The Block's Adrian Portelli announces last-minute change to giveaway: 'Frustrated'

The Block fans were left disappointed on Thursday evening when Adrian Portelli announced a last-minute change to his latest property giveaway. The billionaire entrepreneur, who bought all five houses on this year’s season of the reality show, had planned to give away the entire Phillip Island resort through his promotions business LMCT+

The winner would have the chance to walk away with all five properties or choose to receive a whopping $8 million cash tax-free in what’s been described as the biggest giveaway in Australian history. While the competition ended at 8pm AEDT on Thursday as planned and was set to be announced 30 minutes later on Facebook, a major technical issue prevented the winner from being drawn.

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“NOTICE: Due to technical difficulties, winners will now be drawn tomorrow, 8:30pm AEDT,” LMCT+ posted on Instagram. “The promotion has ended at its stated time. No more entries will be generated for this promotional giveaway. Thank you for your support and understanding.”

Adrian issues apology after tech issue

Adrian explained in a video that the large amount of traffic “crashed the website” and while they managed to fix the issue in time, he postponed the draw to Friday night to ensure “everything is running as it should”.

“This is what happens when you run things live, unfortunately, and this is how you know it's all legitimate because things like this happen,” he said. “So it's annoying, I’m frustrated, but I'd rather be safe and preserve my company's reputation, my reputation, and not disappoint you guys or break trust in any way.

“Sorry guys, I hope you understand, but yeah. I'm annoyed and you guys I’m sure are annoyed, but we'll see you tomorrow.”

Fans praise decision

Although fans were understandably disappointed they would have to wait another 24 hours to find out who won, many took to the comments to thank Adrian for keeping the competition legitimate.

“Don’t be sorry. You’re doing the right thing to double check it all,” one person wrote, while another added, “Definitely can hear it was a tough, but right decision Adrian. Congrats for doing what sits right firstly for you”.

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“Nothing worse than a half-assed attempt. Integrity is everything in business these days. Good call,” a third remarked, followed by someone else who replied, “Rather you take the time to get it right than rush it and have a big shamble! Good decision”.

“You’re a legend bro, good luck to everyone who entered,” a different user shared.

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