Kim Wolfe & Chelsea Meissner Speak Out After ‘Rock the Block’ Win

After seven weeks of intense competition, Rock the Block has officially crowned its Season 7 winners.

Fourteen years after they competed against each other on Season 24 of Survivor, Kim Wolfe and Chelsea Meissner reunited onscreen as one of the four HGTV star and celebrity duos competing on Rock the Block. Their competition show experience and close off-screen friendship proved to be a winning formula, as the pair’s “smoky sexy” Las Vegas home earned them the title of Season 7’s winners.

“It honestly still feels surreal,” Meissner exclusively told TV Insider of the team’s victory. “This season pushed us creatively, physically, and mentally, so having all of that hard work validated with a win was incredibly rewarding. We took a lot of risks with our design choices, and seeing those risks pay off made it even sweeter.”

Wolfe, for her part, said she felt “awesome” after the big win. “I think something really special happens when you win something where the experience itself already felt meaningful. The people felt special, the timing felt right, and it genuinely felt like we were in the right place at the right time with the right group of people. Then, when you actually win, it almost validates all of that a little bit more.”

Here, Wolfe and Meissner open up about their winning strategy, their favorite designs, and the fun way they celebrated their victory.

What did it mean to you to compete on another show together, but this time as design partners?

Chelsea Meissner: I never thought we would have another opportunity to compete together again, so this felt like one of life’s special little surprises. However, this experience felt completely different because we were building something that reflected both of our personalities and strengths equally. We already knew we worked well together, but this tested us on another level. There were stressful moments, but it also made us trust each other even more creatively.

Kim Wolfe: We’ve said this a hundred times, but it was an absolute blast getting to spend this time together competing on a show while doing something we both genuinely love. It’s a memory I know we’ll both always cherish, and I feel extremely grateful that I got to do this with one of my best friends.

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What was your favorite room in the house, and which (if any) do you wish you could redo?

Chelsea: Such a hard question to answer, but I was obsessed with our kitchen. It felt transportive and fun, which is exactly what we wanted the house to feel like overall. If we could redo anything, we’d probably spend a little more time fine-tuning the front exterior of our house. We had no time and no money to really focus on the curb appeal, but honestly, we’re proud of every space.

Kim: I really loved our entry, great room, poker room, kitchen/prep and kitchen/dining area combo — really that whole main space when you walk through the front door. It’s hard for me to pick just one part of it, because they all felt so connected.

As far as a redo, there were definitely some spaces where the budget ran out, and we didn’t quite get to execute the full version of what we envisioned. I would say the theater room is one where, in theory, we loved the idea of it, but didn’t really get to bring it to life the way we wanted to. Same with parts of the front exterior of the house. There were some things we wanted to do, but we just ran out of time.

Do you think adding $1,000 to your home’s value after your two episode wins, rather than $3,000 to your budget, helped you get the overall win?

Chelsea: I think every advantage helped in some way, but more than anything, the design wins gave us confidence and momentum. The competition is so close that even small boosts matter. At the end of the day, though, I think consistency across the whole house is what really helped secure the win.

Kim: Absolutely. This was Chelsea all the way. I wanted the $3,000 in cash, thinking I could buy something cool with it, but it definitely came in handy when it came time for the final appraisal.

Who was your biggest competition throughout the season?

Chelsea: Honestly, every team brought something completely different to the table, which made the competition really tough. Brooke [Hogan] and Scott [McGillivray] had two huge wins, so they felt like a threat all season.

Kim: It definitely felt like Brooke and Scott were our biggest competition because of their big wins with the kitchen and the primary suite. But Rock the Block has this eerie feeling where you really just never know. It honestly could’ve been anybody.

What was it like showing your house to the cast and getting to see their work?

Chelsea: That was one of the coolest parts of the whole experience. We all spent weeks covered in dust, stressed, exhausted, and hyper-focused on our own homes, so finally getting to walk through everyone’s finished spaces felt really rewarding. There was a lot of mutual respect, because we all understood how hard the process actually was.

Kim: I think my favorite moment from the entire filming process was showing our house to the rest of the cast. I think they were genuinely surprised, and it was just really fun getting to watch everyone experience it for the first time.

If you could live in another team’s house, which would you pick?

Chelsea: That’s tough because every house had something I loved. There were definitely spaces in other homes that made me stop and say, ‘Wow.’ But I’m a bit partial to our own because it reflects how I actually love to live. If I had to pick, it would be Taniya Nayak and Drew [Lachey]’s house. I loved their hidden speakeasy!

Kim: Taniya and Drew’s!

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What room would you be okay with a homeowner changing to their personal taste, and which do you hope they don’t touch?

Chelsea: I totally understand personalizing spaces like bedrooms or offices, because those should reflect the homeowner. But I have a strong feeling the homeowner will completely change our theatre room. Breaks my heart, but I’ll understand. That install will live with me forever!

Kim: The homeowners can do absolutely whatever they want. From years of experience doing HGTV remodels, I’ve learned that one man’s favorite is another man’s least favorite. I want whoever buys and lives in this house for it to feel like their dream house, not mine. Hopefully our taste overlaps…otherwise they’ve got a lot of work to do.

If you could compete on another HGTV show together, what would it be?

Chelsea: We’d absolutely do another competition show together, because we weirdly thrive in chaos. Something design-focused with travel or unique properties would be really fun for us.

In the finale, you joke about the cast getting matching tattoos. Did you get them? If so, what is the design?

Chelsea: Yes…We got them with our crew, not the cast. Kim, I, and our design team, Travis and Katie, all got the same micro tattoo right after our win. We got the symbol for congruence, which to us stands for harmony and compatibility, like when all the stars align. The decision was made moments before we walked into a tattoo shop on the Vegas strip around midnight.

Kim: Absolutely. And it was a big deal, because I’m not really a big tattoo person. I only have one other tattoo, and it’s my dad’s signature of my maiden name—our last name growing up. So this one felt a little brave.