Who needs Adrian Portelli?

Adrian Portelli may be sitting out The Block 2025 auctions, but billionaire and past buyer Danny Wallis might be ready to splash some serious cash instead.

For the last few years, Adrian has spent a significant amount on The Block houses — in 2023, he invested over $12 million across three properties. However, during the 2024 finale, he revealed he wouldn’t be returning this year.

Prior to Adrian’s first purchase on The Block, Danny was known as the biggest buyer, and he spent over $30 million buying 11 Block houses. However, he hasn’t bought any since 2022.

Speaking of Adrian’s choice to skip the auctions, host Scott Cam hinted that 2025 could be the year Danny makes his next Block purchase.

“We didn’t ban [Adrian]; that’s something he said. It’s a public auction, anyone can turn up, we just kindly said, ‘What do you reckon… You had a good run on the auctions, why don’t we leave it to some families to try and buy the houses.’” Scott explained on The Fox’s Fifi, Fev & Nick.
Adrian Portelli at The Block auction. Image: Nine.
“It doesn’t mean Danny Wallis won’t turn up either, so that’s alright. But I think Adrian has gone over to another network to do something anyway, so he wouldn’t be coming to our auction if he’s doing something over there. If he wants to turn up, he can.”

When Fev noted that Adrian had been dominating the spotlight at recent auctions — even joking that Danny was ‘scared’ of his big bids — Scott was quick to defend him.

“He hasn’t been scared, Danny. He’s a good bloke and he makes a lot of those houses available for My Room. He’s a good bloke and if he wants to buy another house like that, that’d be terrific for us,” the host replied.

Why isn’t Adrian Portelli taking part in The Block 2025 auctions?

Adrian bought all five houses at the 2024 auction, spending over $15 million. At the end of the event, he announced that he wanted to buy the “royal flush” for his final Block buy.

“I think this is the final one [auction day],” he said.

“So, I’m going to hang the boots up and go out with a bang. So, I did.”

This year, the billionaire announced that he’s joined rival network Seven and will be taking part in their new reality renovation show called My Reno Rules.

“You may have seen on previous reno shows they might do auctions, but unfortunately, only maybe 1 per cent of the viewing audience have the capacity to buy these homes,” he said on Sunrise after the announcement.