Adrian Portelli‘s much-anticipated The Block giveaway finally has a winner, and it’s 34-year-old Holly from Ballarat. The announcement came after a 24-hour delay caused by technical issues that threw a spanner in the works of the original Boxing Day draw.
When Portelli broke the news to Holly, her reaction was iconic TBH. “Oh my God, no fucking way. I didn’t watch the live on purpose because I thought it would be bad luck,” she told the billionaire entrepreneur on a call.
The giveaway, which Portelli announced in November, offered a whopper of a prize — all five houses from The Block‘s 2024 Phillip Island season or a cool $8 million in cash, tax-free.
As Portelli put it at the time on Instagram, “Under New Management! And as mayor of Portelli town, I would like to announce a world first. LET’S GIVE AWAY A FKN RESORT!!!”
The initial draw, scheduled for Boxing Day, hit a snag when 75,000 viewers overwhelmed the LMCT+ systems. Portelli explained the postponement on Instagram and said, “It’s annoying, I’m frustrated but I’d rather be safe and preserve my company’s reputation and my reputation and not disappoint you guys or break trust in any way.”
He added, “This is what happens when you run things live, unfortunately, this is how you know it’s all legitimate because things like this happen.”
He also clarified that the draw was closed at the original time: “Not to worry though — the draw ran to plan and was officially closed at 8pm sharp so nobody extra was able to sneak in, and everyone who entered is locked away ready to go.”
The rescheduled draw attracted an even larger audience, with 111,000 viewers tuning in to watch Holly’s life-changing moment.
While the giveaway has concluded successfully, it’s worth noting that Portelli is facing legal challenges.
He’s reportedly facing nine charges in South Australia related to conducting unlawful lotteries, with a mention hearing scheduled for January 15. However, no such accusations have been made about this particular giveaway.
Now, we just have to wait and see which prize Holly will pick — the five houses or the $8 million in cash. These are the type of problems I would like to have.
Lead image: The Block/ Channel 9
