What the Block’s shock auction results could mean for the show – and its new rival

It’s been called The Block’s “most disastrous auction finale in over a decade”, delivering the smallest profits in 14 years and leaving two contestants – Han and Can, and Emma and Ben – empty-handed. Meanwhile, Robby and Matt earned $110,000 above their reserve; Sonny and Alicia made $120,000, and winners Britt and Taz cleared $420,000, claiming another $100,000 in prize money.

Granted, in the final episode of the reality show’s 21st season – which aired Sunday night on Nine* – the sale of five properties in the Victorian town of Daylesford yielded a combined profit of $750,000. This was dwarfed by last year’s result, with participants in the Phillip Island season sharing in a combined windfall of more than $5.43 million. But there’s more to this story than you might think.

Han and Can watched on with nerves before their house was passed in.Credit: Nine Entertainment

Were the reserve prices too high?

This year, The Block’s reserves, the minimum price at which a vendor is willing to sell, were set at $2.99 million – almost four times Daylesford’s median house price of $820,000. These figures are determined by Nine, as opposed to vendors, agents or producers.

“Channel Nine just advise us what the reserves are,” says agent Kim McQueen, who represented Robby and Matt. “They have the houses valued, but what they do with those valuations is up to them. We certainly weren’t consulted in any major way.”

Nine has been approached for comment.

Julian Cress, executive producer and co-creator of The Block, says “it’s pretty clear that all the houses could have sold on the day for $3 million. However, the contestants would have only made 10,000 bucks each. I don’t agree that this was the most disastrous auction in a decade because we were able to protect Emma and Ben, and Han and Can, by using vendor bids to make it clear to buyers we had a minimum price we would accept.”

Daylesford is an unusual market

Located in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range, around 120 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, Daylesford is a popular tree-change destination with about 2800 residents. “As far as I’m aware, there have only been two houses that have sold above $3 million in Daylesford,” McQueen says. “To expect to sell five houses at auction on a single day, all with a reserve of $3 million, is a very big ask.”

Cress agrees.

“If you had five houses up for auction in Brighton (an affluent bayside Melbourne suburb), you might have 40 other houses up for auction in Brighton on the same day – plus another 30 or 40 homes in Brighton that are on the market – so you could end up with 600 buyers competing for those properties,” Cress explains.

“It’s all about supply and demand. Even though Daylesford has some of the most beautiful homes in Australia, there may be only 10 buyers at any given time who are actively looking to write a cheque. So trying to sell five [unusually expensive Daylesford homes] at an auction on the same day is a tall order.”

Adrian Portelli (left) at The Block’s 2024 season finale auction.

Where was ‘Lambo guy’ Adrian Portelli?

Last year, flamboyant billionaire Adrian Portelli – who earned the nickname “Lambo guy” when he arrived at The Block’s 2022 auction in a canary yellow Lamborghini – snapped up all five Phillip Island homes for $15 million.

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This year, however, he chose not to bid. On Monday, Portelli confirmed that although he wasn’t at the Daylesford auction, he did have a buyer’s agent listening in, “just in case there were some people that rocked up that I didn’t like, I was going to outbid them”.

Portelli says he opted not to return to The Block this year, as he didn’t want to “overstay my welcome, like some people on the show have done”. He also confirmed there was no truth to the rumour the show’s co-host Scott Cam had asked him not to return this year, and he had instead discussed not bidding with Cress at the end of last season.

Asked why he thought the Daylesford auctions were not a roaring success, Portelli says it was down to two factors: location and price. “I always thought they were a bit overpriced, and the location doesn’t help. They [producers] said that me not bidding will allow for families or other people to come out and bid, but they’re $3 million properties in Daylesford, the average Australian family doesn’t have $3 million to spend on a home.”

Portelli has since joined rival network Seven, where he will feature in a re-jigged version of My Reno Rules, a competitor to The Block. Production is already under way in the leafy Melbourne suburb of Bulleen, and Seven is hoping to lure audiences by giving multimillion-dollar homes to two lucky viewers in the grand finale.

Instead of just turning up for the grand finale, Portelli will be onscreen throughout as the financial fairy godmother of My Reno Rules. “I pay the bills, I pay for the production, says Portelli. He says the Seven show is “going to be insane. And I’m not just saying that because I spent a lot of money with the project … we’ve never seen anything like this before. This is something where everyone can get involved, everyone at home, no matter what demographic. Everyone’s got a chance to win.”

The 2025 cast of The Block (from left): Han and Can, Ben and Emma, Robby and Matt, Britt and Taz and Alicia and Sonny. 

Even if they don’t sell at auction, Block contestants can still make money

On Sunday, The Block’s finale averaged almost 2.4 million viewers – a number set to grow once catch-up viewing is factored in over the next month.

“We’ve already had several calls last night and this morning from people who watched the show,” Cress says. “We’re currently negotiating with these buyers.”

Cress acknowledges how disappointing it is for hardworking couples to see their home passed in – in front of a national TV audience, no less. “It’s a slap in the face, it’s demoralising and it hurts,” he says. “But when the house does eventually sell, that’ll put a smile back on their face.”

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Assuming these properties sell above their reserve, do contestants keep the money?

“Absolutely,” he says. “The network are not arseholes – they’re not going to turn around and keep the profit.”

People forget that The Block is a reality show

“Here’s the thing,” Cress says. “The Block is a game show; it’s not a guarantee that you’ll make life-changing money. Look at MasterChef, or pick any reality competition show from the pantheon of these series that have appeared over the past two-and-a-half decades. Find me one where you can make this kind of money if you come in second, third, fourth or fifth. There just aren’t any.”

What’s next for The Block?

This week, casting applications closed for The Block’s 22nd season, which will be filmed in Mount Eliza, a seaside suburb in Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula. On Sunday, The Block’s finale topped the ratings, delivering more than three times as many viewers compared to its nearest rival, The Voice on Seven. For a show now in its third decade, it’s an impressive result.

“Mount Eliza is a tightly held market,” Cress says. “There are houses there that have been owned for generations. It has a lot of desirable property and I’m feeling pretty confident about it.”

With Louise Rugendyke *Nine is owner of this masthead.

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