Out and about with Mitch and Mark

Mitch Edwards and Mark McKie never planned to star in season 15 of nationally recognised home renovation television series The Block. So, what motivated their leap into the spotlight?

“Alcohol. It was a Sunday night,” Mitch says with a laugh. 

“We’d watched The Block before, but we didn’t really know a lot about the show. One Sunday, we’d been surfing and drinking all afternoon. I saw the application for The Block and said to Mark that we should enter. And he said, ‘Knock yourself out.’”

It was 11.30pm and the application required them to submit a video. With the deadline of midnight creeping closer, the couple recorded their video and submitted it with seconds to spare. They went to sleep that night and the application became an afterthought. 

With so many people vying to be on one of Australia’s most popular renovation shows, what were the chances their last-minute entry would be selected? 

“We never expected it. Our entry was terrible,” Mark laughs.

But their authenticity clearly impressed the casting team, and their passion for home renovation and styling has seen Mitch and Mark amass a huge following on social media.

Mark says, “Mitch styles [everything] like our home—he puts a bit of heart in it and styles with purpose.”

Mitch emphasises the importance of creating beautiful spaces people can visualise living in.

“You go into those display homes and everything is styled a certain way—the cushions are chopped and you’ve got a billion layers on things,” Mitch says.

“When you come back on the second visit, you realise nothing is practical. I think when you style a home [you want it] to feel like a real home you can imagine living in. It’s not about having the most expensive or beautiful couch on display; it’s about knowing you could sit down and enjoy a cup of tea there.”

Together, they approach every home renovation project with two primary questions: “What if we lived here? How would we make it comfortable for us?”

Making definitive decisions when building or designing a home is important as it can have financial consequences. Luckily, for Mitch and Mark, disagreements rarely happen, and they’re able to have conversations where both their perspectives are valued and considered.

“We don’t disagree, but sometimes we’ll have a debate about whether we should do one thing or another,” Mark explains.

“Our setup is that Mark does the drawings to start off with, and then I come in after he’s done them, so that we’re not both invested in the same plan initially,” Mitch says. 

“Mark might be invested, but I come in with a different perspective. And we understand that it’s not about trying to have a win. It’s just that we’ve kept a set of fresh eyes.

“I’ll put together the colour palette and style direction, and Mark will then come in and say, ‘Love it but dial it back a bit, or dial it up’. What’s important is we listen.”

This strong sense of collaboration goes beyond their work, with the couple committed to always presenting a united front. 

“We've never yelled and called each other names because we choose to be with each other. If you choose to be with each other, then you’re not there to change the other person,” Mark says.

The couple first met more than 21 years ago and have chosen each other ever since. For Mitch, his partner was never a stranger—only someone he was waiting to meet.

“I think one of the first things [Mitch] said was, ‘I've been so looking forward to meeting you. I’ve been waiting to meet you’. And I was like, I don’t know what that means,” Mark says.

“I said, ‘I’ll explain it later,’ and then, within days, Mark said, ‘I get it,’” Mitch says.

Together, they have cultivated a beautiful life, one centred around love and family. The couple has been lucky enough to experience grandchildren and adore every moment with them.

Although they are proud poppies, staying true to themselves remains an important value.

“We’re not just grandparents and we’re not just parents,” Mark says.

“Sometimes it’s easy for parents or grandparents to lose themselves in the role, but you need to be able come back to the foundation of what you’re there for in each other,” Mitch says.

Together, they emphasise the importance of people learning to love themselves and realising their worth. This is a lesson they hope they have passed on to their children and grandchildren.

Mitch and Mark want their next generations to learn to be good people, and to expect the same from others.

Now, as TV personalities, the couple is often stopped in the street by members of the public, and they make sure they treat everyone with grace and kindness.

“You never know what it’s like when you don’t have a public profile. We thought we’d have our 15 minutes of fame, and it’s been going on for a few hours now,” Mitch laughs.

“But as for the recognition thing, we’ve just embraced it as a gift. We meet people we wouldn’t have met otherwise, and we share a bit of us and they share a bit of them.”

“I really like that we’re probably one of the best recognised same-sex couples on TV. We’ve been stopped by young people who’ve said, ‘I was struggling to come out, and my parents watch you, and they really like what you do, and I was able to talk to them about it’,” Mark says.

“It’s a great feeling knowing people see us as a couple and accept us as a couple,” Mitch says.

With a loyal following, fans continue to eagerly watch Mitch and Mark’s
journey. Travelling the world, making TV appearances, and working on reno projects, Mitch and Mark never stop. Even now, they are currently working on their latest project based in Sydney’s Brighton-Le-Sands.

“We’re about to embark on a big renovation of a penthouse we’ve just bought. It’s a huge project, and we’re so excited because we’re going to take it in a direction we haven’t gone before,” Mitch confides.

“Besides that, we have no idea what’s to come. Our motto is ‘Seize the day, whatever happens!’”