“Absolutely gutted” by bittersweet Block auction
Simon & Shannon win The Block auction but the cast were in tears with 2 apartments just $10k above reserve.
- Published by David Knox
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NSW brothers Simon & Shannon have won The Block: Glasshouse but the auction left teams in tears with two couples taking home just $10,000.
The brothers’ Prahran apartment sold for 1,565,000, a profit of $335,000. They also pocketed another $100,000 cash.
But it was a night of contrasts with Michael and Carlene plus Darren and Deanne only profiting $10,000.
“I don’t know what to say, I’m really sorry,” said a tearful Shelley Craft.
“All that Shell and I can say is we’re really sorry,” host Scott Cam added.
“As much as we are stoked, we are absolutely gutted about our mates,” said Simon and Shannon.
Max and Karsten also only profited $40,000 after having the highest Reserve price. Earlier in the night the pair had their wedding, paid for by the network.
It’s not the first time Block auctions have failed to meet expectations, with previous auctions in 2004 selling at Reserve price and one apartment in 2011 failing to sell at the auction finale. Earlier this year there were bumper prices for the Fan vs Faves series.
Simon and Shannon:
Reserve: 1,565,000
Sold: $1,900,000
Profit: $335,000
Chris and Jenna:
Reserve: 1,500,000
Sold: $1,810,000
Profit: $310,000
Max and Karsten:
Reserve: $1,670,000
Sold: $1,710,000
Profit: $40,000
Darren and Deanne:
Reserve: $1,370,000
Sold: $1,380,000
Profit: $10,000
Michael and Carlene:
Reserve: $1,380,000
Sold: $1,390,000
Profit: $10,000
Julian Cress, Executive Producer, said: “The Block proved once again that it is the ultimate reality show. We just never know how it’s going to end until that hammer comes down. As Scott Cam said last night, it is a competition to win $100,000 and nothing else is guaranteed.
“Obviously we always want everyone to be rewarded for their efforts, but at least two teams have made a life-changing fortune.”
Michael Healy, Director of Television for the Nine Network, said: “While we hope that all contestants walk away with a financial reward for the time and effort they commit to The Block, it is the buying public that determines the outcome of this program. I’d like to thank the contestants for their remarkable achievements in producing these incredible apartments, as well as the very talented crew who produced this series, which has been a massive ratings success.
“I’m pleased to say that The Block will return to Australian TV screens early in 2015 for its tenth series.”
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29 Responses
A bit of an ironic twist that the 3 who were expected to do well got next to nothing, whereas the other two took home the cash.
I have a bit of a soft spot for Chris and Jenna, with them copping the brunt of the Judge’s criticisms, and I almost teared up when they nearly couldn’t get past the reserve. How was that lady’s death stare though!
Congrats to the boys on their big win – good on them.
Didn’t like them at first but they have actually turned out to be the nicest contestants this year -easygoing, not afraid to get their hands dirty, treating their tradies really well and not getting involved with all the petty bickering around them.
A really bizarre auction – seems the hardcore buyers dried up after the first 2 properties went to auction.
Disappointing that the last 3 couples did not fare as well but guess it is a game and they knew the risks when they signed up.
Really felt for Michael and Carlene as they seem like a lovely couple…Max and Karstan and Dee and Darren not so much.
Would have loved to be a fly on the wall for the hour after the Double D’s auction- the air would most likely have been literally blue with expletives..
@ilovetv I think they jumped the shark with the pop-up shop, and then jumped a school of sharks with the wedding. The show has totally lost its’ focus and I won’t be watching again. I also think it’s worth remembering not only the network and the sponsors, but the tradesmen who make a motza from this show and seem to do all the hard work
Happy for Chris and Jenna. I guess it goes to show size does matter when you’re on the block. Love her or hate her, Dee’s inability to disguise her feelings combined with her reactionary personality makes for great telly. It’s no surprise if she’s been snapped up for the next series.
Congratulations to Chris and Jenna, Oh and the judges got it wrong again.
@ Hayley7 – Strange, the EPG on my PVR had Gotham starting at 8:41pm and it started pretty much on that time as I checked in case I needed to add time manually to the PVR at the end (also said the same on my TV).
As for The Block and prices paid, I didn’t watch as I have given it away this season because of the way the format was this time. However thought I’d check in here and see the fall-out of it all, the evaluator probably did over estimate the market this time around.
Prahran doesn’t have that many high-end Units, it is not really on the high end of that area, which besides all that Chapel Street is declining as a destination as well even in the top end of South Yarra and Toorak. There have been a few articles lately about how can we rejuvenate Chapel Street and get the shops and shoppers back. Plus near the Block you have Swinburne Uni Of Technology and a Mechanics…
Tough titties. Look I wish 9 would just let it go, but oh wait, they can’t because what else do they have to show for the 40 weeks of the year?!
A few years back people were saying the reserves were too low, now they’re saying they were too high!
I felt sorry for those who only got 10k – for 12 weeks work split between the two of them – that’s $416 per week for each contestant. When you think that they were putting in 80 hour weeks to get the rooms done – would you renovate an apartment for $5 an hour?!
Property prices, in general, are just getting ridiculous. I wonder if shows such as these only fuel the problem.
I still don’t understand the appeal in watching people make over a house to make channel 9 a profit? What does the audience get out of it? I guess they get to see what you can buy for $5000 at the good guys or mitre 10 or whoever sponsors the show?
Ooh look, Milly painted a wall orange and Dale put in new taps in the bathroom!… Now they are arguing because Dale wanted blue walls and Milly wanted gold taps, not silver… But now they are getting married and someone bought the house they made over, making Channel 9 a very handy profit. Yay! Entertainment plus.
Julian Cress has described the show as a soap first, renovation second.
That new, overused term “absolutely gutted”. @Chris – A quote from the opposition movie on One last night – “Greed is good”. At least as far as TV networks are concerned.
@Shoudy Chen – Yeah, had the same feeling after the Lotto draw the other night.
Wouldn’t that footballer have just come off 15 years or so of making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year? How can he be disappointed for not winning. Pretty greedy to even go on the show to begin with, especially to sign on for a second series back to back.
Coverage of this ‘tragedy’ today by nine is unbelievable. It was the 3rd story on their early morning news for heavens sake! C’mon..seriously? The wall to wall advertising of the block hasn’t stopped even after it finished??!! Note to nine…Let it go…Let it go
Pretty shattering result for the two teams — I note that had no money been taken off their reserves the properties wouldn’t have even met their reserves — which may well have actually been a better result for both teams, as they wouldn’t have necessarily had to go with such low offers.
Meh…
Other contestants in competition shows (I refuse to call them “reality”) get bugger all, or close to it when they lose. That is the chance they take.
Tuff.
I have seen this show and I didn’t enjoy this grand finale of The Block because it wasn’t a nice ending.
I understand the ultimate reality comment, but we invest so much time into the contestants that we want them to succeed in the end. They aren’t portrayed as villains, so you can’t help but feel really disappointed by the show at the end.
How do you feel after sitting through a great movie only to be disappointed at the ending… anti-climax much?
It just proves the only winners in reality shows is the networks and producers…
Congratulations to the boys I had them for
the win though not so dramatically!
As for Chris & Jenna I was surprised by their result- maybe size does matter! Max & Karsten had their wedding paid for and 40k in their pocket thats a good start for the newlyweds. As for the other 2 couples you have to feel for them.
I did not watch but with a wedding I feel like the show has (finally) jumped the shark. I hope next year is the last for this stupid show.
Surely it’s time to increase the winners prize money given the profits on most apartments.
Hayley7: remember they probably only receive a basic stipend for the time they spend taking part in the show, which is likely to be substantially lower than their wages for their usual day job. So $10,000 divided by two people is almost certainly less than if they had stayed at their day jobs and not taken part at all.
Looks like I watched the better series then! (Fans vs Faves). All those hours spent renovating (and watching)…wasted. Well we all know 9 cares about their ratings and they got those.
might need to proof-read that, David:
Michael and Carsten – should read Michael & Carlene, and Max & Carsten should read Max & Karsten.
I wasn’t watching, but caught the last 15mins before Gotham (btw Ch.9 would have known by the time they aired this show how long it would run. It wasn’t live. No reason not to have an accurate start time on EPG for Gotham. Disgusting as always.)
Anyways… do people really need to act like it’s a funeral because they won $10,000?
I appreciate that they put in a lot of work… and I’m not saying there shouldn’t be some disappointment, but this was so over-dramatic… plus there are no guarantees when they go on the show.
Many people never have anything even close to $10,000 in their bank accounts… in fact lots of people will be sleeping on the streets tonight… try to keep a little perspective.
Congrats to the boys. I really like their apartment.
I really feel for the teams that only made 10k. Though I guess the D’s can’t be too disheartened and deterred if the rumours are true and they’ve already signed up for the next series.