The Block 2021 episode 1 recap: Shocks, showdowns and soup-inspired style
There’s more drama than you’d ever see on Ramsay Street when The Block returns to renovate five houses on a Hampton cul-de-sac. See why two teams are already butting heads.
It was a revealing return for The Block, as the reality series unveiled five properties that would be renovated in the show’s upcoming series, lifted the lid on two major plot twists, introduced the new contestants and gave us three room reveals.
But the producers have saved the biggest surprise for their new teams until Monday night when it deploys returning contestants ---and savvy game-players – Mitch and Mark and Ronnie and Georgia on to the south east Melbourne cul-de-sac to compete.
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Before the show veterans return, we are given the opportunity to get to know our newcomers, although two of them might be already familiar for some.
Twins Josh and Luke are a genetically blessed duo with runs on the reality board, having starred on Love Island. Cue footage of the pair wading out of the surf, pecs glistening with salt water and muscles bulging looking like they’d just come from a Manpower calendar shoot.
Of course, the duo was also wearing hard hats (as you do for a day at the beach) for this little introductory package, to remind us that they were here to build things with those beefy arms and not just flex them for our viewing pleasure.
Then there’s aspiring country singer Kirsty and her music video directing childhood sweetheart Jesse. Kirsty has taken time off strumming her guitar to do the reality reno show, and no doubt use it as a springboard to launch her music career. Certainly, if previous seasons are anything to go by, The Block will provide the Dolly Parton fan with plenty of dramatic fodder for her song writing. Although I am not sure Nashville is ready for ballads about copycat carpentry and wet room woes.
Finally, we meet Tanya and Vito. She is a pocket rocket with purple hair and an eccentric wardrobe, and he is a 44-year-old who rides a scooter and boasts of being a “man of many talents.” They’ve got two children and refer to their family as the Gucci Crew.
Unlike previous years where most teams had at least one tradie in the pairing, none of the new contestants seem to be particularly savvy about renovation or interior design. And that certainly shows in their first challenge.
The three teams weren’t given much time to settle into their new digs (this is The Block, after all) before being given 48 hours and $5000 to redesign a bedroom.
The team with the best makeover got to decide which of the five houses on The Block they would be transforming, and there certainly is a mixed bag on offer this year.
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House 1 sits on the corner block. It’s a sturdy blonde brick home. House 2, next door, is a far smaller Federation cottage. Further down the street is House 3, a 1950s-style building and next door to it is House 4. Though to call it a “house” is generous. It is basically an empty block and a lone wall, or as host Scott Cam creatively described it: “a blank canvas.”
And finally, there’s House 5. It sits on its own on the other side of the street on the largest block of land and is the only property that is already two-storeys. But bigger isn’t always better if you have more sq/m to renovate on the same budget as everyone else.
In a first this year, host Scott Cam revealed that The Block is going underground. Each property has already had a large section of excavated to allow for a basement level which, Scotty explained, was perfect for a “wine cellar, an entertainment room or even a Covid bunker.”
And, we also leaned, that the teams would not be given any plans to work from this year. Instead, it would be left to these novice renovators to devise their own visions for their houses.
Armed with the knowledge that the first room reveal could be a game-changer, the three crews got to work, with mixed results.
Kirsty and Jesse went with a panelled ceiling and feature wall behind the bed and some “fancy s***” on the remaining walls. That’s Kirsty-speak for wainscoting.
The duo said growing up poor had made them experts at improvising and working to a budget. Both, undeniably great attributes for The Block.
Clearly Luke and Josh needed to take a leaf from their book. They managed to blow their budget on day one, overordering wood for their feature wall and splashing out on fancy lighting and a pricey window.
While they managed to talk Mitre 10 into taking back some of the timber, they were still left with limited funds. To pinch pennies, they decided to buy their bedding from second-hand shops and assemble their own furniture.
Yep, they made that same fatal error that so many Ikea shoppers make time and time again in thinking: “How hard can it be to build a flatpack?”
Answer: very. I have no doubt many a relationship has ended through the strain of flatpack assembly.
They weren’t content to simply break their budget. The brothers decided to break the rules as well. The Block rules have always stated that painting is the sole domain of contestants. So, when Luke and Josh’s builder grabs a roller and pitches in with the painting, Kirsty decided to pull them up on their infraction.
Rather than backing down or apologising, the twins urged the singer to take advantage of Foreman Keith’s absence to get her own tradespeople to start some furtive painting.
Once Kirsty was safely out of earshot the furious twins let fly with some choice schoolyard insults, labelling her a “dibber dobber” and a “goody-two-shoes”.
When they discover their plasterer has been giving Kirsty a hand (on their time and dime), it seemed they had just the weapon to throw the rule book back at Kirsty.
It wasn’t smooth sailing for Vito and Tanya either. They forgot a bedroom needs a window, until Scotty pointed out the flaw in their floorplan. Rather than splashing out on a new one, he suggested they simply pilfer an old one from one of the worksites.
Tanya described her style aesthetic as “minestrone” because she throws in a bit of this and a dash of that, without thought to whether it is all from the same period.
Clearly judge Neale Whitaker isn’t a fan of soupy styling. When the three judges arrived to assess the newcomers’ work, an underwhelmed Neale said he didn’t like anything in Tanya and Vito’s room except the terrazzo tiled floor because it was a “mish mash” of styles.
Shaynna Blaze disagreed, endorsing the purple, salmon and plum colour scheme and creativity. Although Shaynna added that the bedroom had been over styled and urged the couple to scale back to appeal to a broader market.
It was for this reason the couple received the lowest score of the day.
That left just our rule rivals to battle it out for top spot.
While the judges were impressed by the twins’ fancy window, somehow realising it was super expensive even though, to the untrained eye, it was just a plain rectangular window (one suspects a show sponsor made said windows).
The trio however, questioned why the brothers didn’t install a blind. And they made a good point. You would think that if anyone is going to appreciate the value of a dark room to sleep off a night of partying, it should be two blokes who’ve done time on Love Island.
Darren Palmer also slammed their LED lighting as “tacky” and looking as though it had been inspired by the Love Island set.
And so, it fell to the country singer and her faithful beau to win the day with their (pretty forgettable) Hamptons-inspired boudoir with the “fancy s***t” walls.
Thank heavens we will soon have Mitch and Mark and Ronnie and Georgie to lift the bar in the styling stakes.
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