The Block’s sneaky trick to keep auction results a secret

Auctions for The Block were held yesterday – and Nine has taken some sneaky measures to ensure they don’t leak ahead of tonight’s finale.

The producers of The Block have taken some cunning measures to ensure the results of this year’s auctions – held yesterday – don’t leak ahead of tonight’s season finale.

Each year, there’s a window of more than 24 hours between the five Block properties going to auction and the results airing on television.

This year, a Facebook group started by a resident of the Hampton East street has provided all sorts of behind-the-scenes gossip about the show.

Scott Cam on auction day – all will be revealed tonight.

The Block’s producers distributed a flyer to residents of Charming Street last week, informing them that the auctions would not be a public event – only registered bidders and the contestants’ families would be allowed in.

And yesterday came some more detail from the residents’ group, revealing just how seriously the show was taking the secrecy of the auctions: Residents reported that a tradie’s ute was moved in front of one of the auctions with the engine left running in an attempt to drown out the noise of the auction to anyone who was trying to eavesdrop from the street.

Adrian Portelli, buyer of last year’s winning house, was spotted at the auctions, arriving in an Audi. Also in attendance – with a paddle in hand, suggesting he was a registered bidder – was comedian Dave Hughes. Hughesy famously bought one of the houses from The Block’s 2017 season, and this week revealed that after much speculation he’d overpaid for the property, he’d recently had it valued at almost $2m more than he paid.

Other spoiler-free snippets from auction day shared in the group suggest this year we may not be in for the doom and gloom of last year’s finale when one couple only made $20,000, and another two failed to sell their properties at auction: There were reports of cheers heard at multiple auctions yesterday.

Meanwhile, the location for the next series of The Block was announced this week – and the show is moving to Victoria’s popular holiday destination Phillip Island in 2024.

Originally published as The Block’s sneaky trick to keep auction results a secret