Contestants Revealed, Countdown to the Block NZ Begins

Contestants Revealed, Countdown to the Block NZ Begins

The four couples taking part in the first season of The Block NZ come from Auckland, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Wellington and Christchurch. The TV3 series will screen at 7.30pm on Wednesday and Thursday nights, premiering on Wednesday 4 July.

The four couples are:

• Hamilton student Sarah Adams (20) and former chef turned landscape designer Richard Boobyer (24).
• Intensive care nurse Ginny Death (22) and electrical linesman Rhys Wineera (23) from New Plymouth.
• Christchurch advertising agency designer Libby Crawford (29) and her brother Ben (31), a marketing manager based in Auckland.
• And Wellingtonians Rachel Rasch (35), a former radio producer, and her partner, bricklayer and musician, Tyson Hill (36).

The Block NZ is the first local version of the international hit renovation-reality series. Hosted by Black Cap-turned-broadcaster Mark Richardson and Shannon Ryan (FOUR Live), it sees these four couples compete to renovate four run-down houses in the upmarket seaside suburb of Takapuna in Auckland.

Room by room, week by week, they'll fix up the entire house to sell at auction for the highest price - and they have to take leave from their jobs and lives and live in the houses while they do it. That means no kitchen, no bathroom, not even a clean place to sleep, until that room is renovated. Each couple will get to keep the profit from the sale of their own property on auction night. And after the last auctioneer’s gavel goes down the couple whose property sells for the most over reserve wins an additional $80,000.

MediaWorks TV Head of Factual Production Sue Woodfield says the production was spoilt for choice when it came to picking the couples.

“We had more than 1000 couples apply and all of them were phenomenal. We couldn’t have asked for a better group to pick from and have ended up with four great couples from across the country.

“There’s a mixture of experience, but what they all have in common is that they are all fun, energetic, and have very strong relationships. There’s a huge amount at stake for all of the couples, and they are all really committed to this potentially life changing experience.”

The Block is one of the biggest reality formats in the world, with a compelling blend of real estate dreams and high-stakes drama that has made it a global phenomenon. The New Zealand series is produced by Eyeworks Television for TV3. Foundation partners are Bunnings Warehouse, Kiwibank, Mazda and Wild Bean Cafe.

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