The Block finale 2021: Auction results and winner revealed

It was a dramatic end to The Block, with a huge twist to the cheating scandal and threats of a contestant boycott. Here’s how it all unfolded.

Nick Bond

@bondnickbond

5 min read

November 8, 2021 - 6:12AM

Tanya reveals she took the production schedule photograph (The Block)

Block All-Stars Mitch and Mark took out the win at this season’s auction, earning almost $650,000 profit on the sale of their house - plus an extra $100,000 in prize money for coming first.

But it was a shock last-place result for fellow All-Stars Ronnie and Georgia, who earned a profit of $296,000, placing them behind every other team. The pair appeared to briefly bail on the auction as it became apparent they were trailing every other team for winnings. This year’s hot favourites Kirsty and Jesse also finished in a surprising fourth place, scoring just over $300k in profit.

And eccentric multi-millionaire Danny Wallis repeated last year’s buying spree, once more buying three of the five homes at auction - all for bizarre, specific-to-the-cent winning bids.

Here’s how each couple ranked:

The Block Fans V Faves auction

WINNER: Mitch and Mark. Second at auction, $3.4m reserve, sold for $4,044,444.44. Profit: $644,444.44 + $100,000 prize money.

SECOND PLACE: Josh and Luke. Fourth at auction, $3.4m reserve, sold for $3.93m. Profit: $530,000.

THIRD PLACE: Tanya and Vito. Third at auction, $3.4m reserve, sold for $3.8m (and one cent). Profit: $400,000.01

FOURTH PLACE: Kirsty and Jesse. Last at auction, $4.1m reserve, sold for $4,401,523.67. Profit: $301,523.67

FIFTH PLACE: Ronnie and Georgia. First at auction, $3.4m reserve, sold for $3.696m. Profit: $296,000

But before that, there were a couple of final controversies...

Cheating scandal bombshell

There was one huge final twist to the cheating scandal that’s engulfed this season, which started when contestants Tanya and Vito and Josh and Luke were implicated in circulating a top-secret photo of the show’s production schedule.

All season, Tanya insisted she didn’t take the photo - and given one last opportunity to come clean she reiterated her earlier story, even producing a text message conversation with the mysterious tradie she claimed sent her the photo. However, she still seemed unclear on the timeline of events.

Tanya shows a text message thread she says proves she didn’t take the photo.

But twins Josh and Luke had a very different story during the finale, with Josh now claiming Tanya asked him to stand guard at the production office way back in the first week of filming as she took the photo herself.

“Tanya went in there, took the photos, and then she ended up sending them to Luke,” he alleged.

The brothers said that as the photo scandal mounted, Tanya and Vito “refused to come forward,” instead concocting the story about a tradie sending them the photo.

“We are trying to protect Tanya and Vito because they have a family and we care about that. That weighs a lot on our conscience, but for me to come forward and say my involvement in it, I have to implicate Tanya. I don‘t like doing that but I have to say the truth now, if not I am going to regret it. I don‘t want to hold on to a lie for the rest of my life,” said Josh.

Tanya breaks down as the truth is revealed.

The last-minute confession made for awkward scenes as all the couples headed to their final pre-auction meeting, with Tanya first fuming that Josh and Luke dobbed her in - and insisting she would’ve told the truth if she knew they were going coming clean.

“I look like a bigger idiot - I would have said the truth as well. I would have liked to have been given the heads up or the same opportunity because now I am here in this position saying the jig is up,” she said.

An overwhelmed Tanya broke down as she joined the meeting, and in a to-camera interview, she finally uttered the words that had eluded her all season: “I am sorry, I am truly sorry. Yes, I took the photograph.”

Reserve price shock: ‘They’re too high’

Scott Cam was shocked by the reserve prices.

Scott Cam pointed out that no contestant in Block history had ever been happy with their reserve price - but even so, this was a shocker. Houses 1 to 4 were priced at a $3.5m reserve, and Kirsty and Jesse’s larger house at $4.2m.

The contestants looked stricken by those numbers, and even Cam conceded that all the reserves seemed far too high to him. “I think they are too high... whoever set these reserves, our experts at the network, maybe they know something we don’t,” he told them.

The news sent each team scrambling back to their agents, who all expressed the same concern: The high reserves would knock out most, if not all, of their interested buyers. The homes wouldn’t sell.

The contestants banded together, declaring that they would all boycott the auction if the reserves weren’t lowered.

Scott and Shelley report back to the contestants.

Later on, Cam returned with an update: in unprecedented scenes, he said he had called “the powers that be” at the network and told them they’d got it wrong. He said he was going to “keep pushing them” until the reserves were uniformly lowered. Eventually, each reserve was lowered by $100,000.

The auctions

Ronnie and Georgia

Up first at the auction, All-Stars Ronnie and Georgia’s couple’s luxury four-bedder sold for $3.696m - a profit of $296,000 over their newly-lowered $3.4m reserve. That’s almost double what they scored on their first Block season back in 2017 when ended up in fourth place with a profit of $161,000.

Mitch and Mark

Returning Block couple Mitch and Mark earned a big profit.

Fellow All-Stars Mitch and Mark were next, with Block mega-buyer Danny Wallis swooping in to buy their glamorous family home for the bizarre price of $4,044,444.44. That gave them a profit of $644,444.44 over their $3.1m reserve. As with Ronnie and Georgia, it’s a big improvement on their previous Block showing - in their 2019 season they finished in last place with a profit of $384,000. Factor in their $100,000 prize money and this year’s Block winners go home with just under three-quarters of a million dollars.

Tanya and Vito

Tanya and Vito have had a bumpy ride.

This season’s most controversial couple were up next, following the explosive confession from Tanya earlier in the finale that she took the photo of the top-secret production schedule that threw the entire season into disarray. Danny Wallis snapped up their unique mid-century home, buying it for $3.8m - and one cent. That’s a profit of $400,000.01 on top of their $3.4 reserve.

Josh and Luke

Josh and Luke got emotional as the results rolled in.

Former Love Island twins Josh and Luke were also controversial this season, earning the ire of fans and their fellow contestants for their part in the cheating scandal and other blow-ups. Their efforts were also regularly panned by the judges - but they were surprisingly successful at auction. Their house sold for $3.93m, giving the brothers a profit of $530,000 over their $3.4m reserve.

The brothers were overwhelmed by emotion as they returned to the other contestants to celebrate their auction result - but Ronnie and Georgia were nowhere to be seen. Did the All-stars momentarily bail after their shock soft auction result?

Ronnie and Georgia were nowhere to be seen after Josh and Luke’s result.

Kirsty and Jesse

It was lucky last for the country couple, who faced a mammoth task taking on the biggest house on The Block this year. The judges loved them all season - and their huge house had the highest reserve, of $4.1m. Multi-millionaire Danny Wallis bought the house for $4,401,523.67, giving the couple a profit of $301,523.67.

Previous block winners

2003 – BONDI – Adam & Fiona, $256,000

2004 – MANLY – Jamie & Andrew, $178,000

2010 – VAUCLUSE – John & Neisha, $305,000

2011 – RICHMOND – Polly & Waz, $115,000

2012 – SOUTH MELBOURNE – Brad & Lara, $606,000

2013 – ALL STARS (BONDI) – Phil & Amity, $395,000

2013 – SKY HIGH (SOUTH MELBOURNE) – Alisa & Lysandra, $395,000

2014 – FANS v FAVES (ALBERT PARK) – Steve & Chantelle, $736,000

2014 – GLASSHOUSE (PRAHRAN) – Shannon & Simon, $435,000

2015 – TRIPLE THREAT (SOUTH YARRA) – Darren & Deanne, $935,000

2015 – THE BLOCKTAGON (SOUTH YARRA) – Dean & Shay, $755,000