The Block 2021 episode 21 bathroom reveal: Tanya and Vito’s room labelled an ‘old-fashioned public toilet’

Judge Neale Whitaker says one team’s brown bathroom reminds him of an old-fashioned public toilet and could go as far as to cost them the competition.

Siobhan Duck

5 min read

September 12, 2021 - 8:45PM

News Corp Australia Network

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IT was Ronnie and Georgia by a nose. Or should that be a gnome?

The Perth favourites played their garden gnome bonus point to edge out stiff competition from twins, Luke and Josh.

The twins, who put everything on the line – including splashing out their Suncorp gamechanger money – to create a winning bathroom were understandably peeved.

As Ronnie and Georgia celebrated and received congratulations from the other teams, the twins could barely hide their contempt.

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“That f***ing gnome. I swear if I don’t get my hands on one and get Ronnie and Georgia back, I am going to be pissed,” Josh fumed.

After a week of blood, sweat and tears getting their bathroom done, Luke and Josh were annoyed to be beaten to the win by Ronnie and Georgia’s gnome Picture: Channel 9

“This shouldn’t be fans versus faves because I am not a fan of them,” added Luke.

The twins’ fury only added to Ronnie and Georgia’s joy. They’ve been plotting revenge on the duo ever since last week’s cheating scandal.

It wasn’t all bad news for the Love Islanders, having scored a 10 for their bathroom by judge Neale Whitaker, they were awarded a $5000 bonus.

Neale also gave Ronnie and Georgia a perfect score, bringing their total windfall for their ensuite up to $15,000. And let’s not forget they’ve also pocketed $10,000 for winning the challenge, making it a very lucrative week for them on The Block.

Although the judges were impressed by Ronnie and Georgia’s neutral bathroom, saying it was “hard to fault”, it was Josh and Luke’s indoor/outdoor design that really wowed them this week

Ronnie and Georgia celebrate winning a total of $25,000 this week. Picture: supplied, Channel 9

“We’ve been transported from a wardrobe to something much better than Narnia,” Darren Palmer enthused as he walked into the bathroom with Neale and fellow judge Shaynna Blaze.

Noting the heaters that had been installed over the outdoor bath, Neale said he would happily bathe in the ensuite every day of the week. He added that the aesthetics made his “hair stand on end.”

“Presumably on his back because he’s got nothing on his head,” laughed Scott.

The judges were most impressed by the twins’ outdoor bathroom. Picture: Supplied, Channel 9

Neale was rather less complimentary about what he saw at Tanya and Vito’s place, likening their brown-tiled bathroom to a public toilet. And an “old-fashioned” one at that.

Tanya’s eclectic style, mixing genres and patterns with giddy abandon, was always going to be divisive.

“Sometimes a room comes along that reminds you that individuality is a double-edged sword,” he said.

“I think that brown tile in the bathroom is really going to polarise. I think they’ve managed to put a tile in their bathroom that most people are going to want to rip out.”

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While Darren rather liked Tanya’s hodgepodge décor, he agreed with Neale that it wasn’t going to win them many buyers come auction day.

“I love the character in here and the courage to make the choices to use that ceramicware, to use that lamp. To use that brown tile, which should truly be hideous, but I don’t hate it,” he said.

“The problem I have with that tile though is that it’s highly likely that a buyer will hate it.”

Shaynna feared that the bathroom was just the tip of the iceberg, worrying that the couple’s eclectic styling throughout the house was reducing their pool of buyers every week.

The judges said Tanya and Vito’s brown tiles would polarise buyers. Picture: Supplied, Channel 9

The trio were equally harsh – if not more so – about Mitch and Mark’s efforts where Darren said there was “a big glass elephant” in the bathroom.

All three judges felt the shower screen, which runs almost the full length of their ensuite, had been put in the wrong place – giving too much room to the shower and not nearly enough to the rest of the bathroom.

“There’s this incredible sense of being hemmed in, created by this wall of glass,” said Neale.

“Unfortunately, in this room the planning issues totally outweigh the styling. The minute you come through that door you are really aware that there is something wrong with the planning.”

Neale added that the giant wall of glass was an accident waiting to happen if someone wandered into the bathroom half asleep, without their glasses on or “after a few wines” they could walk right through it by mistake.

The judges felt Mitch and Mark’s shower screen was a dangerous, planning disaster. Picture: Supplied, Channel 9

Shaynna added that it was strange too that all the natural light was in the shower rather than near the mirrors, where people most needed it.

“It’s all form over function,” she said.

“Because it looks beautiful in so many ways, but it doesn’t function in a lighting plan, it doesn’t function in natural light, and it doesn’t function in lay-out.”

Because of their substandard planning, Mitch and Mark ultimately received the lowest score of the week, behind even Tanya and Vito’s “1970s motel bathroom”.

They were beaten too by Kirsty and Jesse who, for the first time in the competition, were lauded for their sophistication.

Ronnie and Georgia’s winning bathroom. Picture: Supplied, Channel 9

The judges agreed that their navy and beige bathroom was a vastly superior interpretation of the Hamptons style they’d been using throughout the house.

“Kirsty and Jesse need to go back over every room that they’ve done so far and align it to this aesthetic,” Darren said.

Next week, in addition to creating a third bedroom, the teams will be given the chance to redo one of their previous rooms. And based on the judges’ feedback this week, it seems some of these bathrooms might be top of the list for a revisit.

JUDGES’ FINAL SCORES

Ronnie and Georgia: 29

Luke and Josh: 28.5

Kirsty and Jesse: 26

Tanya and Vito: 22.5

Mitch and Mark: 22

MISSED AN EPISODE?

Episode 19 & 20: Jealousy runs rampant during tense Block challenge

Episode 18: Superior organisational skills or cheats? Mitch and Mark in hot water

Episode 17: ”It’s crap”: The Block’s tackiest room slammed

Episode 16: ‘Piece of trash’ The Block descends into chaos

Episode 15: Block cheat flushed by hidden cameras