THE BLOCK / AUSTRALIA

The Block winners Darren and Deanne Jolly pocket almost $1 million at auction, The Block auctions: Darren and Dea take all

The contestants together took home record-setting prize money after smashing reserves.

INTERACTIVE: Take a tour of The Block and hear what the couples had to say post auction

GALLERY: Take a look inside Darren and Dea's winning apartment

Who are Australia's biggest game show winners?

From flop to jackpot, The Block apartments have blitzed reserves during frenzied auctions and set a surprise global TV prize record.

The popular show flipped its fortunes after last season's lacklustre auctions, smashing price benchmarks and bagging the winners, Darren and Deanne Jolly, a windfall of almost $1 million, The Melbourne couple have walked away $935,000 richer after their apartment went for $2.29 million under the hammer on the season finale of The Block Triple Threat.

Their prize purse is the highest in The Block's 10 season history.

No team is leaving the show with less than a $665,000 boost to their bank balances.

Channel Nine is handing out a combined $3.165 million in prize money to the four couples - the Gold Coast's Jess and Ayden Hogan, Adelaide's Tim and Anastasia Ielasi​ and Sydney's Josh Terrett​ and Charlotte Ekas.

The figure represents the biggest prize pool dolled out on a single episode of TV anywhere in the world, according to Nine.

Tim and Anastasia were first under the hammer, followed by Ayden and Jess, then Deanne and Darren, with Josh and Charlotte last.

All four auctions were fast - over in just a few minutes - and hotly contested, with bidders yelling numbers over the top of each other. In contrast, last season some auctioneers were scraping and cajoling for a bid.

Auctions were held in the living and dining rooms and spilled onto the terraces, with buyers squeezed in, shoulder to shoulder.

Some agents had to stand on fruit boxes so they could be seen by Nine's cameras over the swollen crowds.

The cachet of a designer apartment with a profile, on Darling Street, one of prestigious South Yarra's swishest streets, equated to stiff competition.

Each auction started with a confident knockout bid, immediately hitting hundreds of thousands of dollars above reserve and going straight into profit.

Jess and Ayden's reserve of $1.335 million was shattered with an opening bid of $1.7 million. The couple effectively made $365,000 in a split second.

The Jollys, who polarised viewers more than any other team this season, pocketed $835,000 over reserve for their pad, which they renovated room by room over 10 weeks. They also earned themselves a $100,000 winner's cheque.

Last year, they were distraught after collecting just $10,000 for months of hard work on the Glasshouse series in Prahran.

They had more to lose - and prove - than any of the four teams, putting family life on hold for a second crack at the reality television renovation contest.

Their effort has launched Deanne's interior styling career and put Darren, a dual premiership footballer, back in the public eye after his retirement from AFL in 2013, when he was delisted by Collingwood.

The couple have been renting in Melbourne's Mont Albert, and their prize money will go towards a family home, Darren said.

Darren suffered a brain tumour and surgery this year but is now toasting his family's enormous change of fortune with relatives and loved ones.

"We knew were were going to make some money but certainly not the extent it went to," he said.

Deanne said she was shocked as she watched the price rapidly climb.

"I liked it (participating on The Block) so that sounds obscene, to make that much money out of doing it," she said.

"It's beyond everybody's expectations - all of the contestants, we are all blown away.

"I was really emotional - I was really scared, that was fear.

"It's beyond life-changing, it is so much more than anyone would ever expect to win.

"

Deanne said they returned to the show after last season's flop result to teach their two young children to persist after a disappointment.

Ayden and Jess' bank balance has grown by $665,000 and Josh and Charlotte are receiving $810,000.

Tim and Anastasia are $755,000 richer and are looking forward to wiping their debts, they told Domain. The couple were broke by the final week - the terrace and garden reveals - and walked off the show, stressed and overwhelmed.

They came back, finished, and intend to pay off credit cards and their mortgage, after forfeiting personal income to join the show

"We are happy to go back to our families and spend some quality times with our kids, and look forward to the next chapter of what could be our life now," Anastasia said.

The Block auction was the first auction Ayden had attended.

He and his wife Jess, who have two children, were ecstatic as their apartment was knocked down.

"We've just lost The Block and we're stoked with that," Jess told Domain.

"It's the happiest I have ever been to lose something, let me say."

As last apartment to be sold, Josh and Charlotte had endured a long and nervous wait.

"I just feel so strange right now," Charlotte said. "Our whole family is here, it is such a nice time."