The Block’s Jess and Norm had start all over again after blowing $209,000 cash prize in two years

Jess Eva and Norm Hogan have had to start penny-pinching after blowing the entire $209,000 prize money they won on The Block two years ago. 

Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia, self-proclaimed ‘bogan’ Jess said she and Norm have begun saving again, after splashing all their cash on swimming pools, gambling and gifts for their friends. 

‘We’ve had to work really hard for our money now. We are starting to save again,’ she confessed. 

‘We have to work hard for money now’: Jess Eva (left) has revealed she and partner Norm Hogan (right)  have had to start penny-pinching again after blowing the entire $209,000 prize money they won on The Block two years ago 

‘I think it was the most expensive financial course we could have done,’ Jess added.   

The mother-of-two told Daily Mail Australia the couple originally had plans to become property developers but things changed when they returned home.

‘When we got home, we felt guilty that we had won all this money and felt a lot happier having fun and sharing it with our friends,’ she said.

Hey, big spenders! The mother-of-two told Daily Mail Australia the couple splashed the cash on credit cards, gifts to strangers, pools for their friends and a holiday to the Daintree Rainforest

Hey, big spenders! The mother-of-two told Daily Mail Australia the couple splashed the cash on credit cards, gifts to strangers, pools for their friends and a holiday to the Daintree Rainforest 

‘We paid off some credit cards and when I was on Facebook I saw a lady couldn’t pay her rent so I transferred some strangers money. A couple of our friends wanted pools and we shouted our family a holiday to the Daintree Rainforest,’ she continued. 

While she doesn’t have any regrets, Jess admitted that if she won $200,000 now she’d be much more responsible.    

‘We’ve never had money before and so you get a bit starstruck when you see all those zeros in your account.’

'We would use it as a deposit for another house': While she doesn't have any regrets, Jess admitted that if she won $200,000 now she'd be much more responsible

‘We would use it as a deposit for another house’: While she doesn’t have any regrets, Jess admitted that if she won $200,000 now she’d be much more responsible 

‘[If we won money again], we would be far most responsible and we would use it as a deposit for another house.’

She said: ‘You feel like you’ve got nothing to lose but when you’ve got it and you lose it, you realise how important that opportunity was.’   

Speaking on Triple M’s Moonman In The Morning on Friday, Jess also revealed the couple spent a portion of their prize money betting on a tennis match. 

Taking a chance: The couple spent a portion of their prize money betting on a tennis match between Maria Sharapova and Ash Barty (pictured)

Taking a chance: The couple spent a portion of their prize money betting on a tennis match between Maria Sharapova and Ash Barty (pictured)

‘Remember when Ash Barty was starting out on the tennis circuit and we didn’t know she was going to be a winner and she was playing against Maria Sharapova?’ she told her co-hosts, Lawrence Mooney and Chris Page.

‘We put thousands on Maria Sharapova and it was just when Ash Barty was starting her winning streak… I’ll never forget Norm’s look after Maria lost the second set, he just had tears in his eyes,’ she said. 

Jess also revealed she and Norm paid off a friend’s car loan, bought two lawnmowers and even bought a block of land in Queensland’s Russell Island. 

Rise to fame! Jess and Norm became household names after starring on the 2018 season of The Block, and share son Fred, five, and daughter Matilda, two

Rise to fame! Jess and Norm became household names after starring on the 2018 season of The Block, and share son Fred, five, and daughter Matilda, two

Jess and Norm became household names after starring in the 2018 season of The Block, and share son Fred, five, and daughter Matilda, two.

During the show’s finale, the couple sold their apartment at auction for $2,859,000, making a tidy profit of $209,000.

In July, the former Block stars sold their block of land in Queensland’s Russell Island, after seven days of listing it. 

How did Jess and Norm spend their $209,000 cash prize? 

– Purchased two above-ground swimming pools for their friends at $5000 each

– Spent a portion of the prize money betting on a tennis match between Maria Sharapova and Ash Barty

– Paid off a friend’s car loan

– Bought two lawnmowers

– Purchased a block of land in Queensland’s Russell Island

The reality television stars purchased the land in July 2019 for $17,000 and sold it for $24,000 within one week of its listing.  

The radio host told The Daily Telegraph the couple had hoped to build on the land this year, rent it out and then move back in 15 years but they ‘didn’t have time’.

The couple rent a home in Sydney’s Tennyson Point, which is 15 minutes from where Jess co-hosts Moonman in the Morning with Lawrence and Chris. 

Cha-ching! In July, the former Block stars sold the block of land (pictured) they purchased after winning the show in Queensland's Russell Island

Cha-ching! In July, the former Block stars sold the block of land (pictured) they purchased after winning the show in Queensland’s Russell Island