The Block 2021: Mitch and Mark crowned winners as contestants take home $2.27m in prize money

Fan favourites Mitch Edwards and Mark McKie have reversed their fortunes on The Block, winning the 2021 season in a lucrative finale to a season tinged with drama.

The Sydney couple collected an auction windfall of $644,444.44, plus the $100,000 winner’s purse, for a grand total of $744,444.44.

All of the teams pocketed riches from the sale of the five Bronte Court houses, but in a twist, some of the couples often panned by the judges during the TV show were among the biggest winners. The Block airs on Nine, a majority owner of Domain.

In 2019, Mr Edwards and Mr McKie finished last in their first appearance on The Block, but on Sunday’s Hampton finale, they sold their family-friendly creation for a season-winning $4,044,444.44, against a reserve of $3.4 million. The price guide was $2.8 million to $3 million. 

In second place were twins Luke and Josh Packham with a $3,930,000 sale, netting a profit of $530,000 over the reserve of $3.4 million. The twins’ home had been advertised with a price guide of $2.6 million to $2.8 million.

It was an unexpected result for both the brothers and Sydney granddads, who had endured a rollercoaster of feedback from the room reveal judges, swinging between praise and criticism from week to week. 

Tanya and Vito Guccione came third with a $3,800,000.01 sale and profit of $400,000.01. 

They were followed by young country couple Kirsty Akers and Jesse Anderson, who renovated this year’s biggest house. They secured a $4,401,523.67 sale and a $301,523.67 profit. 

In fifth place were fan favourites Ronnie and Georgia Caceres, who had gained consistent kudos from the judges and earned the highest number of points during the season, giving them the power to choose the auction order. 

The professional renovators made a profit of $296,000 from a $3,696,000 sale. Although they were initially elated with the outcome, they became emotional in the hours after, as the arduous season’s pressure and tense team dynamics took hold.  

The properties were auctioned in the order they were numbered on the show. 

The winning house was not the judges’ favourite throughout the season. “Claustrophobic”, “oppressively small”, “dumb”, and “insane” were some of the words the judges used to describe Mr McKie and Mr Edward’s rooms, finishes and design choices.

The couple at times fumed over the judges’ comments but committed to their style and ideas and were given a confidence boost after winning the Domain Buyers’ Jury, which established their house as a market favourite.

Their house was snapped up by serial Block buyer Danny Wallis, known for placing unusual bids during auctions. It was one of three houses Mr Wallis bought on the day. 

Mr Edwards and Mr McKie said they were in “total shock” after their auction.

“We never saw it coming, and we didn’t even anticipate winning. We’d had such an amazing journey that anything above nothing was a win, and we prepared ourselves for that. We were so keen and excited for our friends to win,” Mr Edwards said.

“We were criticised for changing our style [from their time on The Oslo in 2019], but we did our research to work out what kind of house would work here. We stuck to our guns,” Mr Edwards said.

Mr McKie and Mr Edward are seasoned renovators, completing 20 houses before they were called up to appear in their second season of The Block. However, they struggled to gain praise from judges Shaynna Blaze, Neale Whittaker and Darren Palmer, winning only front yard week and a bathroom reveal much earlier in the season.

Despite the regular knocks, McGrath listing agent Michael Townsend said the auction result was unsurprising.

“Mitch and Mark’s design was amazing; it was beautifully executed and had flow. They stuck to their synergy and were consistent,” he said.

McGrath co-listing agent Josh Stirling said the pair delivered a property that was in a “different vein” to their townhouse on The Oslo season of 2019 when they finished last.

“The price is accurate,” Stirling said of this year’s winning sum. “The rentability of this pocket also makes it deserving of the result.”

Whitefox Advocacy agent Nicole Jacobs, who specialises in the elite level of the bayside market and bid for clients on the day, said Mr Edwards and Mr McKie were her “dark horse” team from the beginning.

She said that early in the season, she had advised them to increase the number of bedrooms to four, and in taking the advice, had produced a house that reflected the family nature of Hampton’s real estate market.

“They understood cul-de-sac living,” Ms Jacobs said, by creating, in effect, another room of the house in the front garden where parents could watch their children play in the street. “They knew their path,” Ms Jacobs said.

The Agency’s Jesse Raeburn, auctioneer and selling agent for the so-called “Gucci gang” and a past Block contestant himself, noted the gap between feedback from the judges and the market.

“I feel as though the judges have been doing it for so long now that they just have tunnel vision, and, without a doubt, they’re great interior designers, but they don’t design homes to sell,” Mr Raeburn said.

“Our home and the boys’ home prove that an emotional buyer with an attachment to a property will pay more for something that maybe is not the most on-trend with the design world.” 

Buyers’ advocate Frank Valentic of Advantage Property Consulting bid for all five properties and secured one – the twins’.

“To get one out of five is obviously disappointing in one way, but you’ve got to stick to your limits, and you can’t just buy them at any price,” he said.

“When you’re bidding against someone like Danny who doesn’t have a limit, it makes it hard.”

His winning bidders were a couple from Sydney, who plan to rent out the property for now and relocate and move in later. 

The twins’ listing agent, Ray White’s Kevin Chokshi, said to finish as the second-best house of the season was “very different to what was perceived through the duration of the show”. 

“It just shows that they stuck to their guns and followed through their vision, and it obviously paid off,” he said.

The buyers and the underbidders were not big watchers of the TV show, he said.

He complimented the brothers for being smart about which feedback they ignored and which they took on board. 

The prize money will be life-changing for the contestants, and the Packham boys wept as the hammer fell. The pair said the sum of $530,000 over reserve would allow them to start a synthetic turf business and take a holiday.

They changed The Block architect Julian Brenchley’s original layout for their property, and the risk paid off, they said.

“The show was extremely stressful not just for us, but for our whole family,” Josh said.

“It was tough to endure, so this result makes it all worth it in the end. It is not easy going on The Block and watching The Block as well.”

Luke said: “We copped it pretty hard throughout the show, so this result means it is all worth it – all the criticism, all the negative messages.”

Theirs was one of the few homes not bought by Mr Wallis, who forked out more than $12.245 million to add to his growing portfolio of properties from the show. The tech entrepreneur bought the Guccione’s, and Ms Akers’ and Mr Anderson’s, as well the winning house, and all for tongue-twisting amounts. 

He made headlines in 2012 when he bought a house on the show’s fifth season for the irregular sum of $1,400,001.01 and has maintained his bidding style since.

He returned in 2019 to buy Mr Edwards and Mr McKie’s Oslo house, paying $3,374,000. Last year, he was the winning bidder in three of the five auctions, in his trademark manner of adding a flourish of small dollars and cents on to multimillion-dollar bids.

Mr Wallis said The Block properties he acquires are rented out or used for charitable purposes. He said he enjoyed buying real estate on the show because the houses were “well built, fully furnished, and everyone knows them”. 

One house he did not add to his portfolio was the judges’ favourite, House 1.

Mrs Caceres said it was difficult to articulate their emotions as their auction unfolded.

“We were very nervous sitting down there with Scotty. I don’t think words can really describe how you feel,” she said.

Mr Caceres said: “We’ve done it before, and now we’ve done it again, and we’ve actually sold and what a great result.

“I’m so proud of what we’ve done, and let’s hope we’ve set a precedent so everyone can make a bit of cash because that’s what it’s all about.”

The biggest house on the show had the slowest start of the auctions, opening at $3 million. Bidders queried on several occasions if the property was yet on the market as the price crept upwards. Two buyers’ agents and another party duelled until Mr Wallis rejoined the fray, pushing the price above the reserve of $4.1 million.

The couple said, “it was really hard to take” the news of their lofty reserve.

“We went into [the auction] thinking we weren’t going to get anything because the reserve was so high,” Ms Akers said.

“Who the hell would sneeze at 300 grand … that’s almost our mortgage, so it’s just incredible.”

As for the future, Mr Edwards and Mr McKie have launched a homewares range including candles and hand and body wash, aptly called Mitch and Mark Home, which keen Block viewers may have already spied throughout the show. They plan to open a flagship store in Sydney’s Newport.

Click to open gallery

But first, the thing they’re most looking forward to doing is sharing the news with their team of builders.

“They’re going to get to say that they built the winning house of The Block 2021, and we’re really proud that they can do that. They’re going to be so thrilled,” Mr McKie said. 

It was a big auction day right across Melbourne on Saturday, with 1062 auctions scheduled.

Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 71.1 per cent from 812 reported results.  

The Block auction results were:

• House 1, Ronnie and Georgia: Sold for $3,696,000, reserve $3.4 million, profit $296,000
• House 2, Mitch and Mark: Sold for $4,044,444.44, reserve $3.4 million, profit $644,444.44 + $100,000 winner’s prize = grand total $744,444.44
• House 3, Tanya and Vito: Sold for $3,800,000.01, reserve $3.4 million, profit $400,000.01
• House 4, Luke and Josh: Sold for $3,930,000, reserve $3.4 million, profit $530,000
• House 5, Kirsty and Jesse: Sold for $4,401,523.67, reserve $4.1 million, profit $301,523.67