Alex Cullen desperately slashed the price for his $1.9 million Summer Hill rental property from $1,800 to $1,500-a-week recently, after struggling to find a tenant.

The ex-Today star, 44, was dumped by Nine earlier this year after he accepted a $50,000 payment from Adrian Portelli for calling him ‘McLaren Man’ live on air.

Following his subsequent move to Melbourne, Alex struggled to find a tenant for his million-dollar Sydney investment property, finally securing one after five weeks of searching, reported The Daily Telegraph on Thursday.

Alex was forced to progressively slash the price over several weeks before a tenant was willing to move into the house he has an eye-watering mortgage on.

The media personality and his Nine Entertainment journalist wife Bonnie purchased the four-bedroom, two-bathroom property in 2020 for $1.9 million.

Alex first listed the home for rent in early July after moving to Victoria when he landed a new gig on The Christian O’Connell Show for Melbourne’s Gold 104.3.

Alex Cullen, 44, desperately slashed the price for his $1.9 million Summer Hill rental property from $1,800 to $1,500-a-week recently, after struggling to find a tenant

Built in 1912, the Queen Anne Federation dwelling has been carefully maintained and boasts classic features including stained glass windows, patterned ceiling finishes and archways.

Highlights include timber flooring, original archways, decorative fireplaces and a wraparound verandah.

There’s also a well-appointed modern kitchen and a large backyard with a paved patio for alfresco dining.

It comes after Alex revealed to Stellar magazine he was offered a gig on 7News after he was sacked by Nine.

‘After everything went down, Seven were one of the first on the phone to say, “You have our support, and if you want to come back, we’re a phone call away,”‘ he said.

‘I can’t tell you how much that meant to me and my family.’

He went on to say he was excited to see some of his old colleagues at the network after previously working at Seven on shows including Sunrise and Sunday Night.

‘It’s not very nice being the story,’ he said, adding: ‘It’s better telling the story.’

The ex-Today star was dumped by Nine earlier this year after he accepted a $50,000 payment from Adrian Portelli for calling him ‘McLaren Man’ live on air

Alex was dismissed from the Today show for accepting the $50,000 gift from controversial Block billionaire bidder Adrian.

In January, the presenter was given the sizeable sum after he was the first media personality to use Adrian’s self-proclaimed nickname ‘McLaren Man’ live on air, which resulted in him leaving Channel Nine.

Alex’s exit from Nine was announced by Today host Karl Stefanovic live on air.

The scandal kicked off when Adrian had grown tired of his long-used nickname ‘Mr Lambo’ and offered the cash reward to the first person to use his new moniker on air, with Alex obliging on the Today show.

Accepting cash, gifts or benefits to undermine journalistic independence, and improperly using a journalistic position for personal gain, are both breaches of the journalism code of ethics as defined by the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance union.

The ill-advised stunt led to Alex being suspended by Nine, and he did not appear on the show while the network investigated the payment.

Nine’s parting of ways with Alex went ahead despite Adrian’s claim that the journalist intended for the money to be paid to charity all along.

Network insiders also told Daily Mail Australia that the stunt could have been beneficial for the network and Adrian, if Alex had advised the promoter that, as a journalist, he was unable to accept any payment for making the comment on air.

Adrian first received the unwanted nickname ‘Mr Lambo’ after turning up to a 2022 auction of popular house makeover show The Block in a yellow Lamborghini.