How We Met: The Block's Mitch had an unusual opening line when he met Mark

By Kahla Preston|

"I've been looking forward to meeting you."

Those were among the first words The Block's Mitch Edwards said when he encountered Mark McKie by sheer chance 14 years ago.

There's no denying it's an audacious opening line, especially when delivered to a perfect stranger you had no idea you were about to meet in a bar.

Mark admits he wasn't entirely convinced by the approach.

"It's not always the pickup line you expect," he tells 9Honey, laughing at the memory.

Mark and Mitch met "the old-fashioned way" in a bar. (Supplied)

"It's like... 'I don't know you. You're a psycho!'"

On the night they met, Mark hadn't intended to go out for a drink at all, let alone in that particular Sydney bar.

He'd walked past the establishment and reached the intersection of the road when, in what he describes as a Sliding Doors moment, something compelled him to stop.

"For whatever reason I went, 'Oh, I'll turn back and have a drink, and walked into the bar," the trained psychologist recalls.

"I got a drink, and walked away from the bar to stand in a corner somewhere. I looked over and Mitch was pointing at me with somebody."

"I said, 'Wow, he's waving! I'd better go say hello'." (9Honey)

In fact, Mitch was on an ill-fated date, and had pointed at the dapper stranger across the room in answer to a question.

"The guy I was with had just said, 'What are you after, then, anyway?' because I wasn't with that person any more, as of that moment," the marketing professional explains.

"I said, 'Probably like that guy over there, he looks like an all-American boy' ... Then we pointed, and he said, 'That guy?'"

A slightly perplexed Mark waved back, not knowing how else to respond to the gesture. That was all the incentive Mitch needed to approach him.

"I said, 'Wow, he's waving! I'd better go say hello' and we started chatting," he says.

"To me, he was A-list ... I didn't expect he would be interested." (Supplied)

That's when the aforementioned opening line was dropped, but fortunately for Mitch, it worked in his favour.

"If it had been these days, with social media, I would've thought, 'You're a bit freaky, you really are stalking me'," laughs Mark, who works in personal injury and insurance.

"But to me, he was A-list. I was kinda B-list, I didn't expect that he would be interested."

The pair clicked right away, quickly bonding over their love of "daggy music".

"We're one big crazy happy family." (Instagram)

That's not their only shared passion. Mitch and Mark are also avid home renovators, having 'flipped' a whopping 15 properties in the 14 years they've been together.

When they're not busy renovating, the couple are enjoying their "big crazy, happy family", particularly their grandparent duties.

Mitch has three adult children from his previous 15-year marriage, with the eldest two having welcomed children of their own — five in total.

"They've got two dads, a mum, and we've got squizillion kids. Five seems a lot," he laughs.


Property News: Is your home affecting your mental health? -