Hard slog, dark times on TV show
The Christchurch brother and sister duo who won TV3 reality show The Block have spoken of the "dark times" they suffered during the eight-week competition.
Ben and Libby Crawford walked away from last week's live TV finale as winners with $237,000 in prize money after selling their North Shore do-up for well over its reserve price of $961,000.
Their combined earnings of $157,000 profit (plus the $80,000 bonus) beat Sarah and Richard ($64,000), Ginny and Rhys ($11,000) and Rachel and Ty, who only managed to meet the reserve but received $11,000 in donations after a social media cam-paign.
Ben and Libby told this week's edition of Woman's Day they were "amazed" to win, but admitted the competition had been "hard slog" and they were "hideously emotional" during the live auction.
"There were definitely some dark times," Libby told the magazine.
"If Ben had a dollar for every time he had to reassure me everything would work out, he'd have had pockets of cash long before auction night."
Ben said he was "sad" that the show had ended and he felt "super flat".
"Now, after spending so many weeks pouring our hearts and souls into the house, suddenly this incredible, crazy journey has ended and it's actually a bit sad."
Ben also addressed the extra attention he'd been receiving from women, after he was spotted getting cosy with Underbelly star Anna Hutchison.
"It's been a massive compliment, all the dialogue about me over the past few weeks," he told Woman's Day.
"As a guy, you love to have female attention, of course, but it's not going to change me. I do get embarrassed easily. And anyway, I'm not in any desperate rush to be in a relationship.
"But if a female fan wants to say hello on the street, they're welcome to."
