Courtney and Sev celebrate their win. Picture: Channel 9
The Block viewers have slammed Channel 9 and accused producers of rigging the finale so Courtney and Sev could walk away with first prize.
The best friend duo took home a massive $1.27 million profit after watching thewir house go under the hammer for $4,720,000.
But not before their auction was moved up the program by show producers despite the sale order supposed to have been decided and locked in much earlier.
The huge reshuffle clearly ended up in Courtney and Sev’s favour but has led to an outcry from fans.
“Yeah, they rigged for the girls to win,” one person commented on The Block’s offical social media channels.
“The auction order was agreed to. It shouldn’t be changed,” said another.
“Seriously how does a house with no sea view beat the ones that do,” questioned one person.
“Rigged from the start. Perfect 10’s for unfinished rooms. Extra help. Blowing budget without consequences. This show has become a joke,” another commented.
The Block’s 2026 finale marked a stark turning point comapred to last year’s disastrous Daylesford season in which a number of houses were passed in and remained unsold almost a year after the show wrapped in 2025.
Everyone walked away with cash this year. Picture: Channel 9
It was the result nobody saw coming (every team walking off the show with huge wads of cash) with the lead up that everyone did (the teams at each others’ throats).
The tension started at the reserve price and auction order decision lunch.
Everyone was pleasantly surprised with their reserve price of $3,450,000, even Rick and Tayla whose reserve was set at $3,500,000 minus the $50,000 reserve discount they won in the final week of competition.
It makes a mockery of that particular prize, but it’s understandable the show erred on the side of “low” reserves all around given the state of the market and the absolute disaster of last year’s Daylesford season.
This episode must have made for bitter viewing for those 2025 contestants.
But any pleasantness stopped at the reserves revelation, with teams then duking it out for the coveted first and second place in the auction order, which every team wants.
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Adam and Jolene have teamed up with Lisa and Rosco to try and barrel their way to the starting gates, but Courtney and Sev and their mates Chantel and Wyatt have similar ideas.
“I can’t stand her, eh,” Wyatt remarks of Lisa.
“She’s a really rude person,” Chantel agrees.
And Sev notes that Lisa can’t look her in the eye, after Lisa referred to herself and Courtney as “smug” in an interview.
“Has she seen herself?” Courtney asks.
The only team taking a laissez faire attitude to auction order is Rick and Tayla, who want first or second place but quickly roll over when it becomes clear everyone else does too.
“Whatever will be will be,” Tayla shrugs.
Rick and Tayla took one for the team, and it paid off in spades for them.
With Rick and Tayla the only team willing to take one for the team, it looks like auction order will be decided by a random draw, until a bitter Lisa finally blinks and agrees to the suggestion the houses be auctioned in number order, meaning Adam and Jolene are first, Chantel and Wyatt second, Lisa and Rosco third, Courtney and Sev fourth and Rick and Tayla fifth.
Courtney and Sev and Rick and Tayla have the rawest deal, but Lisa is still narky.
Then it’s on to the auctions, and it seems the passing of time, and the birth of Lisa and Rosco’s little boy Jude eight days earlier, has lightened the mood, because all the teams are on best behaviour and manage to deliver best wishes and congratulations to one another.
Courtney and Sev get a last minute gift from the agent of their mates Chantel and Wyatt, who decides both teams would benefit from swapping their auction spots. It seems there’s very little interest in Chantel and Wyatt’s house, and their agent thinks they might be more likely to sell to someone who missed out on a more coveted home earlier in proceedings.
“It’s a loaded gift, it’s 10 minutes before the wedding and we had a strategy for position four,” Sev says.
“I just want everyone to do well,” Courtney adds.
But they decide to grab the opportunity and then the auctions are off and running.
Danny Wallis’ takes his annual opportunity for attention.
As usual Block serial pest Danny Wallis seizes his yearly opportunity to gain attention and the utter disdain of every Block viewer by bidding in stupid increments (including for Rick and Tayla’s house, which he’d earlier in the season been classlessly rude about).
Is there a worse job on the show than those of the auctioneers who have to treat him like an amusing character instead of an annoying toddler? Maybe money can buy everything.
Adam and Jolene have nine registered bidders and the very first bid is $50,000 over their reserve.
Adam and Jolene get the auctions off to a flying start.
“Oh I’m so relieved,” Shelley Craft says to the ceiling, no doubt echoing the thoughts of every member of the production.
The pair walk away with $455,000 in profit that Jolene calls “absolutely life changing”.
Next up is Courtney and Sev who make a whopping $1,270,000 over their reserve, taking out the competition along with the $100,000 winners’ cheque and a bonus prize pool worth $500,000, making them the biggest winners in Block history.
Lisa and Rosco make $250,000 on the first bid alone, eventually earning $550,000, with the winning bidder asking “can I hold the baby”.
“You can hold the baby, hun. You can have the baby,” Lisa jokes (we hope).
Chantel and Wyatt then sell their house for $3,817,000, earning them $367,000 in profit. It’s the lowest of the night with no sign of Chantel’s rumoured moneybags brother-in-law swooping in, but they both seem genuinely happy, with Chantel in tears.
“I’d have been happy with one hundred grand, honestly,” she says.
Then unlikely second-place getters Rick and Tayla swoop in, with a whopping $4,355,000 sale earning them $905,000 for their (or Rick’s anyway) three months of work.
It was a much more satisfying ending to the season for both viewers and contestants and hopefully puts 2025 in the rear vision mirror.
MISSED AN EPISODE? HERE’S ALL OUR RECAPS SO FAR
Episode 1: First tears shed on season 22 of The Block
Episode 3: ‘I won’t help them again’
Episode 4: ‘You will only last five weeks’
Episode 5: Block couple ready to quit after scandal
Episode 6: ‘Everyone is in on it’: Chantel and Wyatt cry foul
Episode 7: Gloves are off as Courtney accuses Rosco of treachery
Episode 8: Dan fuming as Tayla barely lifts a finger
Episode 9: A huge prize causes bitterness in one contestant
Episode 10: Jolene and Tayla fume over controversial bathroom win Episode 11: Lisa and Rosco fall behind again
Episode 12: Block star’s sad health update
Episode 13: ‘Like a high end coffin’
Episode 14: ‘Should I call an ambulance?’
Episode 15: ‘That s. t’s got to stop’
Episode 17: ‘Like I’m sitting at a bus stop’
Episode 18: Adam’s dirty tricks leave Chantel and Wyatt high and dry
Episode 19: Tayla’s bad decisions leave Dan angry and Rick stressed
Episode 20: ‘Horrible ‘80s dance studio’
Episode 21: ‘This is dead’: teams botch their living rooms
Episode 22: ‘Screwed up their entire house’
Episode 23: ‘They’re cheats’: scandal erupts
Episode 25: ‘Like a bad hotel room’
Episode 26: Wyatt and Chantel’s sloppy habits are grinding their housemates’ gears
Episode 27: Wyatt can’t take Mat’s ribbing as dishesgate continues
Episode 28: Cheating scandal erupts after secret video recording
Episode 29: Rick finally snaps at lazy Tayla
Episode 30: Tayla and Jolene at each other’s throats in embarrassing spectacle
Episode 31: Jolene furious at Wyatt for being in her carport
Episode 32: A Wyatt and Chantel prank backfires badly
Episode 33: Adam and Wyatt erupt in nasty feud over intimidation claims
Episode 34: Jolene throws out Wyatt’s protein powder amid fury over dishes
Episode 35: Dishesgate continues as Sev braces herself for Jolene blowback
Episode 36: Block theory sweeps the show
Episode 37: Tearful Lisa points out double standards in judging
Episode 38: Ugly feud erupts on The Block over perfect 10s
Episode 39: Jolene gets wind of Courtney and Sev’s secret rooftop terrace
Episode 40: Courtney accuses Dan of conspiring against her
Episode 41: Winning isn’t enough for Jolene
Episode 42: Girls’ are threatened with disqualification over spending
Episode 43: Courtney calls out Jolene’s claim Wyatt stood over her
Episode 44: Courtney apologises to Jolene as Lisa breaks down over huge bill
Episode 45: Jolene’s fury reaches new heights as girls exploit a loophole
Episode 46: Courtney and Sev battle their landscaper and Jolene
Episode 47: Courtney and Sev’s battle with their landscaper gets worse
Episode 48: Most teams are emotional at the season ending
Episode 49: Wyatt bookends his Block experience with another hissy fit
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