A Channel Nine star has been stood down from his high profile role after accepting a sizable cash prize from The Block billionaire Adrian Portelli.
The rich lister gifted Today show presenter Alex Cullen $50,000 after he was the first media personality to use his new self-given nickname ‘McLaren Man’ live on air on Friday morning.
Portelli has grown tired of his long-used nickname ‘Mr Lambo’ which had stuck after he turned up to a 2022 auction of popular house makeover show The Block in a yellow Lamborghini.
The 35-year-old LMCT+ founder offered the cash reward to the first member of the media to use his new nickname, and Cullen obliged during a Today show cross from the Australian Open on Friday morning.
Channel Nine said Cullen had agreed to step down on Saturday while the network looked into the payement, reported the Sunday Herald Sun.
‘Nine is taking this matter extremely seriously,’ a spokesperson told the publication.
‘Appropriate action has been promptly taken, including arranging for the funds to be returned.
‘While we review the circumstances in which this occurred, Alex has agreed to stand down.’
Alex Cullen has been stood down after he and his Today show co-star Karl Stefanovic dropped Adrian Portelli’s new nickname during a live cross from the Australian Open on Friday
Portelli took to social media saying ‘We have a winner! Well played sir,’ and sharing what appeared to be a bank transfer of $50,000 to Cullen (pictured)
Nine’s response came after the billionaire took to social media saying: ‘We have a winner! Well played sir.’
He then shared what appeared to be a bank transfer of $50,000 to Cullen.
Cullen however, was not the only newsreader to try and claim the prize.
His colleague Karl Stefanovic quickly repeated the line and joked that the two presenters would split the prize money if Portelli paid up.
Nine said it is taking the matter ‘extremely seriously’.
The billionaire once bet The Block host Scott Cam a hefty sum that he would not down a shot of tequila at a ritzy Phillip Island restaurant.
Cam donated the money he won on that occasion to two charities.
It comes after Portelli this week denied charges of conducting an unlawful lottery connected to his LMCT+ business.
Scott Cam previously won $10,000 from Block bidder Adrian Portelli but could have walked away with $50,000. The wager started when Portelli was having dinner with Cam and Block co-host Shelly Craft (all pictured)
He is charged with nine counts of conducting or assisting in the conduct of an unlawful lottery in South Australia, while his business Xclusive Tech Pty Ltd, which trades under the name LMCT+, is charged with 10 counts of the same offence.
He was not required to appear In Adelaide Magistrates Court on Wednesday, where lawyer Ben Lodge entered not guilty pleas on behalf of Portelli and Xclusive Tech.
The charges, instigated by South Australia’s Consumer and Business Services, allege Portelli’s business did not hold a licence to conduct the lotteries in SA.
Portelli’s company offers members subscriptions to a ‘rewards club’, which includes entries to win cars and properties while they pay a monthly fee.
Portelli asked media last week to call him ‘McLaren Man,’ rather than his usual nickname of ‘Mr Lambo,’ garnered after an appearance on The Block
Under SA law, any trade promotion lotteries with prizes exceeding $5,000 need a licence to operate and entries must be free of charge.
‘The major prize for the lottery was a property situated in Gisborne in the state of Victoria, as seen on the Australian television show The Block, or a cash prize of $3,000,000,’ court documents state.
Winning the prize ‘involved an element of chance’ but the defendant ‘did not hold a licence to conduct the lottery in South Australia’.
Portelli and his company face a potential maximum penalty of $190,000. He has said on social media that if he were convicted, he would ’round it up to $200,000′.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Nine for comment.
