Adrian Portelli reveals plans for The Block homes after buying all five at auction

Adrian Portelli broke records buying all five homes during The Block auctions, and now he’s revealed his plans for the properties.

When Adrian Portelli first appeared on The Block as the mysterious ‘lambo guy’ in 2022, he swiftly became the subject of social media speculation he was nothing but a “dummy bidder” planted to drive up prices.

Fast forward two years, and the 35-year-old Melbourne billionaire has dropped $15.03 million to purchase all five Block homes at a record-breaking auction during Sunday night’s finale.

In a farewell to his three-year domination of the Channel 9 series, Portelli confirmed this would be his final year bidding on The Block, and he was determined to go out with a bang.

Portelli’s company LMCT+, an online marketplace and rewards platform, has gone live with its next big lottery – a monumental giveaway of all five properties on ‘Block Island.’

Adrian Portelli is raffling off all five Block homes.

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Dubbing it “Australia’s biggest giveaway ever”, the giveaway promises “one lucky winner will get the keys to not one, but five luxurious homes within this [Phillip Island] complex. Or, if you prefer, you can walk away with a staggering $8 million cash prize.”

Entries close at 8pm AEDT on Boxing Day, with the winner announced via Facebook Live half an hour later.

Speaking on the Kyle and Jackie O Show Monday morning, Portelli said he wasn’t “much of a fan of Phillip Island”, so preferred to give the houses away to everyday Australians.

Portelli helped Maddy and Charlotte win The Block with his mega $3.5m offer. Picture: Channel 9

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Portelli’s decision to offload the homes follows similar moves over the last two seasons of The Block. In 2022, Portelli gave away Sharon and Ankur’s house, which he bought at auction for $4.25 million.

That giveaway sensationally soured after the winning couple, Kevin and Andrea Griffin, accused Portelli of removing $100,000 worth of items from the property.

And last year, Portelli bought three out of five houses at auction for a combined price of $12.4 million, though prize draws for the properties have proved largely unsuccessful in finding owners.

In what could provide insight into one reason why Portelli has decided to step away from The Block, Steph and Gian’s winning ‘Japandi’ house, which the businessman bought for $5 million, failed to land an owner after the giveaway in December last year, with the winner opting for a $2.5 million cash prize instead.

Portelli bought Steph and Gian’s winning home at The Block 2023 auctions. Picture: Supplied/Channel 9

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Portelli tried to raffle Eliza and Liberty’s home earlier this year, but the winner again selected the alternate cash prize.

He opted to sell the sprawling Hampton East property via auction in April, where it went under the hammer for $3.245 million, proving a $1.055 million loss for the flashy billionaire who bought it at the Block auctions for a staggering $4.3 million.

As for Kyle and Leslie’s home, which Portelli purchased for $3.1 million, it’s understood to currently be empty after it also failed to land an owner when LMCT+ attempted to raffle it off in February.

Portelli first came to The Block notoriety in 2022.

His first ever bid was on Omar and Oz’s house, where he came out with an offer well over the reserve price. Ultimately, he was pipped by eccentric multi-millionaire Danny Wallis, who scored the home for more than $5.6 million.

As for why he’s bowing out of The Block, Portelli said on the Kyle and Jackie O Show, “I don’t want to overstay my welcome. We got three seasons out of it.”

This year’s Block auction results:

WINNER:

Maddy and Charlotte, house 1: Reserve of $1.95m, sold for $3.5m = $1.65m profit (including $100k prize money for coming first)

SECOND PLACE:

Courtney and Grant, house 2: Reserve of $1.95m, sold for $3.3m = $1.35m profit

THIRD PLACE:

Kristian and Mimi, house 5: Reserve of $1.9m (reduced $50k from Challenge win), sold for $2.93m = $1.03m profit.

FOURTH PLACE:

Ricky and Haydn, house 3: Reserve of $1.95m, sold for $2.7m = $750,000 profit.

FIFTH PLACE:

Kylie and Brad, house 4: Reserve of $1.95m, sold for $2.6m = $650,000 profit.