The Block 2024 Winners Revealed: Sisters Maddy and Charlotte Win $1.65m In Historic Auction Finale

The youngest-ever contestants on The Block, Sydney sisters Maddy and Charlotte Harry, have been crowned this year’s winners, pocketing a massive $1.65 million at the most lucrative auction in the series’ 20-season history.

It was also a clean sweep by billionaire entrepreneur Adrian Portelli, who revealed off-camera after the auctions that not only had he secretly bought all five of the houses, this year would be his last appearance on the show.

Every single house sold under the hammer on the day, completely defying Victoria’s softening property market, but it was the auction of House 1 – the final one of the day – that blew everyone away.

A rapid-fire opening bid of $2.5 million from a mystery buyer was immediately destroyed by Adrian Portelli, who casually uttered “$3.5 million”.

That $1 million knockout bid catapulted the girls into first place within the space of three seconds, and when the hammer fell less than two minutes later, the screams could be heard across the Phillip Island compound.

The sale was a massive $1.55 million above the house’s reserve of $1.95 million, netting Maddy and Charlotte the season win and a total prize of $1.65 million, including the $100,000 winners’ prize.

The sisters, aged just 25 and 22, were in disbelief at how quickly it was all over. 

“It took us a second to be like, ‘No, no. Like, you just won The Block.’ And I think I was a bit of a stunned mullet,” Maddy said.

“I was expecting anticipation and to be, like, ‘Oh, what’s gonna happen next?’ It was like, ‘Well, you’ve won.’ It’s like … time to go. It was the quickest auction of the day; it was over so quickly.”

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Maddy and Charlotte’s path to victory was not an easy one. They stepped in with 24 hours’ notice to replace Perth couple Jesse and Paige after they unexpectedly quit in week four of the competition, then had to navigate relationships with the rest of the cast, as well as get up to speed on the building and renovating.

Portelli told reporters afterwards that seeing what the girls had gone through on the show had affected how much he’d been willing to spend on their house.

“I just saw the girls having a hard time and just getting bullied, and I don’t stand for that shit,” he said.

“They deserve it. I think they just had a hard time throughout the show.”

Up until Maddy and Charlotte’s auction, it had looked as though Grant Freeman and wife Courtney McInnes from House 2 would romp to the win.

The couple went first in the auction order and were hopeful they’d get a repeat of last year’s magic which saw Steph and Gian, also first in the auction order, win the competition and $1.75 million in prize money.

They nearly got there. 

After an opening bid from Danny Wallis of “$2 million minus four cents”, the bidding quickly moved on and a two-horse race emerged between Adrian Portelli and brand-new Block bidder Jacob Najjar, the owner of the Thirsty Monkey chain of acai shops.

When the hammer fell to Portelli for $3.3 million, netting Grant and Courtney a massive $1.35 million profit, the beaming couple said the result had more than surpassed their expectations.

“Oh my gosh, we both said like $500,000 –  if we had sold the house for that – that would have been a high benchmark,” Courtney said, laughing.

Brad and Kylie Baker’s House 4  sold for $2.6 million after Portelli came in at the last minute and knocked out two other bidders.

The Cairns couple with four children pocketed $650,000 in winnings and Kylie wept as she described how it had “all been worth it” in spite of the scrutiny they’d endured throughout the show.

“[The money] just takes so much pressure off us, like with the kids … it just means that we won’t actually physically have to be working all day every day,” Kylie said. 

They admitted they had been worried about whether any of the controversy that had unfolded during the season would affect their auction.

“Yes, most definitely,” Kylie said. “Whether they appreciated our house more than they appreciate us, or they just they actually did see the real people behind it, and that there were so many raw feelings, and we’re in a pressure cooker, we’re really glad.”

While Kylie and Brad’s $650,000 profit was arguably significant, the fact it was less than half of what Courtney and Grant had made immediately before them was not lost on anyone as Kristian and Mimi from House 5 sat down to watch their house get auctioned next.

Was this it? Had the momentum gone?

It had not.

Kristian and Mimi walked away $1.03 million richer after selling to a mystery buyer’s advocate for a whopping $2.93 million.

It was the only house Portelli did not raise his paddle for, although it was later revealed that this buyer’s advocate was actually acting on Portelli’s behalf.

While all the contestants had been given the same reserve of $1.95 million, Kristian and Mimi’s $50,000 clubhouse prize meant their reserve was knocked down to $1.9 million.

Fourth in the auction order were Ricky and Haydn of House 3, who had high hopes their “fun house” would bring them a big win on the day; Haydn’s wife Chelsea had given birth to their first child in the first week he was on the show, and the couple are now expecting their second child.

A number of bidders were in the mix but in the end, it was Portelli who jumped in at the very end with a bid of $2.7 million to seal the deal, announcing he’d “need an ice bath”.

The boys were over the moon with their $750,000 profit, telling reporters afterwards that had already “felt like winners” before the auction.

“Fun happened. Money happened,” Ricky laughed, as Haydn added: “Babies happened.”

Celebrating with the cast and crew afterwards, The Block co-creator and executive producer Julian Cress said he was relieved at how successful this year’s results were.

“For me, for [host] Scott Cam, because we’re together in a room with all the contestants during their auctions, it’s definitely the most nervous day of our year,” he said. “And we’re not nervous about the ratings, because we know people are going to watch.

“We’re nervous for the contestants because we’ve stood back and watched them put their heart and soul into this, and when they don’t do well, it is crushing. And when they have a day like today, then we can really celebrate.”

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