There’s no doubt that The Block is a pressure cooker, with tensions often riding high between teams, fellow contestants, and the cast and crew on site – and Kristian and Mimi were no expectation this season.
However, following the end of the show, Kristian and Mimi revealed that their time made them stronger both as a couple and as individuals, telling Channel Nine that the journey “really solidified our marriage.”
“Our Block experience has been a massive learning curve for both of us. We’ve learned a lot about each other,” Mimi told the publication.
What happened between Kristian and Mimi?
As well as the on-screen cheating scandal that shook both Kristian and Mimi’s marriage, as well as Kylie and Brad’s, the two didn’t have an easy time on The Block.
Following weeks of escalating tensions, the newlyweds had a series of explosive conflicts. Towards the end of the season, Kristian became increasingly overwhelmed by various tasks, and Mimi seemingly offered no sympathy or support.
After already breaking down on several occasions, the 31-year-old had his most emotional display yet when he retreated to one of the couple’s renovated bathrooms to calm down and gather his thoughts following an order by Foreman Dan to clean up his cluttered job site.
Low on sleep, energy, and morale, the electrician revealed to the camera that he was “drained physically, emotionally, and mentally.”
“I find it hard to comfort because Kristian is usually the one comforting me,” a stone-faced Mimi shares with the camera during a couch confessional overlayed with footage of herself screaming at her husband after finding him crying in the bathroom.
“What are you doing?” she demands from him, her husband pleading with her for “five minutes” to himself.
“How f****** embarrassing is he,” Mimi complains to Foreman Dan as she storms out, leaving him emotional and alone.
“I’ll leave his ass,” she added.
Fast forward to the next morning, Mimi made another frank admission to the camera: “Seeing Kristian cry, the way I react to it isn’t normal.”
“Crying when you are happy is fine but crying when you are sad is like be a man, it’s embarrassing,” she added.
“I don’t like how I react to it,” Mimi also shared, revealing that she had inadvertently become her mother, who instead of comforting her when crying as a child, would tell her to “snap out of it.”
Despite admitting that she had to soften up, and show some more support to her husband, the tentative peace formed by the South Australian couple was shattered later that night.
“Who the f****** did our bed like that?” a frustrated Mimi yelled at her husband, who had styled their bed in a way she didn’t like for the listing photos.
Things only continued to escalate from there, Kristian expressing his anger that while his wife had been having regular full nights of sleep, he had been busy working on their property.
Speaking with our sister public TV Week earlier this month, Mimi revealed that their time on the renovation reality series had been “really tough” for the couple.
“It’s the ultimate marriage test – don’t do it.”
