The Block veteran buyer Danny Willis is set to face off against newcomer billionaire Adrian Portelli for another bidding war this season.
The rivals made headlines in 2022 when Adrian made his debut on the renovation series with an aggressive bidding style that pushed Danny into paying an eye-watering $5.6million for Omar and Oz’s property—leading to a record breaking win.
Now there is speculation the 20th anniversary season will see a similar nail-biting auction as both Adrian and Danny revealed they have their eye on Mimi and Kristian’s House 5.
The entrepreneur, 35, and philanthropist stepped out at the on-site Buyer’s Jury during Wednesday night’s episode where potential buyer’s are given tours of each contestants’ house and asked to cast an anonymous vote for their favourite.
When producers asked Adrian which home stood out to him as a potential purchase, he said: ‘I personally like House 5 just because the floor plan is a bit different than the others.’
Danny agreed wholeheartedly when the same question was posed to him.
‘Yeah, House 5. It’s bigger. The rooms are bigger,’ he said.
Adrian and Danny entered a modest bidding war during the 2023 season, with Adrian walking away with three houses while serial bidder Danny walked away with none.
The Block veteran buyer Danny Willis (left) is set to face off against newcomer billionaire Adrian Portelli, 35, (right) for another bidding war this season
Steph and Gian were the runaway winners with their house selling to Adrian for a shocking $5million.
The childhood sweethearts walked away with $1.65 million profit plus prize money of $100,000, bringing their total earnings to a record breaking $1.75 million.
Danny quickly got the bid to $4million, well over the $3.35million reserve, but Adrian, known as ‘Mr Lambo’, swooped in and pushed it to $5million.
Now there is speculation the 20th anniversary season will see a similar nail-biting auction as both Adrian and Danny revealed they have their eye on Mimi and Kristian’s House 5. Both pictured
While it resulted in a record breaking win, the bidding war was nothing compared to Adrian’s debut in 2022 when he and Danny got into a heated face-off for Omar and Oz’s build.
Adrian, who arrived at The Block auction in a yellow Lamborghini, opened the bidding on the friends’ House 5 at $4.5million.
His aggressive bidding style pushed Danny into paying $5,666,666.66 for the home, making the western Sydney mates instant millionaires with total winnings of $1,686,666.66—at the time it was the biggest victory in the show’s 18-year history.
Following their win, some fans speculated the auction was ‘dodgy’ and that Adrian was ‘set up’ to force Danny into spending more, but an equal number of viewers refuted this, saying the boys won fairly and calling out the criticism as ‘racist’.
‘I personally like House 5 just because the floor plan is a bit different than the others,’ Adrian said of House 5, while Danny agreed: ‘Yeah, House 5. It’s bigger. The rooms are bigger’
