Was Adrian Portelli at The Block auctions? Conspiracy theory emerges as mysterious figure is spotted in the crowd

A confusing conspiracy theory surrounding Adrian Portelli’s no-show at The Block auctions over the weekend has emerged after a ‘mystery man’ was spotted among the bidders.

Portelli, 36, who was in Sydney during the season finale, has not confirmed whether he sent a buyer’s advocate to the auction in Daylesford.

However, host Scott Cam confirmed that the high-flying entrepreneur was represented ‘in the room’ during the brutal auction that saw two properties passed in.

The buyer’s agent who represented Portelli during The Block’s Phillip Island auction in 2024 was spotted standing behind bidder Danny Wallis during several of the auctions.

IT entrepreneur Wallis later told Nine he pulled out of his quest to buy Britt and Taz’s home because he thought he was going up against Portelli.

The couple from Western Australia offloaded their House 3 for $3.41 million to an anonymous phone bidder, who Wallis believed was Portelli. It was later revealed it wasn’t the billionaire Block bidder.

With a reserve of $2.99 million, Britt and Taz went home $420,000 richer – adding to that, a $100,000 bonus prize, netting them a total $520,000. 

‘We went nearly half a million bucks over reserve without Adrian Portelli,’ Cam said in a post-finale interview with Nine.

‘And in actual fact, Adrian Portelli was in the room today, but he didn’t make any bids.’

Cam added: ‘I think [Adrian] might have said that we asked him back, but we didn’t – but we certainly didn’t bar him, because it’s a public auction and you can’t bar anyone.

‘So you know, we were happy for Adrian to buy a house, for sure.’

Footage from the finale showed Portelli’s agent at Han and Can’s heartbreaking auction as well, which saw the pair go home empty-handed.

Meanwhile, Portelli wasted no time gloating over the poor results, which saw four Blockheads walk away empty-handed.

Taking to his Instagram stories as the disastrous finale aired, the popular entrepreneur – who spent a whopping $15 million on the show’s finale last year – shared a graphic of The Block logo scribbled out in red, replaced with Channel Seven branding and a plug for My Reno Rules.

Portelli announced in July he would be turning his back on The Block and Channel Nine, and jumping ship rival show My Reno Rules on Seven.

The swipe comes after the high-profile entrepreneur was spotted in Daylesford last week, leading to rumours he would front up to the auction alongside another serial Block buyer – IT businessman Danny Wallis.

But just as the auction was getting underway in rural Victoria on Saturday, Portelli was flying into Sydney on his private jet before heading out to a bucks party with a group of pals.

The finale was heartbreaking for Blockheads Emma and Ben, and Han and Can, who saw their properties passed in.

Bidding stalled on Emma and Ben’s home at their $2.99 million reserve – and even a $3.10 million bid failed to help it generate interest.

Meanwhile, Han and Can left the series without making a penny after their pad failed to generate much heat from potential buyers.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that the teams behind the five properties were hoping to fetch $3million to $3.3million for their creations.

However, the extremely high price guide did not match up with the median house prices in the Victorian town, where homes are four times cheaper.

According to PropTrack data recorded in July, an average home in Daylesford costs around $820,000, which marks a decrease of 7.1 per cent compared to the year prior.