Queensland married couple Mitch and Shaz claimed first place and an incredible $1 million in life-changing prize money in tonight’s hotly-contested My Reno Rules live Grand Finale, marking a stunning comeback for the pair who went into the all-important decider in last place.
Scoring a total of 99.5 points for the overall competition, Mitch and Shaz were shocked and completely overwhelmed when My Reno Rules judges Neale Whitaker, Julia Green and Simon Cohen revealed the couple’s winning scores for Landscape Week.
The elated couple said the hard-fought win would change the trajectory of their family, with teenage son Lenny always front and centre of their competition strategy.
“I think I’m going to vomit!,” cried Shaz after hearing they were freshly minted millionaires. Mitch, also in a state of shock said, “It hasn’t hit home that it’s real.”
But it all became very real when their son Lenny joined them on stage to celebrate the win.
“I’m so proud of my parents,” said Lenny before leaning in to hug his mum and dad. “They did a really good job.”
Low in confidence after drawing brutal criticism from the judges for their kitchen design and styling choices in the last interiors round, Mitch and Shaz went into the Grand Finale in last place on 70 points.
An experienced landscaper, Mitch was determined to get the couple back in the race during Landscape Week, making a calculated decision to choose the front yard, knowing the backyard was a larger space and would be expensive and time consuming to bring to life.
But when Adrian Portelli surprised the teams by announcing pools for the backyards, Mitch and Shaz knew they had to deliver something special and Mitch conceived a genius plan to drag them out of trouble – a bespoke, architectural front yard, with a statement paved entry and a curved copper and timber front fence. And the judges loved it.
With only 2.5 points separating them from the competition winners, Victorian best mates Franky and Isaac claimed second place in the competition with an overall score of 97 points, taking home an incredible $250,000 in prize money.
Third place and $100,000 in prize money went to Queensland mother and daughter team, Emma and Michelle, while Victorian parents Nathan and Julia took home $50,000 for fourth place.
But life-changing wins didn’t stop with the contestants. Topping off the night, two lucky Aussies – Nathan B from NSW and Graham C from Victoria – walked away with a cool $2 million each in prize money.