We’ve made it to the end of the 19th season of The Block and boy, wasn’t this an explosive season? As always, there were plenty of late nights, tears and drama as the Blockheads worked tirelessly to get their gorgeous homes ready for auction, hoping to win the big bucks on auction day. But this year, there were some very mixed results causing some big feelings for the contestants who have spent three months of their lives trying to get that real-estate bag.
So, let’s see what went down, shall we?
What were the reserves?
The moment that the teams find out what their reserves are is arguably one of the most pivotal moments on the show. For those not in the know, the reserve is the price that the contestants must reach before they begin to earn a profit from their time on the show. Once this number is hit, anything else over that price they earn goes straight into their pockets. Plus, the person who takes home the most profit is deemed the winner winner chicken dinner, adding an extra $100,000 to their prize pool. Not too shabby!
Here are the reserve prices that each team had.
House One, Kyle and Leslie: $2,970,000
House Two, Leah and Ash: $2,970,000
House Three, Kristy and Brett: $2,970,000
House Four, Steph and Gian: $3,350,000
House Five, Eliza and Liberty: $3,250,000
Who won The Block 2023?
Drum roll please – the winners of The Block 2023 are Steph and Gian who took home a whopping $1.65 million in profit.
From the very first bid of $3,999,999 by frequent bidder Danny Wallis put their house well above the reserve guaranteeing a profit for the pair.
By the end of the auction, their gorgeous property was sold to billionaire Adrian Portelli, who is known in The Block world for being a big spender. Thanks to him, they earned the highest amount ever seen on the show’s almost 20-year history. How bloody good!
Before the gavel came down dishing out the life-changing sum, a bit of drama went down when someone in the crowd fainted. Talk about an action-packed auction.
Gian and Steph had a chat on the Hughsey, Ed & Erin radio show this morning to discuss their milestone win. And while the couple still can’t believe what went down, Hughsey was able to dish some dirt about what happened in the auction room to lead to their record-breaking profits.
“Can I talk about the opening bid? I’ve got insider information here,” he said, before claiming he caught the fainting woman and stopped the auction.
“The first bid that came from Danny, you know how it was $650,000 over the reserve? His people told me straight afterwards that he’d made a mistake,” Hughsey told the newly minted millionaires.
“He was meant to say $2,399,999 but he said $3,399,999. That was a mistake from Danny. His mistake got the ball rolling and was a good mistake for you guys.”
Imagine having that much cashola that you can just roll with a mistake bid of an extra million. Bonkers!
How did the other couples go?
While Steph and Gian certainly went out on a high, it wasn’t the case for all the couples. It was a goddamn emotional rollercoaster.
Eliza and Liberty
Next up was Eliza and Liberty whose beautiful renovation on House Five saw Adrian and Danny go head to head at action again. Danny kicked things off with a bid of $3,099,999 and the pair swung their bidding paddles in the air for a bit until Adrian came out on top with $4.3 million for the gals.
With their reserve, it put them in a profit of a million dollars.
To echo The Block daddy Scotty Cam: “You beauty!”
Kristy and Brett
After the first two auctions had eye-watering results, Kristy and Brett were hoping that the good luck would continue. Sadly, it did not.
The opening bid was $2.8 million and instead of the big dogs topping it up by a cheeky mil here or there, the figure crept up fairly incrementally. In the end, buyer’s agent Frank Valentic comes in with a final offer of $3,035,000 leaving them with $65,000 profit.
After watching two other houses rake in over a million dollars profit, Kristy and Brett were devastated.
“Australia got what they wanted,” she said, referencing how they’d become the season’s villains.
“Well, we got fucked for 12 weeks, why not get fucked for another,” Kristy said.
“So embarrassing after [those earlier auctions].”
Kyle and Leslie
Kyle and Leslie were up next and boy, did they look terrified. After witnessing the devastation that Kristy and Brett went through and had no bloody clue how their auction would go.
Danny was the first bidder kicking things off with $2,951,000.09 and then Adrian started their bidding war, but Danny ended up being the victor with a final bid of $3.1 million. This leaves the couple with a nifty profit of $130,000.
Leah and Ash
Being the last house to go to auction can be a blessing and a curse. On one hand, your place is the last chance for very rich property enthusiasts to land one of The Block-created homes. But on the other hand, sometimes these big spenders have already spent their cashola.
Sadly for Leah and Ash, going last did not work in their favour. Their main buyer was the woman who fainted during the first auction and while they tried to remain positive, things got off to a slow start. The bidding opened at $2,900,000 but then it came to a standstill.
Instead of taking their chances with the bids only creeping over their reserve, they decided to stop the auction and pass it in, in the hopes that they might be able to secure a better deal outside of auction.
What did the public think?
Clearly, the final episode was a mixed bag. But it wasn’t just the contestants who weren’t too jazzed with the finale.
Many viewers took to social media with some criticism about the auction and the recurring characters who rock up with their paddle in hand throwing bonkers amounts of cash around.
In a time where so many people are feeling the absolute hit of cozzie livs and struggling to find a rental, watching a bunch of rich dudes have a money-pissing contest was a lil’ frustrating.
Although fans are super happy for Steph and Gian, there seems to be a call for The Block to go back to its slightly more humble roots for its 20th season.
The post The Block Finale Aired Last Night & It Was A Doozy So Here’s Everything That Went Down appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
