this season of The Block , and there’s not enough bickering and drama. “Where’s the backstabbing?” she wailed, making me think she could be a solid contestant for next season tiles in Perth.
The preview for next week makes it look like there’s a little bit of drama in store. But, for now, we’ll have to do with people helping one another paint rooms, doing communal coffee runs to McCafe and politely borrowing tiles from their competitors. I mean, we’re happy for them, but there’s nothing like a good strop to get the viewer’s heart racing.
We digress. Back to this week’s big main bathroom room reveal. Here’s how it all played out.
Mitch and Mark
Since Mitch and Mark had such wild success last week by tinkering with the architect’s plans, they’re having another crack at it by creating a European laundry/en suite/linen press in place of a main bathroom. To give them credit, the thinking is sound – in their plan, all the bedrooms are on this level, so it saves lugging laundry up and down the stairs.
Again, this super-organised couple have been miles ahead all week, meaning they’re not wiping grout from their eyes when Scotty Cam wolf whistles. Quite the contrary, they’re perfecting their French tuck in the mirror at tools down. It’s rather beautiful.

Nobody took that bit of feedback well. Photo: Channel Nine
All judges questioned whether this has been a good move for the Bondi granddads, who are essentially “designing a home for themselves.”. At auction time, will their three entertaining areas stack up against four bedrooms and four bathrooms?
El’ise and Matt
With much fanfare and drama, El’ise and Matt used their one-off wild card and pulled the “all hands on deck” lever to get their master bathroom finished this week. They followed Mitch and Mark’s lead and changed the architect’s plans slightly. Instead of a main bathroom, they are flipping the orientation to make an en suite for the second master bedroom and a study. This allows them to get plenty of natural light into their bathroom by using the void.

El’ise and Matt’s bathroom. Photo: Channel Nine
The judges were fans of the bathroom’s styling and tiles, as well as the skylight over the double shower. They did critique the lighting around the mirror, saying it would throw shadows.
In this instance, the judges said the flexibility afforded by this small change to the plans was “huge”. The upstairs level could become a space for grandparents or an au pair, as there are essentially two master bedrooms and bathrooms in the build.
Darren Palmer mused “what Mitch and Mark have done, El’ise and Matt have done, but better? Mitch and Mark look out, these two could beat you at your own game”.