Not long now Blockheads — filming has started for the newest season of The Block, so while we wait patiently for a brand new season, let's take a look back at what past Block fan favourites are up to now.
Adam Thorn and Fiona Mills, 2003.
Adam and Fiona were the very first contestants to win The Block back in 2003. The couple took home $256,000 and went on to write their very own renovation book, Adam and Fiona's Renos On A Budget: How We Renovated Our Way To The Block.
According to Now to Love, Fiona now has a business in the beauty industry and Adam works for Freedom Kitchens.
According to reports, the couple put on their tool belts again for yet another renovation, after buying a Federation home in Coogee for a little over $4 million in 2021.
Image: Channel 9.
Dr Andrew and Jamie Rochford, 2004.
Dr Andrew Rochford shot to fame after winning the second season of The Block with his now-wife Jamie Nicholson in 2004. The couple applied for the show on a whim and ended up winning $178,000 in profit.
"I was a final-year medical student when I applied, and I was just trying to win some money," he previously told Stellar Magazine.
Since then, Andrew has gone on to host programs like The Project, Studio 10, Breakfast on Channel 10, The Living Room, National Medical Editor and Pointless. He even appeared in TV drama Offspring in 2011.
But after all this time, he still gets recognised for The Block.
"It's always amusing when people remember I was on The Block because it was so long ago now, and my hair was a very different colour," he shared.
John and Neisha Pitt, 2010.
John and Neisha Pitt won $305,000 back in 2010 on season three of The Block.
The couple now live in Illawong in southern Sydney with their two kids. Neisha also owns Stepping Stones Early Learning Centre in Bexley.
Image: Channel 9.
Polly and Warwick 'Waz' Jones, 2011.
Polly and Waz made $115,000 profit when they won The Block in 2011. Since then, the couple have welcomed two children together, a son named Hudson in 2016 and a daughter named Scotland in 2017.
Bring. It. On. pic.twitter.com/gj1VmygjWp
— PollyandWaz (@PollyandWaz) April 16, 2017
The couple previously spoke about the moment they met their daughter in an interview with Woman's Day.
"I fell hopelessly in love," Waz told the publication.
Polly, who suffered from postpartum depression after giving birth to Hudson, said she felt more relaxed the second time around.
"My new mantra is if it's not right for mum, it's not right for baby."
Brad and Lara Cranfield, 2012.
After winning $606,000 on The Block in 2012, Brad and Lara bought 25 hectares of land in Bishops Bridge, between Maitland and Cessnock in NSW, to build their very own designer home.
But late last year, they decided to move to Byron Bay with their two sons, Harry and Jimmy, who they welcomed after the show.
"Brad was given an exciting and new opportunity to work in the real estate industry through a 'Block' connection – Shelley Craft and her husband Christian. Christian was a cameraman on The Block and we became great mates with him while filming and kept in contact afterwards," Lara told Mamamia earlier this year.
"We decided to give it a go and moved north to Byron, renting out our dream home as we weren't sure if it would work out."
She added: "I cried for three days when we sold 'the farm' but it was the best thing we ever did."
Phil Rankine and Amity Dry, All Stars 2013.
Fan favourites Phil and Amity returned to The Block for the season six 'All Star' series and earned themselves $395,000 profit.
But five years after their win, the couple announced they were going their separate ways.
"It was pretty hard, it was pretty awful," Amity told news.com.au of their divorce.
"I built my dream home and I’m no longer in that. I think divorce is really like a death in a lot of ways. It’s the death of who you were and the life that you know, and you have to rediscover who you are as a single person, and not being part of a couple," she added.
"But I’m on the other side of it now and I’m really happy. I’m in such a good place and I’m excited about what’s coming next."
Amity met Phil when she was just 19. The former couple have two children together.
"I think people grow apart and change. Who you are at 19 and who you are at 40 are completely different and I think if you manage to grow in the same direction with somebody and still make each other happy, that is an amazing thing."
In 2021, Amity shared she had found love again with a new partner, Benjamin Grindlay. On Instagram, she described their partnership as the "relationship of my dreams".
"I get to take him home with me," she wrote. "How lucky am I?"
Alisa and Lysandra Fraser, Sky High 2013.
Twin cops Alisa and Lysandra won the 2013 season of the show, earning themselves a total profit of $395,000. They later competed on the show again in 2014 for The Block Fans vs Faves but lost out to Steve O'Donnell and Chantelle Ford.
But they didn't walk away completely empty-handed. In total, they've made $1.01 million from The Block, making them some of the show's most successful contestants.
Since the show, the sisters have kept busy running their successful design business. They also launched their own naturally derived range of hand and body products called Al.ive Body.
In 2021, the pair also returned for another instalment of their renovation series, The Design Duo.
Steve O'Donnell and Chantelle Ford, 2014.
Steve and Chantelle surprised everyone when they won The Block: Fans vs Faves in 2014. The couple hadn't won a single room during the entire series and ended up pocketing $736,000 in prize money.
But just 14 months after winning the show, they decided to call it quits on their relationship.
Steve and Chantelle shared the news on their joint Facebook page in 2015, explaining that their split was a mutual decision.
"We interrupt your Sunday night to let you know that we are no longer a couple," they wrote.
"We’ve had an incredible three and a half years together and remain the best of mates, but both agree that we are better off as friends. There’s no drama, no scandal, we’re just two people with an enormous amount of respect for each other who, together, made this difficult decision."
In 2020, Chantelle created designer headwear label Ford Millinery, which provided masks and face shields to protect the cast and crew against COVID-19 during 2019's season of The Block.
Shannon and Simon Vos, 2014.
Since winning $435,000 on The Block in 2014, brothers Shannon and Simon have both married and started design companies.
Shannon, who tied the knot with his wife Lisa in 2014, now runs his own business Vos Creative and is a contributor for Inside Out Magazine. The couple share two sons together.
Simon, on the other hand, married his wife Ashley in 2015 and has gone on to launch the construction and design consultancy business Vosa Design Construct.
Darren and Deanne Jolly, Triple Threat 2015.
Darren and Deanne made Block history in season 10 when they walked away with the largest amount of prize money in the show's history. The builder and interior designer earned themselves an eye-watering $935,000 in profit.
Following their success on the show, they began flipping houses and spent 11 months renovating a worker’s cottage in Kew East, Victoria, which they later sold for $2.9 million.
Alas, the pair decided to go their separate ways in September 2019.
"This is a very difficult time for me and my girls," Dea said in a statement to the Herald Sun at the time.
"We have been blindsided and left devastated by Darren's action. But I'm focusing on my two daughters who are my number one priority. Please respect our privacy while we move on."
Darren has since found love again with a new partner, Lucy Jolly. In June 2022, the pair announced the arrival of their baby girl, Olive Rita Porter Jolly.
Dean and Shay Paine, Blocktagon 2015.
Dean and Shay walked away with $755,000 after winning The Block in 2015. Since then, the couple have welcomed two more kids together, their son Vinnie in 2017 and Morris (affectionately known as 'Mo') in 2019.
In 2019, the couple went road tripping around the country with their three young children.
"People say we are crazy for travelling with three small kids in a camper. We agree but wouldn’t want it any other way. We feel pretty blessed to be able to spend so much time with our kids," they shared in a post back in 2019.
Will and Karlie Bethune, 2016.
Will and Karlie became the first Queenslanders to ever win The Block when they took home $815,000 in 2016. After the show, the couple went on to have their dream wedding and honeymoon in New Zealand.
In 2020, the couple announced they were expecting their first child together on Instagram.
"In these uncertain times, one thing is certain... Will and I are incredibly lucky and excited to announce we are expecting a new addition in July!" they captioned the post.
Days after sharing they’d been in hospital due to a health scare, Will and Karlie welcomed their baby daughter in August 2020.
This year, they celebrated Indigo's second birthday.
"What an amazing two years it has been and we can't imagine life without our precious daughter," the pair wrote on Instagram.
Josh Barker and Elyse Knowles, 2017.
Josh and Elyse took home $547,000 in prize money after comedian Dave Hughes bought their Elsternwick property for a casual $3.06m in 2017.
Speaking to Mamamia the following year, the 29-year-old model said she considered backing out of The Block at the last minute.
"We worked so hard to get on the show, and then we found out we got in, and we kind of had this shock feeling of, 'Oh my God. Imagine if this is going to have a negative effect on my career. I’ve been working so hard since I was 10 years old on modelling, is this going to make me or break me?' It was a really big chance that I took," she said.
Thankfully, it all paid off.
In 2019, the couple moved to Byron Bay and purchased a 1960s beach house - the perfect renovation project for the couple and their business J & E Projects.
In 2021, the pair welcomed their baby boy Sunny.
Sara Tumino and Hayden Vale, 2018.
Bondi couple Sara and Hayden were best known for spending the most amount of money on a bathroom in Block history. The couple, who now have two children together, ended up pocketing $645,000 in prize money when they sold their Gatwick apartment for $3.02m.
Since the show, Hayden has returned to work as a project manager, while Sara works as a flight attendant.
In May 2019, the pair welcomed their second child, a boy named Lawson Jet.
Norm Hogan and Jess Eva, 2018.
Norm Hogan and Jess Eva came last in The Block 2018. However, they were favourites to win in their season and they remain to be one of the most popular contestants to date.
The pair share two children together and Jess went on to compete in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here and is a radio show host on Triple M Sydney.
Earlier this week, Jess praised her fiancé after he shared a personal update with fans. Jess revealed he has been seeking mental health treatment for the last three weeks for issues stemming from childhood sexual abuse.
Norm dedicated a post on Instagram to Jess, who he says has also been impacted by his traumatic experience.
"She has stood by me as me best mate and been my rock and I’m so grateful. I am trying to fix what I’ve put her through but we are side-by-side doing it together."
He added: "I just want everyone to know that it is not weak, don’t be embarrassed to talk about s**t that has happened to you or how you are feeling. Sometimes love and friendship is about having hard conversations that we don't want to hear."
"It’s not about just the good times, it’s about your partner not excepting that you can live a life of anxiety and depression and fighting for your happiness when ya don't know what happiness is. That was the hardest part to accept. If you’re a partner, don’t give up on us but be firm and don’t put up with being mistreated. If you’re a victim SPEAK UP AND BE HEARD."
Tess and Luke Struber, 2019.
Queensland couple Tess and Luke took home a massive $730,000 when they won The Block in 2019. Unfortunately, the couple weren't able to spend their prize money on what they had planned because of COVID-19.
"We tried to go back to normal life then all of this coronavirus stuff happened just as we were gonna pull the trigger on a few big calls, so we've kinda just been chilling out," Luke told 9Entertainment at the time.
"We haven't really touched any of our prize money to be honest," Tess added. "We paid off a few debts like my car, but nothing else really."
These days, the pair are designing their dream home.
They also announced the arrival of their baby girl, Cleo Sophia Struber, in 2021.
Jimmy and Tam Wilkins, 2020.
Jimmy and Tam Wilkins became The Block's first ever millionaires when they won the show in 2020 and pocketed $966,000 profit and an extra $100,000 for winning the season.
However, one month on from the finale, the Queensland couple were forced to put their home back on the market after it's buyer, cyber security specialist Emese Fajk, reportedly failed to make the deposit for the home.
Speaking to Cliffo and Gabi on Hit Queensland, the pair said they received their prize money much further down the line following the controversy.
"We only just got it about two months ago, so it was a massive roller coaster of whether we were going to get it, whether the house was going to sell," Jimmy explained.
"So it was a very hard time for us mentally."
Tam went on to say that "Nine were absolutely incredible" and the pair "did get the money" that they won on auction day.
"They didn't have to do that, they did it out of goodwill," she shared.
Mitch Edwards and Mark McKie, 2021.
Couple Mitch and Mark made their second debut on The Block in 2021 after also competing back in 2019.
The pair initially came last during their first season renovating The Oslo, taking home a tidy profit of $384,000. However, the blockheads made the comeback of a lifetime when they placed first in 2021, making a total of $644,444.44 over their reserve.
The couple recently opened their very own store, Mitch and Mark Home, which they operate out of Newport on Sydney's Northern Beaches.
The pair used some of their earnings to get their store off the ground. They also put a large chunk towards paying off their mortgage.
Aside from that, the couple have a podcast called Reality Reno with Mitch and Mark.
Sarah-Jane and Tom Calleja, 2022.
Last but certainly not least we have Sarah-Jane and Tom Calleja. They were fan favourites in last year's season, but had a heartbreaking auction night result.
In a post this week, they said they are expecting their second child together.
"So excited to announce BABY CALLEJA no.2 is incoming October 2023. We feel so blessed and we are already so in love."
They accompanied the announcement with a video, where Sarah-Jane held up the pregnancy test which displayed a faint second line, confirming her pregnancy.
The couple has a first-born daughter, Cleo, and said they can't wait to be parents to another little gem.
This article was originally published in November 2022, and has since been updated with new information.
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