A hush-hush moment before The Block’s dramatic 2025 auction night may have sealed the fate of this season’s struggling contestants — long before a single hammer fell.

Auctioneer Tom Panos (left) said the fate of many of the auctions was sealed before cameras started rolling.

One of the auctioneers who called bids on The Block auctions last week has revealed a key off screen event had indicated the sales would be a bust long before they started.

This year’s results were markedly different from previous seasons in that two of the five contestants failed to sell at auction.

And even the winners, WA cops Brit and Taz, walked away with a profit smaller than the 2024 season’s last placed contestants.

Auctioneer Tom Panos, who called bids on the house of second-placed contestants Robby and Matt, said registered bidders at the auctions had expressed budgets of $2.7m to $2.8m prior to bidding.

Panos called the auction for Robby and Mat, who sold for about $100k over reserve.

Had and Can failed to attract a single bidder.

These were shared in conversations that preceded the actual auctions and agents close to the sales had known well in advance that most of the auction results would be underwhelming.

“Without a doubt, the properties were above market value,” Mr Panos said.

“Ask real estate agents in Daylesford what the right values of these properties were and they would say mid $2m to high $2m.

“If you think about it, the prices that some of the contestants on the show got were pretty good for the area, but unfortunately just not at the level the contestants would have expected.”

Mr Panos said he knew well in advance that getting bidders to make offers above the lofty reserve prices would be a challenge.

“I was concerned,” he said. “We had a few registered (bidders) but they had all been talking $2.7m.

Brit and Taz were the winners of this year’s season of The Block.

“I was hell bent on getting the property sold at auction because trying to get a property that (passes in at auction) on The Block to sell afterward is extremely challenging. They stay on the market for months.”

Mr Panos explained that the contestants who didn’t sell at auction faced an uphill battle as the agency agreements on The Block were different to normal property sales.

The auctioneer claimed that these agreements became void when the properties passed in at auction, leaving the fate of the contestants needing to sell them uncertain.

“I don’t know what is going to happen to them, but I do know that it will be difficult.

“The data doesn’t look good for properties that don’t sell on The Block. They don’t get a good price.”

There was a nervous energy ahead of the auctions because of the bidder feedback, Mr Panos said.

Mr Panos alleged that the winning contestants Brit and Taz benefited from attracting the one registered bidder willing to splurge on this season’s auctions.

“There are two types of buyers on The Block,” he said. “There are celebrity buyers who are there for the marketing opportunities and then there are normal buyers who are just looking at the market.

“Without those celebrity buyers like Adrian Portelli, it was always going to be difficult to get those normal buyers to pay high amounts in Daylesford, which is a slow market.

Tom Panos has appeared on many seasons of the show, including this year and last year.

“Most of Victoria is a fairly weak market at the moment. The days on market for properties remains pretty high. It’s not a market where investors would normally be spending on high-end renovations.”

Mr Panos noted that some contestants had made arrangements prior to auction to try and help their sales, not all of which were screened.

“My contestants said to me one of the bidders had actually slept at the property prior (to auction) to get a feel for it. They would have been intimate with the property.”