The “B word” has followed Chantel around like a bad smell this season. Ever since production made a calculation error in week one and claimed she spent over $20,000 on a single guest bedroom, budget has been top of mind.
She and her partner, Wyatt, pride themselves on being good with money, and the pair haven’t faltered in their budgeting since — with the team coming closest to their budget figure on several occasions and winning $10,000 for their efforts.
Despite not securing a win with a room reveal yet, with Rick and Tayla pipping them to the post by half a point with their main ensuite bathroom, Chantel and Wyatt seem to have a much more subtle strategy that seems to be working very nicely, and it could easily win them The Block.
Fans are now catching on to their plan, and Chantel confirmed to WHO that the viewers are ‘on the money’ with their predictions.
What do fans think Chantel and Wyatt’s strategy is?
A regular complaint this season has been how inconsistent the judges’ feedback has been.
For example, the judges criticised Adam and Jolene for not having a BBQ in their alfresco area, then told Lisa and Rosco their BBQ wasn’t needed.
The brief of “white, light, and bright” for the overall house designs has since been condemned as “bland” by the judges, and pops of colour have been encouraged in rooms as the weeks go on.
It’s something Chantel herself complained about to WHO, saying she decided to “stay true” to herself and create rooms with an aesthetic she liked, rather than chase the brief only for it to be constantly changing (and her subsequently falling short).
Ultimately, fans think Chantel and Wyatt have decided to stop chasing the room reveal wins, and instead focus on the budget wins. The cash prize for coming closest to your intended budget is ultimately giving the team what they need — money.
“There is no rhyme or reason to judging, so why bother to chase the 1st place $10,000? Keeping on budget is easier.
“No wonder her living and dining was super minimal. Yes, it’s a design choice, but I’m sure it was extra sparse because she restrained spending to get the $10,000 from the budget. It’s smart.”
This strategy has proved successful before, as another fan pointed out.
“It’s happened several times where the judges constantly scored a team low on every room then that team won the auction,” they wrote.
A good example of this is Alisa and Lysandra Fraser from the 2013 season. The identical twin sisters from Adelaide were cast as the season’s “villains” and were frequently met with criticism from the judges throughout the season.
Despite not winning one room reveal, their finished apartment sold for $1.435 million — $295,000 above reserve.
Chantel firmly has her eyes set on the team’s budget
The contestant basically confirmed this to WHO, with her and Wyatt deciding the budget win could be much more fruitful rather than chasing the judges’ feedback (and the room reveal win).
“There’s ten thousand dollars for the room reveal and ten thousand… for the budget win.
“After those couple of near wins [for the room reveal], we’re, like, let’s just really focus on nailing the budget and trying to get as many of those as we can,” she said, “Obviously we want to win too, but we need extra money for our house, so we just went into the budget and really tried to focus on only spending our cash on the trades and filling the house with the block box furniture.”
Time will tell if it’ll work, but it looks like they’re on the right track.
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