It was the night Mediaworks were touting as the start of the biggest tv week of the year; the live auction finale of the The Block NZ leading into the premiere episode of Married of First Sight NZ.
Unfortunately it turned out to be a night viewers will remember for all the wrong reasons.
In a result few would have seen coming, Lisa Ridout-Gordon and Christopher “Ribz” Gordon were declared winners of season 8 of The Block after making a $50,000 dollar profit on the sale of apartment 2.
But the Wellington couple’s unexpected win was a fleeting happy moment in a night otherwise tinged with disappointment as none of the other contestants made any money in the heart-breaking conclusion to the reality renovation show’s eighth season.
The dramatic night kicked off with Adam Middleton and Stacey Heyman revealing the evening’s auction order with Lisa and Ribz starting the proceedings with the auction of apartment 2.
While they didn’t always see eye to eye with the judges Jason Bonham and Lizzi Whaley, outspoken Lisa once announcing she wouldn’t listen to “that little bald man”, the couple entered the DIY show with a clear vision for their apartment and sticking to their guns proved to be a winning strategy come auction night.
The hammer came down on apartment 2 for a final sale price of $1.34 million, netting Lisa and Ribz a tidy $50,000 profit that would go ultimately see them win additional $100,000 in first place prize money.
See inside Lisa and Ribz’s winning The Block NZ apartment. Story continues below:
While everyone hoped that this auction success would continue into the evening the excitement was short lived.
The next auction, Sam Whatarangi and Ethan Ordish’s apartment 3, ended in heartbreak as they sold for the reserve price of $1,390,000, meaning they walked away with $0 profit.
Not winning any room reveals during their time on The Block had left the friends in a precarious financial situation going in to the auction, having to add extra money borrowed during the show onto their reserve price.
While they had failed to impress the judges at room reveal time, Ethan and Sam’s lovable underdog status won over the hearts of the viewing public who crowned them the winners of the People’s Choice award, a Suzuki S-Cross Prestige car.
Since the episode aired fans have also set up a Givealittle fundraising page for Team Orange, which at time of writing $9000 had been donated by 274 people.
Ethan and Sam won people’s choice winners but were left empty-handed come auction time.
Sadly the disappointing auction results didn’t end there with both Adam and Stacy’s apartment 1 and Sophia and Mikaere Gardiner’s penthouse apartment being passed in after failing to reach their reserve prices.
Considered by many to be front-runners after winning six room reveals, Stacy and Adam’s heritage apartment was initially passed in but went onto sell later in the night for the reserve price of $1.48 million meaning that they too ended the night with no profit to show for their twelve weeks on the show.
Despite being the centre of much of this season’s drama, including a cheating controversy that saw them disqualified from master bedroom week, Sophia and Mikaere had believed their penthouse was the best apartment in the Kingsland building and they were in a strong position going into the live auction.
But seeing how the night was panning out and fearing the money in the room had dried up, the Turangi based couple were understandably pretty nervous by the time the final auction of the evening came around.
And justly so as an unpredictable market paired with what was thought to be the highest reserve price saw their penthouse become the second apartment of the night passed in without meeting reserve.
Unlike Stacy and Adam’s apartment a buyer for the penthouse failed to materialise on the night leaving Sophia and Mikaere stuck in limbo as their apartment remains on the market.
Sophia and Mikaere’s living room was voted best room on The Block NZ 2019, but their apartment failed to attract a buyer come auction night
With three teams walking away with no monetary reward the mood in the room at the end of the night was extremely sombre.
Even the usually vociferous Lisa was subdued by the shock result. Asked how she felt about her win, she replied “Sad. I’m broken-hearted for these guys. It’s hard to be happy.”
As the evening wrapped up host Mark Richardson had the unenviable task of announcing The Block NZ would return in 2020 and encouraging interested parties to apply for the ninth season. Even he struggled to show much enthusiasm at the prospect.
