The Block 2024 episode 28 recap: Kylie cries foul as striped shower divides judges

Winning bathroom week may have bolstered their styling confidence and secured them a $10,000 prize, but it’s also cemented Maddy and Charlotte’s place as “the most hated team on The Block.”

The girls’ white and green bathroom impressed all three judges, with Shaynna Blaze dubbing the pretty nondescript room’s style “classic simplicity.”

While it was in no way as memorable as any of the other team’s efforts, the girls’ ‘less is more’ approach was enough to clinch them the win.

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Maddy and Charlotte’s safe but well-executed bathroom.

Kylie and Brad kept their hands firmly in their pockets and scowls plastered to their faces as everyone else pretended to be happy with a round of applause for the sisters.

Their victory ruffled feathers enough for the typically mute Brad to find his voice and declare “there are some people you don’t get along with and they have rubbed us the wrong way. They put up a good front but we don’t trust them.”

A furious Kylie added “the competition is rigged” and couldn’t understand how it was possible for the pair to have won the very first room they had undertaken alone on The Block (having previously just overseen the competition of rooms already started by Jesse and Paige).

The cold shoulder wasn’t missed by Maddy who noted “Kylie and Brad didn’t clap or show any sort of response. The common decency to be a good sport would have been nice. To have someone not even crack a smile is hurtful. Like, what have I done?”

Ever gracious Kylie and Brad react to the girls’ win.

Charlotte wondered whether they would have to “lose every week of The Block just to be friends with them.”

To be honest, I don’t think even that could woo Kylie’s favour. She has had been against them since they took over from Jesse and Paige and, now armed with the knowledge they downplayed their previous building experience, she’s managed to get everyone else on The Block to turn on them too.

Since arriving on The Block, the sisters have claimed to work in finance. In reality they have built a thriving business renovating houses.

There’s nothing new in that. Any fan of The Block will know that plenty of contestants downplay their skills to lull their competitors into thinking they’re not a threat.

Last year’s villain Brett was a covert tiler. Ditto 2021’s Jesse.

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But this year’s contestants were flabbergasted and – in some cases hypocritical and amnesiac – in their response to what’s gone down.

“I don’t know why you’d hide it,” Ricky complained (having himself hidden the fact he’d lined up real estate agents before arriving in Phillip Island).

“There’s no need to hide anything. It’s a weird way to go about it.”

Mimi told the group she was furious they had “lied to my face” seemingly forgetting that they had already told her about their sideline in house flipping not long after arriving.

After a brief showdown on site, the teams took their rivalry to the court with a chaotic basketball round robin that saw Ricky and Haydn come out winners.

Ricky and Haydn have been listening to the judges.

The boys also managed to win points with the judges this week for their ensuite, which featured a butter yellow sink and similarly toned tiles.

They had come prepared for another roasting from judges Shaynna, Darren Palmer and Marty Fox only to walk away with a very respectable second place for their efforts.

Darren liked what he saw and encouraged them to continue embracing their innate sense of play in their styling.

“I am really proud of the boys for their styling because I feel like they have listened…and upped the ante with their shapes, their connection and their lay-out,” Shaynna enthused like a kindergarten teacher giving a pupil a “nice try” stamp on their latest drawing.

Marty added: “Is it an amazing bathroom that gets the senses going? No. But is it marketable to a big range of buyers? Yes.”

He had the opposite experience walking into Courtney and Grant’s ensuite. Previously his favourite renovators of the competition, kitchen week saw the couple lose Marty as their number one fan.

Courtney and Grant’s striped shower divided the judges.

After being momentarily lost for words as they took in the striped feature wall of tiles, the three judges were divided about whether the risky design was a winner or a complete failure.

“You know how you drive down to Phillip Island past the kids’ maze,” he said. “I feel like this is like walking into that maze. It’s an optical illusion and I hate it. For me it’s a miss and this is now two weeks in a row that Courtney and Grumpy have made me grumpy and I am not picking up what they are putting down.”

Marty also questioned their decision to take space from the second living area to increase the ensuite.

“A massive mistake from a real estate perspective,” he argued.

Darren disagreed saying: “you could open any number of magazines right now and see that. It’s hot. It looks awesome. It’s so good and so exciting. It will look fantastic on a marketing brochure.”

He went so far as to say that the property was his favourite of the season and “one of the most luxurious and design-centric homes we have seen on The Block ever.”

“They have swung hard for a designer market and they have hit it out of the park.”

Shayna had a bet each way. She agreed the space had been wasted on the ensuite but felt the design had wow factor.

“I’m going to stand by their style choice but I am not going to stand by their floor plan choice.”

Kylie forces her face into a smile in her and Brad’s ensuite.

The judges were also lost for words when they walked into Kylie and Brad’s ensuite (and this time it was for the right reasons).

Darren said: “This is what Kylie and Brad were aiming for in their first bathroom but this time it works. They are in the game now. This defines their house.”

Shaynna loved the pop of colour in the sink and that bizarre Tim Burton-esque artwork.

Marty wasn’t impressed by the timber-look tiles in the shower (he’s not a fan of any material that masquerades as another). He felt the room was a letdown after their efforts in the kitchen the week before.

Kristian and Mimi’s mezzanine ensuite.

But he finally found something to smile about at Kristian and Mimi’s place. He loved their watered-down facsimile of their previous bathrooms, arguing that it would be very marketable.

Shaynna and Darren disagreed.

“And I am underwhelmed by this aesthetic purely because I have seen it before in this house,” Darren said.

While Shaynna felt it wasn’t exciting to see a “rinse, lather, repeat” sense of style.