Adrian Portelli gives away $15m worth of Block houses at Phillip Island

Adrian Portelli has given away five houses he bought on The Block.

A year after shelling out more than $15 million on The Block properties at Phillip Island, Adrian Portelli has finally offloaded the houses to five elated winners in a chaotic live lottery.

More than 20,000 people around Australia followed the livestream, while a large group also gathered to watch it all unfold on site. One in the crowd had driven for two and half hours to attend.

After giving away bottles of water and caps to the crowd and talking up his new show, My Renovation Rules, Portelli finally got down to the business of giving away houses with some assistance from Big Brother’s 2013 housemate Tahan Lew-Fatt and his business partner Troy Williams.

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Flanked by trees draped in fairy lights, flamethrower stacks, smoke machines and spotlights, the houses were auctioned off in the order of their auction day sale prices, with Brad and Kylie’s losing house handed off first.

Adrian Portelli contacted the house winners via Facetime during a live stream of the giveaways.

The giveaway kicked off 45 minutes late, with a 43-year-old teacher named Parvin winning the house which Portelli bought for $2.6 million.

In something of an anticlimax after so much hype, Parvin did not answer on first ring. When Portelli eventually got hold of her and – after a spot of playful teasing that it was just a practice run – told the elated new owner the happy news.

“It’s my first win of anything ever,” she said, explaining how she would tell her husband of their windfall when he got home from walking the dog.

Ricky and Haydn’s place was the next cab off the rank, gifted to a speechless Josh, 22, who was in the middle of having drinks with his mates in West Australia when he got his call.

“You are now a multi-millionaire mate. You are rich. Drinks are on you!” Portelli told an elated Josh before switching the call to Facetime to prove he was legit.

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Kristian and Mimi’s house was won by an incredulous Martha (who refused to say how old she is or what she does for a living because she “likes to be private”).

Adrian Portelli was joined by Big Brother’s 2013 housemate Tahan Lew-Fatt and his business partner Troy Williams.

The first words out of Martha’s mouth upon hearing Portelli on the phone was “F*** off!”

“Have I won a f***ing house? Where is it?”

After some initial disappointment that the house was in Victoria, Martha said she was still excited to be a winner.

About to turn 50, Jason was watching the livestream from his massage chair when he learned he’d secured Courtney and Grant’s house.

“I am just shocked. I didn’t think I would be winning anything,” the Sydney-based father-of-three who works in maintenance said.

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The fifth and final winner of the night was Donna. Stunned, she was given the news she was the new owner of Maddy and Charlotte’s house while attending a Christmas pageant at Murray Bridge with her young daughter.

Claiming he loves the Phillip Island resort and even celebrated his son’s first birthday on site, Portelli likened the multimillion-dollar-giveaway to a decluttering exercise.

Adrian Portelli was on site in Phillip Island for the giveaway.

Although Portelli initially said he was considering keeping the houses, he soon pivoted to offering them as a prize through his company LMCT+.

The first attempt to give away the resort failed when Portelli gave the winner of his Boxing Day raffle the choice between pocketing $8 million cash or the five renovated properties. The winner, Holly from Ballarat, took the money.

The controversial billionaire shelled out more than $15.03 million to scoop up all five houses at the 2024 Block auctions. The combined total of $5.43 million in winnings also made it the most lucrative auction day for contestants in the show’s history.

He splurged the most money on Maddy and Charlotte’s house, his $3.5 million winning bid —a knockout $1 million raise — making the sisters the youngest-ever winners of The Block.

Over three years, Portelli has spent a jaw-dropping $31.68 million on Block houses. He earned himself the nickname “Lambo guy” when he rolled up to the 2022 finale in Gisborne in a yellow Lamborghini before later dropping $4.25 million on Sharon and Ankur’s house after it was passed in at auction.

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In 2023, he bought three Hampton East properties for a total of $12.4 million, including Steph and Gian’s winning property, which holds the record for the most profitable win in the show’s 22-year history.

After making his headline grabbing purchases, Portelli announced he was retiring his Block paddle at Phillip Island and is instead sponsoring Seven’s rival My Renovation Rules.

Portelli initially pitched the series to Nine before taking the concept over to Seven where it will be hosted by Dr Chris Brown and feature former Block judge Neale Whitaker as one of a trio of resident experts.

Adrian Portelli announced the winners via a livestream.

Rather than the renovated properties being auctioned, the two finished homes will be offered as giveaways by Portelli.

Whether My Renovation Rules can better the enduring popularity of The Block remains to be seen but certainly the exit of the show’s most cashed-up buyer has already been felt by the Nine behemoth.

Without Portelli splashing cash at the Daylesford auctions last month, the results were far less stellar than previous years. Two properties passed in and are yet to sell. And winners Britt and Taz earned $130,000 less for their win than 2024’s losers Brad and Kylie.

After the disappointing auctions, host Scott Cam downplayed Portelli’s exit.

“Last year, you’ve got to remember [with] Adrian was a very unusual situation,” he said.

“That’s not going to happen. He went two million over reserve. He just wanted to do a promotion. It was unrealistic, absolutely, and today was more realistic of what mums and dads are going through on weekends when they’re selling their homes.

“Some are successful and some not so much.”

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