The reality TV couple Kiwis loved to hate tonight won the fourth season of The Block in a tense finale.
Brooke Thompson and her plumber partner Mitch Davies sold their Sandringham villa for $1.35 million, $190,000 over its reserve.
With their prize money of $100,000, the couple took home $290,000 after 10 weeks of renovations - but last year's winners took home slightly more.
Davies, 26, said the couple wanted to move from Christchurch to Queenstown.
"We really want to move down to Queenstown. We really love it down there but it's not the cheapest. We want to buy a bit of dirt down there. We want to create a few rug rats ... we'll keep practicing for now."
They said they might get involved with the build - but will definitely get someone else to do the painting.
"We definitely don't want to do anymore painting," Davies said.
The couple regularly took a hammering for their on-screen demeanour, which has included some cutting reviews and tactical marking down of their rivals' work - and the odd tantrum from 25-year-old banker Thompson.
But the judges liked their style and they scored top marks for several rooms.
It also helped that the three-bedroom home sat in in the sought-after zone for Mt Albert Grammar on Renfrew Ave.
Hundreds of people packed into the auction room at the Rendezvous Hotel in central Auckland last night.
Taranaki couple Cat Glass and Jeremy Hill and Auckland's engaged couple Jamie Johns and Hayden Campbell came a joint second with profits of $160,000 each.
Cat and Jeremy - who also won the show's People's Choice award which comes with a Honda car - sold their house for $1.32 million. Their corner home was also in the Mt Albert Grammar zone, after they changed their address from the neighbouring Haig Ave.
Jeremy said they weren't sure what they were going to do with the money but they wanted to keep "riding the wave" they were on.
Jamie and Hayden's Haig Ave home sold for $1.335 million.
The couple now plan to start a creative digital agency.
Campbell said: "We've really learned to be ourselves and stand up for what we believe in, we want to show others they can do the same."
Hamilton sisters Sarah and Minanne Kong's house, also on Haig Ave, sold for $1,272,000, giving them a profit of $123,000.
Sarah said she'd put some of the money into her wedding - her boyfriend Neth proposed on the show - and Minanne would use some of it to support her university studies, and she also hoped to travel.
Their house went to Greg Sinclair and his wife Georgina who plan to move in with their two children. They sold their house about six months ago and have been renting while looking at properties for sale. They said they didn't have a favourite house but told the New Zealand Herald they were very happy with the purchase.
"It's quite strange, having watched the show, it feels like you've been a part of the building process," Mr Sinclair said.
"It's almost as if you've put your on sweat and blood into them."
Sarah Kong said they were really happy the house had gone to a family.
"The house called for children to run around in it. They'll turn it from a house into a home. [The Sinclairs] are exactly what we wanted."
The total profit for the contestants this year was $733,000.
All four of the winning bids appeared to be inside the auction room, rather than phone bidders.
Bayleys national residential manager Daniel Coulson said the sales were positive for Auckland. He wasn't sure it would mean a rush of people trying to buy around the Sandringham/Three Kings area, where all four properties are located, but said it showed there was an appetite for renovated villas in Auckland. All four properties sold above their reserve prices, which he said was a fantastic result.
As soon as the show ended, MediaWorks announced the next search for contestants for The Block.
On last year's show, married couple Alex and Corban Walls won $307,000. In series two, in 2013, married couple Alice and Caleb Pearson took home $261,000.
Brooke Thompson and Mitch Davies
154sqm house, 366m2 section (in Mt Albert Grammar zone)
3 bed, 2.5 bath, 2 off-street parks
Sold: $1.35 million (plus $100,000 prize money)
Profit: $190,000
Sarah and Minanne Kong
154m2 house, 364m2 section
3 bed, 2 bath, 2 off-street parks
Sold: $1.272 million
Profit: $123,000
Cat Glass and Jeremy Hill
156m2, 313m2 section (in Mt Albert Grammar zone)
3-4 bed, 2.5 bath, 2 off-street parks
Sold: $1.32 million
Profit: $160,000
Jamie Johns and Hayden Campbell
158m2 house, 456m2 section
3 bed, 2 bath, 2 off-street parks
Sold: $1.335 million
Profit: $160,000
