"We were not a bit nervous about auction," said Deb.

As the fire situation unfolded on Saturday, the couple was keeping up-to-date with what was happening through a group chat with Wallabi Point parents that is generally used to keep an eye on their kids. "That's where our information was coming from and we had the phone on us at all times.

"Right through hair and makeup it was on silent but it was nearby during filming. We were just about to start filming when a neighbour Facetimed us. Everyone stopped and encouraged us to take the call, which I did but we couldn't hear him.

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"Then we started the auction. It was great, everyone at home was very good at keeping the information up-to-date, clear and concise."

Once the bidding got underway the couple was feeling "a little excited, a bit anxious but really ready to get it done."

They sold their property for $3,420,000, making them a profit of $430,000. This was on top of the $10,000 they won during the open for inspections, after the public voted theirs as the best house.

"It's a fabulous result. It will be life changing for us," said Deb. "We are tossing up a few things we would like to do with the prize money. We certainly earned it.

"Every single team earned their money this year. It was a tough Block and we have been told that they won't ever do one that large again.

"It was a struggle for contestants and crew this year. Some days felt impossible. In fact every day felt impossible for 102 days straight! We survived on about 14 to 20 hours sleep per week and worked non stop."

Deb said everyone was happy and grateful with the end result. "We were very concerned that going fourth would have been difficult for us. Our agent was very clear that fourth and fifth was not where we wanted to sell from so it did make us think we may not have sold. We were really happy when we got such a great result and so happy with everyone getting so much money. We know how hard everyone worked so we would have been devastated if any team missed out."

Deb said it was an "absolutely amazing" result for all the teams. "We all made great money. We are so incredibly happy for Tess and Luke who won by a mile (their profit was $630,000 and as winners gained another $100,000 on top). It's an incredible result. We are very close with them so there were a lot of tears flowing when their bids kept climbing. They deserved every cent!"

Andy and Deb were surrounded by family and friends on auction day. "All of the people with us made it possible for us to travel to Melbourne initially and spend four months there filming. They looked after our children, home and business and then made their own way to Melbourne to support us further. An absolute champion effort from an amazing group of people."

After the auctions, all the contestants threw open the doors of their Block houses and had each others friends and family partying in each other's houses. "We were all genuinely happy for each other as were our family and friends so it was a huge party across all of the houses," said Deb. "People were just wandering from home to home. Music was on, food and drinks were plentiful and everyone was having a blast! The smiles were massive!"

In support of the Rural Fire Service, an indigenous artwork by Melissa Greenwood (who also created a stunning large scale work for the couple's Block home), that was on the wall behind the contestants as their properties went to auction, was sold with 20 per cent of the sale price going towards the service. Andy and Deb will match the amount dollar for dollar.

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