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The Block under fire as three out of four teams walk away with nothing

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Mon, 9 Sep 2019, 9:12AM
Contestants on The Block NZ 2019. Photo / Supplied
Contestants on The Block NZ 2019. Photo / Supplied

The Block under fire as three out of four teams walk away with nothing

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Mon, 9 Sep 2019, 9:12AM

A third apartment on The Block NZ: Firehouse has sold following negotiations after the on-air auction last night.

A late-night close saw Stacy Heyman and Adam Middleton's Apartment 1 sell for $1,480,000, MediaWorks announced this morning.

The sale price met reserve, but failed to make any profit - meaning the couple walk away with nothing.

They are three out of four teams to go home with nothing after working hard on flipping the Auckland apartments for the past 12 weeks.

Wellington couple Lisa Ridout-Gordon and Christopher Gordon, from Apartment 2, were the only team to selling over the reserve price, banking $50,000, as well as $100,000 cash prize for the show win.

Meanwhile Ethan Ordish and Sam Whatarangi's Apartment 3 just reached reserve at $1.39m, meaning they will receive no money for their efforts.

They did win the People's Choice Award though, which included a Suzuki S-Cross Prestige.

The fourth team, Mikaere and Sophia Gardiner in penthouse Apartment 4, was passed in at $1.455m and there is yet to be any news of a sale.

The four teams worked over the past three months to convert the former Kingsland fire station in central Auckland into apartments.

The property, 516 New North Rd, was bought by the show for $2.67m in 2017.

After last night's results were announced people were quick to comment on the shambolic finale, calling the show "a flop" and an "astounding failure".

Fans were also quick to rally behind "The Boys" Ethan and Sam - who were show favourites - creating a Givealittle page to raise funds for the pair.

The page said: "The boys did their best and with Ethan having a baby soon they at least deserve to walk away from The Block with some funds.

"Bring a smile back to those happy boys from Te Kuiti who lit up your TV screens for weeks."

It has raised more than $6000 overnight.

Meanwhile, The Block NZ host Mark Richardson has insisted the show was still successful.

On The AM Show this morning, he said: "As a TV show, I think it was a roaring success. I don't think you should judge it on what happens in the auction room."

Richardson said the show had great storylines and was watched by a lot of people, so there was no reason not to continue it.

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