Brisbane best friends Courtney and Sev have dismissed cheating accusations after winning a record-breaking $1.87 million on the Channel Nine renovation series The Block during Sunday's grand finale.
The pair secured the largest prize haul in the history of the Australian reality television show when their renovated property sold at auction for $4.72 million against a reserve price of $3.45 million. Fierce bidding pushed their final result $500,000 ahead of the next-highest profit achieved by any other team on the day.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail after their victory, the winners addressed both the backlash over a cut-price wine cellar they installed earlier in the season and how they plan to divide their historic windfall.
Broadcast on Australia's Nine Network, The Block pits pairs of renovators, commonly known as Blockheads, against one another over months of gruelling room-by-room builds. At the end of each season, the completed properties go to public auction, where contestants keep the profit made above their property's reserve price alongside the overall series prize.
How Courtney and Sev plan to spend their $1.87 million prize
Despite enduring months of demanding renovation work together without falling out over dodgy tiling or disagreements over paint colours, Courtney and Sev joked that dividing the $1.87 million prize pool could test their rock-solid friendship for the first time.
"Actually, our first fight will probably be about the bloody split of the prize pool. That's where we might need a mediator," the pair told the Daily Mail.
With each of the Brisbane contestants walking away $900,000 richer from the competition, both shared lighthearted plans for how they intend to enjoy their share of the cash.
"I should buy myself a husband!" Courtney joked when asked what she was in the market for following the auction triumph.
Sev cheekily added that their sudden wealth would likely expand their social circle, saying: "We will probably have a lot more friends now!"
Scott Cam Friday clashes and post-show barbecue invitation
The winners credited co-host Scott Cam for helping them reach the finish line, admitting they could not have completed the build without his support and guidance. Cam, a former carpenter and veteran Australian television presenter who oversees the builds on The Block, is known for holding contestants to strict weekly deadlines.
Courtney said that while the pair eventually came to love the host during filming, his stern demeanour frequently left them reeling at the end of the working week.
"We got a few whoopings from Scotty! We were always in the doghouse with Scotty on Fridays... but on Monday he would be our friend again," Courtney said.
She emphasised that any tension from the building site was now behind them. "But there is absolutely no bad blood now. What happens on The Block stays on The Block! He said he is going to have us round for a barbecue," she said.
The Block $14,500 custom artisan wine cellar controversy
While their relationship with the host ended warmly, Courtney and Sev came under heavy scrutiny from fellow contestants earlier in the season over what rivals regarded as a "dodgy" loophole to save money.
At the centre of the dispute was a custom artisan wine cellar rack that Courtney and Sev installed in their garage. The pair paid just $14,500 for the feature, even though similar structures can cost as much as $100,000, or almost seven times what the winners spent.
Other contestants were angered to learn that the cellar was worth far more than Courtney and Sev paid, but had been priced cheaply because it was classed as "artwork". Under the show's rules, anything classed as art is priced at the vendor's discretion rather than a standard retail figure, meaning costs can vary wildly.
"There is no retail price for it; it's up to the artist to price it how they see fit," Sev explained.
Defending the decision to install the cellar, Sev added that "it's not up to us for you to figure out how to play the game and to know what to put in your garage to build that asset," insisting "that's not up to us."
Rival contestants Lisa and Jolene clash over The Block rules
The discounted garage installation triggered a heated confrontation during the season when fellow contestant Lisa challenged the pair. Courtney and Sev insisted they were not breaking any rules, arguing that everyone on the series had been finding similar loopholes in their renovations.
After learning that the wine cellar would normally cost nearly seven times what Courtney and Sev had paid, Lisa rejected their explanation. "I know this deal is dodge," she said, before flipping her middle finger in anger and adding: "They know they're breaking the rules, but they're doing it with a twist."
Fellow contestant Jolene was equally enraged, firing off a string of expletives and threatening to contact a body corporate, the legal entity that manages shared rules in multi-unit Australian properties. "Are you joking? If they win tomorrow, I'm going to call a body corp. F***ing smug c**s," Jolene ranted.
Dave Franklin praise and Channel Nine cheating defence
Despite ruffling feathers among the competing teams, the garage gamble paid off during room judging. Guest judge Dave Franklin, an Australian landscape designer who regularly assesses properties on the series, raved about the installation and called it the "best wine cellar" he had "ever seen."
Following their $4.72 million auction result, Courtney and Sev dismissed ongoing claims that they had cheated their way to victory, insisting that any dishonest conduct would have been exposed and punished by the network.
"I would like to tell those people to politely go away! What we did was well within guidelines, we did everything fairly," they said. "If we were genuinely cheating, would Channel Nine have let that happen? No! They would have whipped us!"
