The Block winners Steph and Gian Ottavio say they did nothing wrong after their tactics on the show were labelled “controversial”.
It recently emerged that the couple had chatted with their agent Tom Panos early-on in the game in a bid to help them get an edge on their competition.
Their game plan was seen as controversial among fans but the couple avidly “disagree” that they did anything wrong.
“From very early on you are allowed to engage with your agent. Auctioneers usually come with agencies but we went and got our own one,” Steph told the Daily Mail.
“I don’t understand why that would be controversial.”
Gian agreed, and said that producers had no issue when their tactics so didn’t understand why viewers would consider them controversial.
“Wouldn’t that mean looking at property photos before going on the show is controversial because you are getting a head start on design? I disagree,” he said.
“At the end of the day The Block is a competition for who will sell their house for the most money at auction and how do you win? You need to have the A-team working with you.”
Steph and Gian walked away winners after selling their property on Charming Street for a whopping $1.65 million over reserve. Their huge profit managed to bea last year’s winners, Omar Slaimankhel and Ozman ‘Oz’ Abu Malik, who landed a $1.6 million profit.
The controversy first began when the couple shared their tactics in an interview following their huge win.
“When we got the call that we were on The Block in February, the first thing we did, I think three days later, we called Tom Spanos our auctioneer,” they told the Daily Mail.
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“He was the first person we called and engaged, and people probably wouldn’t think that. As soon as you find out you’re on the Block, why would you call an auctioneer?”
“For us, it was the end game. There was a lot of thought that went into that. The team at Ray Way Sunbury are exceptional.”
Their strategy worked like a charm, and in the end they sold their home to Adrian ‘Mr Lambo’ Portelli for a cool $5 million.
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