If you thought all the drama happened on the set of The Block, you thought wrong. The real tea is heating up between the daddy of The Block franchise, Scott Cam, and the show’s highest-paying buyer in history, Adrian Portelli.

Just a week after Portelli slammed claims by Cam that he was asked not to come to any more Block auctions and announced that he had signed on to a rival renovation show with Channel Seven, a TV insider has revealed that the beef between the pair began much, much earlier.

“He gave them the biggest TV moment of the season and barely got a thank you,” a TV insider speaking to Daily Mail Australia said.

Scotty Cam. (Photo by Don Arnold/WireImage)
Adrian Portelli. (Photo by Sam Tabone/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, people close to the long-time host claim that Cam thought he was on good terms with Portelli, known widely as “Lambo guy”.

“Scott genuinely thought they were on good terms,” claimed the source.
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Portelli is set to feature in Seven’s upcoming renovation reality series My Reno Rules alongside former I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here host, Dr. Chris Brown. According to one previous contestant of The Block, his new gig is Portelli’s attempt to show Channel Nine how it’s done.

“Let’s call it what it is. It’s a revenge show. He wants to prove he can do The Block better than The Block,” the contestant asserted.

Meanwhile, rumour has it that Brown’s camp is worried that his association with Portelli might be bad for his spotless public image.

“Chris Brown’s team is seriously nervous,” a different senior network insider claimed.

“He’s a squeaky-clean brand and doesn’t want to get dragged into a public feud. There is also that fear that if Adrian can turn so quickly on Scotty, he could easily do the same with Dr Chris Brown.”
I know he referenced his 17-year-old self in the IG caption when he posted this but if you take this image at face value, it’s BONKERS. (Image: Adrian Portelli / Instagram)
In case you’ve missed it, over the years, Portelli has spent millions of dollars buying up the coveted Block properties. Last year, he decided to spend a cheeky $15 million on snapping up all five properties created by the contestants. He proceeded to raffle them off, with a 34-year-old from Ballarat having her choice of either all the properties or $8 million in cashola. At the time, Portelli said it was his last time being the show’s cashed-up big buyer.

However, the beef between Portelli and Cam kicked off publicly in a radio interview with Nova 96.9’s Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Richie last week when Cam said that he asked Portelli not to come to this year’s auctions.

“To be honest, we said to Adrian, ‘We’d love you not to come next year, if that’s all right.’ But you know it’s up to him, it’s a public auction, and he can do whatever he wants,” Cam said.

“He said he won’t come, but he may come. We don’t know, but we do want to give mums and dads the opportunity to have a crack at a Block house.”

Portelli clapped back at this version of events on his Instagram Stories by sharing Cam’s quote alongside an image of The Block host as a clown.

“Scotty, you’re talking porkies,” he said. “I told you guys I was leaving. There was never a conversation of being told to sit out of this season.”

He followed it up with a selfie, alongside the caption: “Hyped up, over values, multi-million dollar homes. Just what the average Australian family can afford.”

He dropped the news about his upcoming show just hours later. Talk about using the attention to his advantage!

You can watch The Block on Channel Nine or 9Now. Portelli’s My Reno Rules will premiere on Channel Seven in 2026.