The Block’s biggest bidder is officially bowing out!

Adrian Portelli definitely won’t be showing up at The Block auctions this year.

The property investor, who snapped up all five houses at last season’s auctions, has exclusively told Woman’s Day he’s “absolutely not attending” this year’s auctions.

The news comes after the real estate mogul was recently spotted secretly visiting the set of The Block.

The 41-year-old appeared in a TikTok on real-estate agent Aaron Hill’s account last week and eagle-eyed fans quickly picked up on the fact he was sitting in House 1’s distinctive wine cellar in the clip.

Another of Adrian’s friends tells Woman’s Day that the property mogul has “moved on” from The Block.

“He’s not bidding, not bluffing and definitely not doing a dummy bid. He just knows value when he sees it and this time, the numbers don’t add up,” the friend spills.

“He looked at the houses, appreciated the work but they’re not his style and the price point is too high.”
Adrian snapped up all four houses at last year’s auction. Credit: Channel 9.
The visit also sent the rest of the cast into a spiral, with the remaining teams all reaching out to Adrian to try to convince him to return to the set to look at their properties as well.

“Every contestant was sliding into his DMs,” an insider reveals. “They were all desperate to get his attention and convince him to come to their auction. It’s become a bit of a running joke, everyone’s trying to be his best friend.”

However, Adrian is not interested in any of the houses this year, says the insider. Instead he’s focused on his own projects, which include his new gig on Channel 7’s rival home renovation show, My Reno Rules.

“He looked at the houses, appreciated the work but they’re not his style and the price point is too high,” the insider confirms.
Adrian was spotted sitting in Ben and Emma’s distinct wine cellar in a TikTok last week. Credit: Instagram.
While the cast may have been ruffled by Adrian’s surprise set visit, one crew member tells us it was hardly unexpected.

“Producers knew he was coming,” the crew member explains. “Everyone who steps onto The Block site is checked and cleared. It wasn’t a surprise, just another day on site that ended up making headlines.”