Dave Hughes was a lucky bidder at The Block auctions, picking up Josh Barker and Elyse Knowles’ winning home for a cool $3.067 million.
But the surprise purchase has landed him in hot water…
Why? Well, the funnyman’s wife Holly specifically asked him to keep purchase hush-hush which obviously hasn’t happened.
“The only thing I asked was, ‘If you are going to bid can you please just do it through an advocate so we can keep it private’,” she told her husband’s co-host Kate Langbroek on their KIIS drive show.
“I didn’t think he’d end up buying it either.”
Hughesy insisted that the house was a “bargain” and would remain in the family for years as an investment, but there was no convincing his lovely wife — or his son.
Holly revealed that their son, Rafferty, eight, thought the purchase was a bit of “showing off.”
“It’s not a bargain. Raffy’s whispering people were hassling him about it at school. Raffy’s saying he feels like dad was showing off,” she said.
On Monday morning, Dave told KIIS 101.1’s Matt & Meshel that his wife was embarrassed by the anything-but-discreet purchase.
“It embarrasses my wife, she is slightly mortified by my whole process,” he joked.
Chatting to TV WEEK after the auctions, Dave explained that he first became interested in the property when he and his fellow radio host Kate filmed some scenes during the season.
“Kate and I came during filming and had dinner with all the couples and yeah, I just had a good vibe from that night,” Dave, 46, said.
“It’s a great house, in a great street and a great part of Melbourne and really well built and has a great aspect.”
Dave doesn’t plan to move his family in to the house though – rather he intends to rent it out.
“We’ll still live where we are and this is just an investment,” he says.
“I’ll probably get a corporate renter, but I might enjoy it for a little while.”
WATCH: Josh Barker and Elyse Knowles take out the top spot on ‘The Block.’ Post continues…
Josh and Elyse were chuffed Dave was the one who bought their home.
“We were so amazed,” Elyse, 24, said.
“He came to the challenge during filming and we were supposed to make him laugh and we pretty much failed, and we thought well, that’s game over – but he came back for more!”
If Dave hadn’t been the successful bidder and picked up Josh and Elyse’s house, he was considering bidding at Jason and Sarah’s auction.
“Just the two bookends for me,” he said. “This was number one though.”
Dave added that he knew he would have strong competition at the auction, as it was a crowd favourite.
“It was a popular pick,” he said. “It’s a well-loved house. This is quality real estate in a really great place of Melbourne – it’s a win.”
