Adrian Portelli made international headlines following his debut on Channel Nine’s The Block in 2022, with everyone watching wanting to know who this mysterious young man was.
During the auction for the 18th season, Adrian bid $5.5 million for Oz and Omar’s home – who won The Block 2022 – however, he was outbid by serial bidder Danny Wallis.
Adrian with 2022 Block winners Omar and Oz. (Image: Instagram)
Instead, Adrian purchased The Block runner-up Ankur and Sharon’s home for $4.25 million. While many initially labelled Adrian as a ‘dummy bidder,’ the 35-year-old Australian entrepreneur proved all the nay-sayers wrong.
Adrian is the founder of LMCT+, an online club which offers shopping discounts and giveaways to its paying subscribers.
One of the items he gave away was The Block 2022 home – a giveaway he had planned to do if he’d won the bidding war for Oz and Omar’s home.
Adrian loves his cars. (Image: Instagram)
”People thought I was a dummy bidder and mate of Omar and Oz. I was simply wanting to buy the four-bedroom house to give away through my business LMCT+, to give everyday Aussies the chance to win a house they’ve all become attached to over its renovation on The Block,” he said.
”It’s not my fault that Danny let his ego get in the way and drove the price up to a point where it didn’t make sense to me, so I backed out.”
However, there was no backing down during The Block 2023 auctions as Adrian purchased not one… but three homes.
Among those was Steph and Gian’s home, which he purchased for a staggering $5 million. The married couple won the 19th season and made Block history.
Yet, fans were scratching their heads when Adrian began to outbid himself during the auction for House 5, Eliza and Liberty.
“Everyone was quiet so I just thought I’d rev everyone up a bit,” he said.
Adrian with his $3 million super car. (Image: Instagram)
He then placed the winning bid on House 1, Kyle and Leslie. While his shopping frenzy stopped there, fans wondered why he didn’t purchase the whole lot.
“If I bought the whole lot I would have copped criticism,” he told TV WEEK following the auctions. “Last season I copped criticism for not buying any… I think three is a good number.”
Despite his ability to splash some cash, Adrian is not the man some believe him to be.
“I’m a very shy person, believe it or not,” he recently told the Financial Review. “I live a very basic life. I’m just into cars.”
Such a car-enthusiast, Adrian had his $3 million supercar craned into the loungeroom of his $39 million Melbourne penthouse.
Now, a source close to The Block has told Yahoo! Lifestyle that it’s very likely Adrian Portelli will purchase all five of the houses for the same price in 2024.
“The houses will all sell for the one price and the well-established Adrian Portelli wants them all,” the insider shared. “He will definitely be in attendance at the auction in Phillip Island, most likely in his Lamborghini.
“Adrian has been very vocal during discussions with the producers and has also told his close friends he will be buying the entire resort for his LMCT+ website for up to $15 million. It will be the noisiest sale in Block history and that’s perfect for his business model.”
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