The winners of The Block NZ: Villa Wars have no regrets about their actions on the show.
Brooke Thompson told the Herald she and partner Mitch Davies don't like confrontation and do not agree with their portrayal as the TV3 show's resident bad guys.
"I definitely wouldn't call Mitch and I a villain," Thompson said after last night's live auction finale, which saw her and partner Davies net $190,000 proceeds from the sale of their renovated Sandringham house, plus $100,000 in prize money.
While they had been called out for childish behaviour and bad sportsmanship in the media the couple won't let it affect them in future.
"You should never live with regret, you learn, I think that's really important. Living with regret, you focus on the negative. If you learn from an experience you make a positive out of it," she said.
"We did play the game hard, we put our heart and souls into The Block, because it potentially can be life changing. To come into this thing and not give it 110 per cent and not be in to win it can be a wasted opportunity, all four teams wanted to give it our absolute all."
She said the teams were much closer than they appeared on the show.
"I hope everyone saw it on the live show: we're closer than what the public realise. We're all really good mates, we're always chatting, really supportive. All of us went through this amazing experience together.
"Not many people have gone through this kind of thing, and I know we'll be life long friends."
Banker Thompson and plumber Davis were regularly painted as the show's villains, taking a hammering in news headlines and social media comments for their on-screen attitude, which included harsh reviews and tactically marking down competitors' handiwork.
"I personally hate confrontation, I do anything to avoid it," she said. "I really care how other people perceive me, so I actually found it really hard."
Davies believed they'd been cast as baddies by story producers on the TV3 show.
"They can make us out to be whatever they want us to be. I guess they'd made their minds up before we even got there," he said.
Thompson said all negativity came from online commentators.
"To our faces, we haven't had a single negative comment. People have been so supportive, they say they're really proud of how we played the game. People have been so lovely to us, it's all been online," she said.
"At the end of the day, our parents, friends and family were so proud of us. It's really the people that know you that count, and they were proud of us."
A long night partying
The Christchurch couple said they'd had just three hours sleep after celebrating last night's win through most of the night.
Each of the show's four couples won a decent profit during the tense live auction episode, with Jamie & Hayden and Cat & Jeremy both netting $160,000, and Sarah & Minanne winning $123,000. Cat & Jeremy also won the people's choice award, a new car.
Traditionally, The Block's first auction wins the most money, and the winning couple had a seemingly extra advantage by being one of only two couples with a house in a school zone.
But Thompson and Davies couldn't pinpoint exactly why their house had earned the most money.
Davis: "History shows that going first is a good option, but I think that everyone's house has sold for a good amount, and everyone made a decent amount of cash. It was very even - it just showed that there were four different houses on the market and four different buyers."
Thompson: "We're not from Auckland we don't know how important school zones are here. Some people are saying it's a big deal, others weren't. I have no idea if that was a big deal or not.
Davis: "Cat and Jeremy were in the same zone, they got the same amount as Jamie and Hayden, who weren't."
Her advice to anyone thinking about applying for the next season of the show was to "pick who you want to do it with very carefully".
"You need to have a really open and honest relationship. You can't let things build up ... to get the job done. If you're thinking of auditioning just do it, it's the best thing we've ever done. We learnt so much and grew as people. It's unbelievable the life experience you get."
