Since the inception of The Block back in 2003, the lives of many couples have been changed forever after walking away with a win on the hit renovation show.
Several marriages, babies, more renovations, and job losses later, New Idea are taking a look at where the couples who walked away with hundreds of thousands of dollars are now.
WATCH: The Block 2022 auction day is coming
Mitch Edwards and Mark McKie – 2021 winners
During an appearance on Fitzy and Wippa, they put the current judges, Neale Whitaker, Shaynna Blaze and Darren Palmer, on blast for being out of touch with buyers.
“The two houses, ours and the boys, that came first and second are not the houses the judges considered the best.
“So, you have to consider, and I keep saying this, you need a real estate expert in there. The judges are not good predictors of success on The Block.
“[I’d say to] next year’s contestants, ‘You know what, you need to stick to your guns.
“At the end, Shaynna was like, ‘Oh, I get it now. I have to eat my words,’ and I was like, ‘Well, get a big shovel, darl, ’cause there’s a lot of them!'” he continued.
What’s more, a year after their Block win, the couple jetted off to Europe as borders began to reopen post-COVID.
Apart from travelling the world, Mitch and Mark have started their own podcast, Reality Reno with Mitch and Mark, revamped their homewares brand, Mitch and Mark Home, and Mitch is readying his own clothing range of shirts: “for fabulous women or very brave men.”
Tam and Jimmy Wilkins – 2020 winners
Tam and Jimmy were part of one of the biggest scandals to ever rock The Block.
The saga started when their Brighton home sold for $4.256million at auction, winning them first prize and smashing its reserve of $3.29 million. But the Queensland couple’s happily ever after was short-lived.
Jimmy and Tam were infamously duped by Emese Fajk – an alleged “con woman” who placed the winning bid on their house but then failed to pay up.
After eight months of stress and uncertainty, the couple’s renovated Palm Springs-inspired home was purchased by a legitimate buyer for $4million – a $256,000 discount on the original sale price.
Nearly two years on from the scandal, Jimmy and Tam are living comfortably in Byron Bay with their daughter.
“Prior to The Block we were renting in Brisbane without any sort of sight of owning our home within the next five to ten years,” Jimmy told Now To Love.
“It’s enabled us to actually buy our house outright and mortgage-free. And we’ve still got money in the bank as well to help us get our businesses off the ground and live life quite comfortably and not have those pressures.”
“We still have those pressures. We don’t know life without pressure. But not having that financial pressure is massive.”
They are also filming a web series called Let’s Build a Wide Span Shed with Jimmy and Tam while building their own property in Pomona, Queensland.
WATCH: The Block 2022 Houses Are On The Market
Tess and Luke Struber – 2019 winners
Cairns couple Tess and Luke Struber pocketed a huge $730,000 when their St Kilda terrace sold for $3.62 million, making them the winners of The Block 2019.
Three years on from their win, the couple said their lives went back to normal “pretty quickly”.
“We live a really nice, calm and quiet life in Cairns and every so often we get noticed by someone and it’s really lovely to be congratulated and recognised for the hard work,” they previously said.
“We love meeting new people and The Block has definitely made that happen for us. We have had some amazing work opportunities that have taken us to different cities and experienced things that we never would have before.”
The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Cleo Sophia, in April this year.
“Our baby girl Cleo Sophia Struber, born 21/4 at 6:30pm, named after her great grandmother, Cleopha,” the couple shared on Instagram after her birth.
Tess later gushed over Luke, praising him for being by her side during labour.
“There are no words. I fell in-love with Luke all over again on the 21/4. There is no way I would have been able to get through this day without him,” Tess wrote.
Since their time on the show, the couple have put their newfound real estate skills to the test.
While still buzzing from their life-changing auction on The Block, the couple sold their Cairns home shortly after the show wrapped.
Tess and Luke bought an un-renovated, three-bedroom weatherboard house in Manunda for $269,000 in October 2014.
Having given the property a full makeover, they sold it in November 2019 for $410,000.
Hayden Vale and Sara Tumino – 2018 winners
2018 winners Hayden and Sara walked away with $645,000 in prize money after their apartment fetched $3,020,000 at auction.
The couple already owned a property in the NSW Illawarra region and ended up putting their entire winnings towards construction on the home.
In February last year, the couple sold their North Bondi apartment for $1,225,000.
In May 2019, Sara and Hayden welcomed their second child, a boy named Lawson Jet.
But flight attendant Sara and construction company worker Hayden have also faced their fair share of setbacks after their triumph on The Block, both having lost their jobs due to the COVID pandemic.
In March 2021 when the virus swept the world, the couple were left with no source of income.
Almost a year after being laid off, Sara was back in the skies in January this year working as a Virgin Australia flight attendant.
The mother-of-two, donning her uniform, proudly posed next to a Virgin sign at the airport, captioning her post: “Hey Big Red, I’m back.”
“It has been a very sad several months in the world of aviation, with friends all over the world in different airlines, each one of their airlines slowly succumbing to Covid,” she said at the time.
“It’s been very upsetting and at one point I actually thought the same about our airline but with a little luck we are managing to survive.”
Since her return to work, Sara has proudly posted pictures and TikToks of herself on the plane and with Virgin signs.
Hayden, who worked as a director and manager of a construction company, was unable to work on site during the height of the pandemic.
WATCH: The Block 2017’s Josh and Elyse win The Block
Josh Barker and Elyse Knowles – 2017 winners
Tradie Josh Barker and his model girlfriend Elyse Knowles took out The Block back in 2017 with a whopping prize money of $547,000.
The competition’s youngest couple were the first auction starting with a reserve of $2.62 million.
The house sold to radio host and comedian Dave ‘Hughesy’ Hughes for $3,067,000, with Josh and Elyse making a profit of $447,000.
The pair wasted no time in cashing in on their renovation skills and launched building and design company J&E Projects the following year.
“J&E Projects is a Byron Bay-based construction group focusing on the delivery of architecturally unique, highly specified single residences, multi residential and commercial fit-outs in both Byron Bay and Melbourne,” the couple said of their company.
Josh, who still works as a tradie, and Elyse, whose modelling career has soared since the show, ditched their city life in Melbourne and relocated to sunny Byron Bay in early 2019, where they eventually got engaged.
“Change can bring opportunity, fresh beginnings and a new perspective. It challenges you to go out and meet new people, find new habits and just live your life in a slightly different way. It’s refreshing and very liberating,” Elyse said of their move.
In March 2022, the couple welcomed their first child together, a boy named Sunny.
“Sunny is growing into such a little dude now. He’s so alert and fun, he’s loving, full of smiles and he is so cuddly. I could smooch him all day long,” the Myer ambassador gushed to WHO.
Elyse praised Josh as a “natural, hands-on” dad to Sunny, and said the mutual adoration between the father and son is “beautiful” to watch.
“Josh works full time so when he comes home in the afternoon, he takes the reins,” she said.
And it’s looking like more kids are on the cards for Elyse and Josh.
“We would love a big family,” she says.
Elyse likes to share pictures of her bub on Instagram from days with their extended family, at the beach, and picnics.
Will Bethune and Karlie Cicero – 2016 winners
Will and Karlie, who were just 25 when they competed on The Block, took out the competition after selling their apartment for $2,600,000 – a whopping $715,000 over their reserve.
The couple pocketed a further $100,000 prize from Channel 9.
Soon after pocketing their winnings, the Queenslanders married and spent their blissful honeymoon in New Zealand.
In December 2020, Will and Karlie put their Queensland home in Rochedale South on the market after it underwent a full renovation.
“Our first home is now for sale! This is no Block masterpiece however it is filled with some pretty incredible memories!” the couple shared on social media at the time.
“Let’s hope the new owners can fill this home with some pretty amazing memories also.”
Since their successful stint on The Block, the couple have welcomed their first child, daughter Indigo.
“We are the happiest parents and think we are punching well above our weight with how gorgeous this girl is,” they wrote on Instagram in August 2020 after Indigo’s birth.
Their little girl is a toddler now, and the family recently went on a family trip to Port Douglas. On their joint Instagram account, they wrote about how well their daughter handled their flight.
“What an amazing family holiday. We were a little concerned as it was Indigo’s first plane trip, but we survived and we were so proud of how well she did. Our top tip for travelling with a toddler… Distractions, Distractions, Distractions 🤣.”
This article was first published on our sister site Now To Love
