Ronnie and Georgia were aiming for a trifecta of wins on The Block but they ended up in an unwelcome trio, after sharing last place with two other teams, including local Sussex Inlet duo Sticks and Wombat.
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In this week’s scoring, they inadvertently swapped places with likeable Queenslanders Hannah and Clint, who had their first win on Sunday night after previously languishing at the bottom of the ladder.
Hannah and Clint received a score of 28.5 for their room which left the judges raving about its welcoming feel – they even sat down to relax and pour themselves a scotch at the end of their assessment.
While Darren Palmer loved the central fireplace, Shaynna Blaze admired the “superb” wall panelling and other heritage features.
“It’s a room that I want to linger in,” said Neale Whitaker, who added “it’s just got ‘wow factor’.”
“That’s not a term Neale uses lightly,” said the show’s host Scotty Cam.
While the renovation challenge this week was titled “anything but a bedroom”, some viewers might suggest the episode should have been “anything but Wombat in a towel”.
Given he was given Mrs Wombat (a stuffed toy) by Elyse as an unofficial companion and he is being dubbed as “the bachelor from the bush” by Scotty Cam, one wonders whether Nine’s planning teams are already hinting at future opportunities.
You can almost overhear the production planning meeting now: “Hey, if Matty J can star in the newest series of The Bachelor on Ten, surely with these big ratings for The Block, Wombat might be a contender for Farmer Wants a Wife … if he has a farm, that is … anyone, does Wombat have a farm?”
“We know he loves surfing and he has his own unfinished shack at home, but is there a farm, people? Find a farm!”
I blame the Wombat towel shot entirely on those people.
Anyhow, back to the renovations and it was Ronnie and Georgia who were expected to carry on their winning streak but their use of dark walls and gold accessories for a lounge area created comparisons to “a bad nightclub”.
“This room feels as wrong to me as Hannah and Clint’s felt right,” said Whitaker.
The judges were also unimpressed with Ronnie and Georgia’s use of a non-functional fireplace. “They’re sort of taking the piss,” said Darren Palmer.
Whitaker hated the ‘ugly’ mirror in their room, declaring “that mirror belongs on the set of Aladdin”. (There was general agreement among the contestants, though, they loved Aladdin).
For Josh and Elyse, who opted not to use a bonus point previously awarded to them during a challenge, second place came with a score of 26.5.
They had created a “beautiful” study nook/sitting room which seemed to particularly impress Whitaker.
“This is the most beautiful library wall I have ever seen in this competition,” he said.
Josh and Elyse’s reaction was priceless but … disturbing. “Coming from two people that have never been in a library in their life, that’s pretty good,” Josh said, laughing. Please, tell us he was joking.
Elyse chimed in: “Never read a book in our lives”.
We would now like to interrupt this story for an important public service announcement for all millennials following Josh and Elyse on social media. BOOKS ARE BETTER THAN INSTAGRAM.
PLEASE READ BOOKS! Thank you.
Now back to the renovations – again. Sarah and Jason finally managed to finish a decent painting job this week but the judges agreed their room was too busy on the ceiling and too bland on the floor.
They also lost a point after being chosen by Ronnie and Georgia last week as the team to be penalised, so they ended up on 21 too.
Sticks and Wombat valiantly tried to turn a very small space into a functional study, with a desk which switched between standing and sitting mode. But size did eventually matter, as they duly noted.
“Are we in a broom closet?” said Shaynna Blaze. “What you’ve produced this week is a cupboard with a desk”.
But the judges did like the automatic standing desk, which was described as “cool”.
The final scores: Hannah and Clint on 28.5, Josh and Elyse on 26.5, Jason and Sarah on 21, Georgia and Ronnie on 21 and Sticks and Wombat on 21.