Your Domain: The Block's Jesse and Mel on the 'greatest stitch-up in Block history'

Jesse and Mel may have started this season of The Block strongly, but they’ve faded in recent weeks, ending in the middle of the pack with the judges’ scores.

But the Victorian pair aren’t fazed with how the judges see their house. Real estate agent Jesse insists he and Mel are building and renovating a house for the market.

And their secret strategy? A little bit of old-fashioned DIY.

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They’ve capitalised on Jesse’s past life as a tradie, which seems to be a secret to foreman Keith – but no one else.

“Honestly, it is the greatest stitch-up in Block history because it’s not just us not telling him, there’s 200 people on the job site and everyone knows I used to be a tradesman but nobody tells him,” Jesse told Your Domain on Saturday.

“Everyone gets as much enjoyment out of it as I do – seeing Keith look in and going ‘wow, how are you doing this?’ He’s patted me on the back, there’s a bit of a bromance happening – it’s actually really good. I’m having a lot of fun with Keith.”

Getting Jesse on the tools was driven by a desire to be able to have custom-made furniture that they would not be able to afford unless he and Mel got their hands dirty, allowing them to reinvest the cash into the house.

But that wasn’t how they approached the build going into the show.

Mel explained: “We figured he knows what style will sell, and I’m good at managing people so I [would] stay on site, but when we realised the size of the build and how good he actually is on the tools, I was like ‘alright, you stay’.”

Jesse’s styling wasn’t well-received by the judges, but things have turned around thanks to tuition from former Block winner Dea Jolly, Mel said.

“We did get a bit of negative feedback from the judges the first couple of weeks thanks to his styling, so I was like ‘let’s mix it up’. Having Dea, she taught me a lot  – taught me about textures and buying more than what you need – if you don’t need it, you can use it later.”

Despite the lower scores, Jesse maintains he and Mel are on the right track.

“While we would love to win rooms because you need the money, ultimately, we want to win The Block. So we’re designing a home that is consistent throughout and we think that the market will love.”

They are highly anticipating the Sunday reveal of their living and dining room, which is the most expensive in their house thanks to the multitude of prizes and contents of the vault they won in week one, and say that they’re over the Mitch and Mark-instigated controversy over claims of copying.

Your Domain airs at 10am on Saturdays on Nine. Catch up on all episodes on 9Now.

The Block airs 7pm on Sundays and 7.30pm Mondays to Wednesdays on Nine.