With the ads promising “one of the most controversial moves by any contestant in the history of The Block,” Sunday night’s master bedroom room reveal was shaping up to be a belter. 

Could El’ise and Matt make it back-to-back wins (following their formal living room triumph the week before), or would Bondi granddads Mitch and Mark finally take home the honours after being pipped at the post in the past two challenges?

Scotty Cam decided to mix things up this week by handing down the judges’ verdict in reverse order … making us wait for the night’s big-ticket item – seeing whether Mitch and Mark got a bollocking for tinkering with the floor plan.  

Here’s how it played out. 

Jesse and Mel 

The way the camera operators capture Mel’s quiet pain throughout this season is becoming something of an art form. It should almost have its own category at the Logies.

The St Kilda locals won the first week challenge with their guest bedroom, so they decided to replicate the style in their master bedroom. An approach that truly backfired. 

 “Consistency is one thing, but this room feels like deja vu” was the official line from the judges. 

Neale Whitaker said: “It feels ordinary. I feel completely underwhelmed … Jesse and Mel are becoming the team that is consistently disappointing.”

Shaynna Blaze felt the “ginormous” mirror at the end of the bed was a bit much but warmed a little when she realised it was a sneaky television. 

Despite the sneaky television, their room was universally met with a thumbs down. Mercifully, the producers spared us this week and didn’t subject us to another clip of Jesse saying he’s a real estate agent in the area and he knows what the buyers want. 

Andy and Deb 

It seems that Andy’s mad-cap entertaining is wearing a bit thin around the building site, especially when it means the couple from the coast is falling behind with their workload. 

After having some positive feedback to a green wall last week, they’ve now decided to paint everything green. The result was what the judges described as a “lovely, calm, pretty room”. 

Darren Palmer said he was happy to see “more life, interest, texture and colour”, but Shaynna didn’t love the bed and bedside tables – she felt it was all a little “nana”.

Their walk-in wardrobe with a wallpapered feature wall was aesthetically pleasing but fell down a bit in functionality, i.e not enough space to store your crap (and let’s face it, a wardrobe has one job).

El’ise and Matt

Between more crying and arguing this week, El’ise and Matt managed to complete their room. This was a great example of successful time management. 

Their master bedroom came complete with a breakfast nook (featuring a coffee station and bar fridge) and a makeup nook. The judges loved the ornate ceiling with Darren saying, “I feel like Tom Cruise jumping on the couch right now” when he walked into the space.

The only negative was that the bedroom was a bit small … the payoff should have been extra storage in the walk-in wardrobe, but the judges felt the space was wasted and it wasn’t as functional as it could have been (El’ise and Matt opted for a wide walkway instead of extra cupboards and drawers). 

Despite this, Neale described it as a “modern update on a traditional terrace … they really understand the meaning of home, and the emotion of what that means”.

Tess and Luke

After a few nightmare weeks when rooms weren’t completed, Tess and Luke seem to have hit their stride, with a new builder and some helpful guidance from the judges. 

Following a last-minute styling bungle where Tess realised the bedhead, mirror and bedside shelves looked god-awful together, the Queensland newlyweds delivered a completed room for the second week in a row. 

Their walk-in wardrobe was a big hit with the judges, which was split down the middle in a his ‘n’ hers style. Initially Scotty was dubious about the size of the wardrobes, but as Tess sagely pointed out: “Rich people have a lot of stuff.” 

Darren loved that the room was “edgy, cool and art-driven” and said, “I’m really proud of Tess and Luke’s evolution from last week to this week”.

Neale wasn’t as much of a fan, saying he felt the huge mirror above the bed complicated things, and that the room felt cluttered.

Mitch and Mark

After some plugs for McCafe, it was the bit everyone was waiting for and the moment of truth for Mitch and Mark. For such a momentous week Mitch busted out some of his best looks, including these overalls:

And this crop-top, perfect for displaying ripped abs when giving someone a high 10:

The boys decided to change the configuration of their apartment and offer three bedrooms instead of four as they were after a buyer who wanted “luxury and entertaining space … someone who wants to live the good life in St Kilda”.

In place of the master bedroom, they created a truly fabulous entertaining area with a Palm Springs pool party vibe. As well as the light-filled lounge area there was an en suite and a kitchen prep space … because you need somewhere to make those refreshing morning mimosas (seriously, though, when can we move in?). 

It remains to be seen whether they have reduced their market by having one less bedroom. Jesse certainly thinks so, saying: “It’s a competition between four and not five now, which is good.” And just in case you weren’t aware, he’s a local real estate agent, so he’d know. 

Rejigging the floor plan like this is a move Shaynna described as, “the most exciting twist I have ever seen while judging The Block”.

Despite Darren warning “change the architect’s plans at your own peril”, the room was a hit. Judges loved the space, saying it had “elegance and class”, with the cathedral ceiling, skylights, 1970s Palm Springs-style wallpaper and functioning fireplace.

Mitch and Mark won the challenge and took home the $10,000 prize money. But not before a valiant bid to drum up some disquiet. 

Over some seriously dramatic music that would make you think they were skydiving without a parachute, Neale questioned whether the Bondi granddads had stooged the other competitors by placing a noisy entertaining area next door to the master bedrooms. Would this affect their property prices?

He asked whether they were “being brave with their own house, but also being selfish?”

The judges questioned whether doing this was a strategic move to mess with the competitors, with Shaynna saying, “if someone’s playing the game, it’s Mitch and Mark”. 

Despite everyone’s best efforts to create a bit of friction, Luke and Tess seemed genuinely unfazed … probably remembering how Mitch and Mark selflessly helped them paint and complete the room just two weeks prior. 

El’ise and Matt didn’t seem that bothered either. While discussing it in the car on the way home they looked as troubled as I do when I am asked to wait five minutes for my food at the drive-thru. Which is to say: mildly. 

Are Mitch and Mark scheming villains? They’re just so damn fabulous that nobody is particularly worried. There’s a lesson in this for all of us: it’s hard to be angry at someone wearing a crop-top and overalls.

Simone Mitchell is a freelancer writer. You can follow her on Twitter.