Block winners Nate and Andy compare 'brutal' final to a funeral

Anyone who watched the finale of The Block NZ knows it was a pretty bleak affair.

So do the winners - they've compared the experience to a funeral.

Nate and Andy took home the reality show's $100,000 prize, but only after they were allowed to return for a second auction after their first failed to sell.

That controversial decision put them in front of Stace and Yanita, who thought they had won and could barely hold it together after their loss.

The show's host, Mark Richardson, has described it as "a tough night, one of the most difficult moments I've ever been associated with".

In a new interview with Woman's Day, Nate and Andy describe just how dark it got.

"It was like going to a funeral - it was brutal," Andy tells the magazine.

"You want to win, but you don't want to win like that. No one should go through what Stace and Yanita went through."

In an interview with the Herald, Stace and Yanita said it was a tough moment but they didn't hold any grudges.

"The live auction was a total rollercoaster," Stace said. "You just can't prepare yourself. You think maybe the worst case scenario is the properties don't sell.

"But even worse than that would probably be thinking that you might win - and then you don't."

Yanita said: "Absolutely it's fair that they won."

Andy and Nate said they broke down and struggled to stop crying after the finale. But they weren't happy tears - they were sad about what had happened to their co-stars.

The pair say the night put them in a "bad mood" because of how it played out.

"I was shedding a few tears," Andy tells WD. "After seeing Stace and Yanita cry, you couldn't help but well up if you had a heart."