In the most competitive season of The Block yet, five luxury family homes have gone under the hammer at Mount Eliza, with Australia waiting nervously to see the impact of Victoria’s new reserve price laws on the auctions.
But any fears were swept away in an extraordinary day of auction action which ended with Queenslanders Courtney and Sev as the biggest prize winners in Block history, leaving Mount Eliza with a phenomenal grand total of $1,870,000.
After a tense and drawn-out meeting to determine the auction order, the contestants agreed to go in house order, from House 1 through to House 5. It was a decision made largely to avoid going to a lottery, where the order would be completely out of their hands.
But in another Block first, the auction order was thrown into question just moments prior to the first auction of the day.
Following a challenging sales campaign for Chantel and Wyatt in House 2, their agent Quentin McEwing approached Courtney and Sev in House 4 with a bold proposal: swap auction positions and allow Courtney and Sev to take the second spot.
The strategy was simple. Rather than risk House 2 failing to sell early in the day and potentially dampening momentum for the remaining auctions, Quentin believed Chantel and Wyatt would have a better chance later in the order, when they could capitalise on underbidders who had missed out on other properties.
It was a last-minute strategic move designed to give not just House 2, but all five teams, the best possible chance of selling on auction day. And it proved to be a masterstroke.
Adam and Jolene in House 1 got things going. In true Block style, long-time buyer Danny Wallis kicked off the bidding at $3,500,000.52, putting the price instantly over the reserve and it climbed quickly to $3,905,000, making the cattle farmers a $455,000 profit.
Courtney and Sev in House 4 followed and had multiple bidders going for their house. With the most room wins and most expensive kitchen in Block history, the bids continued to roll in and topped out at $4.72 million, giving the best friends from Queensland a staggering profit of $1,270,000.
Back in Uptown, Lisa and Rosco in House 3, who celebrated the arrival of their 2nd baby just a week ago, had the longest auction in Block history with over 100 bids and lasting over 40 minutes. Eventually the house was sold for $4 million, meaning the family of four took home $550,000.
Chantel and Wyatt in House 2 entered the auction nervously. Their first bid came in under reserve at $3.3 million until Danny Wallis again put his hand up for $3.7 million, bringing the house on the market. After some back-and-forth, the bidder that host Scott Cam coined the “new Lambo guy” bought the Gold Coast couple’s home for $3.817 million, making them a profit of $367,000.
Finally, Rick and Tayla in House 5 prepared to sell the house on the biggest block of land with the youngest auctioneer ever on The Block. With plenty of bidders still in the room, offers soared above $4 million and the house sold for $4.355 million. The father-daughter pair from Victoria walked away with a life-changing sum of $905,000.
After the final hammer, Courtney and Sev, the site manager and interior designer from Queensland, were crowned The Block 2026 winners, taking home “Scotty’s Prize Pool” worth $500,000, plus $100,000 in prizemoney and pocketing the grand total of $1,870,000.
After their win, Courtney and Sev were still taking it all in.
Courtney said: “It doesn’t feel real, it’s just the craziest thing. We don’t even know what to say. We’re so grateful, and we could have never imagined that we’d be walking away with this kind of money and the prize pool.”
Sev said they didn’t know yet what to do with their winnings. “We never had plans to win life-changing money, we just wanted to do the show and have a great time, and we did that.”
Recapping the day, Scott Cam said: “It’s a great result and we are really happy. We want all contestants to make as much money as they can, so a day like today is a great success. Big congratulations to Courtney and Sev.”
The show’s executive producer, Julian Cress, said: “We are thrilled to beat the market and deliver a hundred per cent clearance rate for our very deserving contestants. My mate Scott put it so succinctly: The Block strikes again!
“There’s nothing more satisfying than an auction day when all contestants walk away winners. And to have done it in such a challenging market makes it even more special.”
The Block has now awarded $44,524,138.06 in total winnings to contestants since it started on Nine in 2003.
