Tim and Arthur have pocketed a record $760,000 after winning this season of The Block NZ. Video / Three
On tonight's The Block NZ Auction Final on Three, the Block record is broken with the series' highest ever winning team amount.
This season has also been the longest ever wait to see the houses go under the hammer, as Covid-19's spread has caused numerous disruptions – including the ninth season being staggeringly almost two years in the making.
The show's auction prices are often a barometer for the housing market and Spy hears tonight's show will show the market is still booming.
The most any Block team has walked away with so far was Sam Cable and Emmett Vallender in 2016 with a whopping $480,000 after their Meadowbank renovation. Block fans and real estate followers will be watching with interest tonight to see which house and team's city-fringe Pt Chevalier home smashes that record.
Mark Richardson and Shelley Ferguson host The Block NZ.
The auction took place last week and Covid-19 restrictions meant the teams out of Auckland joined the excitement via zoom. Show co-host Mark Richardson says the finale is still going to be "must-watch television".
"Not being live makes it incredibly exciting because we can add graphics on the screen, and for the first time you will be able to see the house reserves on the screen," Richardson tells Spy.
"We zoom into the teams that are not in Auckland and see their anticipation and excitement as they get ready with their families. We've not been able to do this before so you'll feel right in the thick of the anticipation and will know in real-time what is actually happening," he says.
Richardson says one team was in tears, but would not elaborate if the waterworks are happy or sad.
Filming originally got underway in March 2020, only for the competitors to be forced home a short time later, due to the country's first level 4 lockdown.
The teams came back this year and not soon after filming finished, a second lockdown meant the planned auction was put on hold. Richardson says it has been a long time coming and it's just so special to all get back together for the big day even if it was partially virtual.
"This season's teams have been through so many stops and starts, essentially in some ways their life has been on hold since lockdown," Richardson says.
"I'm proud of them all and I'd just love to see them all do well tonight."
Earlier this week it was revealed Season 10 of the show would be billed The Block NZ: Redemption and feature four teams from previous seasons who did not make much money but will be given a second shot at cashing in.
Nadia Lim has a new show in the works called Nadia's Farm.
Other pending Three productions for 2022 include a return for MasterChef NZ, Dancing With The Stars, The Masked Singer and Heartbreak Island NZ.
Brand new shows will include Nadia's Farm, starring Nadia Lim, Sort Your Life Out, which will look at decluttering participants' lives, and Tracked, which will see teams of two from around the world race through NZ terrain to reach an evacuation zone and helicopter out, before they are caught by a group of elite trackers.
