Steve and Chantelle conquer The Block in a shock finale.
Steve and Chantelle have taken out The Block Fans v Faves, winning a total of $736,000 in prize money – and nobody thought it could have possibly happened.
Kyal and Kara – Team “Super K “- were the clear favourites, closely followed by Brad and Dale, then the twins, last year’s winners Alisa and Lysandra. But it was ‘Fans’ team Steve and Chantelle who defied their own expectations, those of the judges and the general public who thought they didn’t stand a chance.
“I really genuinely feel like we’re all in with a chance, I really do,” Chantelle told Nine earlier this week. “They always say … anything can happen on auction day. And on every other series of The Block it proves to be the case that sometimes things that aren’t expected occur.”
Competing in this series nearly cost them their relationship and it's not clear if it has been saved. Towards the end of the series the couple began sleeping in separate rooms after an epic fight. The tension remained until the final challenge.
Tonight, even as the bidding took place and it became clear that they could win, the couple seemed closer than ever before. As they ascended the stairs for their auction Steve ushered Chantelle to go ahead of him, saying, "You go first, that way I can catch you if you fall." Awwww.
As the auction began and shock gave way to joy they held hands, kissed, hugged and Chantelle looked Steve in they eye, saying, "We did it, we did it."
We really hope they can make it work.
It's been 10 week since The Block Fans v Faves kicked off and at the end of the day it all came down to good planning, calm heads and sound design.
Four teams - made up of two teams of previous contestants and two teams of fans - transformed the Albert Park, Victoria property into a cool, elegant, industrial-style apartment block.
Kyal and Kara went into tonight's finale as the firm favourites, with the boys a close second. Nobody thought The Block Sky High winners Alisa and Lysandra had a chance, let alone volatile couple Steve and Chantelle.
The Blockheads would get to keep any money they received from the auction of their properties over the reserve and the team who made the most money would be given an additional $100,000.
Kyal and Kara copped the highest reserve thanks to their apartment's north facing city views. Once the final challenge money was removed they were left with $1,872,750.
Steve and Chantel received the second highest reserve. As the underdogs this is the last thing they needed. They too have city views and once the challenge money they won was deduced, they ended up with $1,834,000.
Brad and Dale also have city views but at the back of the block. Once their challenge money was deducted their reserve came in at $1,802,750.
The twins Alisa and Lysandra received the lowest reserve because their apartment has no views. Minus the challenge money their reserve ended up being $1,759,000. This gave them hope they may do better than they first thought.
Contestants were left to decide for themselves the order in which their apartments would be auctioned. They easily decided that the boys would go first, Kyle and Kara second, the Twins third and Steve and Chantelle last. The boys say they chose to go first because they wanted the pain to be over quickly. Kyal and Kara thought going second would help them get a good result, seeing as the level of interest in their apartment is already so high.