‘They all blamed me!’

Scott Cam thinks The Block is back on track this season.
Image: Nine Network

When a recent episode of The Block showed this year’s contestants presenting Scott Cam with a portable sawmill, we saw the host tearing up. For Scott, this was about much more than being given a nifty new tool.

Yes, it was a pat on the back from a bunch of exhausted reality TV stars, grateful for their de facto mentor’s help in getting them almost to the finish line. It also acted as a purging of some of the demons that have threatened to crush Scott’s spirit. After a rough couple of years on The Block, tensions spilled over during last year’s dramatic season, when a contestant verbally abused him. After this, Scott felt he’d had enough.
Scott with judges Shaynna Blaze, Marty Fox and Darren Palmer. (Credit: Image: Nine Network)
“I had a very hard time,” Scott, 62, tells TV WEEK of hosting last year’s show. “I was treated quite poorly, which I can cop on the chin. But it was undeserved, you know, because I’m always looking out for the contestants.

“Last year, they hated me for no reason. They were blaming me for all their failures.”

The Block was plagued with controversy in 2024, starting with Jesse and Paige quitting the show after five weeks for mental health reasons. Then there was a flirting scandal involving contestants Brad and Mimi, which put pressure on Brad and Kylie’s marriage. And this, ultimately, led to one of the lowest moments on the show when, after a fiery exchange between Kylie and Scott, she muttered, “I f**king hate this guy,” and promptly left the set.

Given this, did Scott contemplate calling time on hosting The Block, the show he’s helmed since 2010?
Co-hosts Shelley Craft and Scott with contestant Ben. (Credit: Image: Nine Network)
“I came out of last year a bit flat,” Scott concedes. “But never did I think that it wasn’t worth doing the show. I love the show and I think it’s a great show. It showcases all sorts of human nature, great building, great design, great pressure and resilience.”

Resilience. Scott likes this word. When the show hit the reset button this season in Victoria’s Daylesford, he says it needed to return to highlighting the resilience it takes to be a success on The Block.

“That was our problem last year: we lacked resilience,” he believes. “And my main point for this year was that we needed to get back to resilience, hard work, intestinal fortitude, you know? All those great Aussie qualities of hard work. That’s what I grew up on.

“I worked around Australia, sleeping on the side of the road in swags. There was some great resilience there on my part to work hard and keep moving forward. We did lack that [on the show] during the last couple of years. So, we got back to grassroots this year.”

Essentially, the sawmill moment was symbolic of the show shifting gears and getting back to ‘family viewing’. “l did get emotional,” Scott says of the episode. “And it was a nice moment.”
Scott with the Cam clan! (Credit: Image: Instagram)
Speaking of nice moments, in May it was revealed that Scott and wife Ann had become grandparents for the first time. Their son, Charlie, and his partner, Amber, welcomed their first child, Tiggy.

“She’s beautiful,” proud Scott gushes of his now six-month-old granddaughter. “We love spending time with her, as all grandparents do. And we’re in awe of our son and his partner, Amber. We’re there when we’re needed and we hold her whenever we can.”

And, in keeping with the baby theme this year, contestants Em and Ben are now the proud parents of baby Bailey. Technically, he’s not a ‘Block baby’, as Emma was pregnant going into the show. Scott, however, is full of praise for Emma who worked throughout her pregnancy “without a word of complaint”.

“There’s some resilience there, mate,” he smiles.

One of the highlights this season has been Robby and Mat’s jaw-dropping underground wine cellar. At the time, Scott called the secret cellar “the biggest gamble in Block history”. But the boys rolled the dice and wound up with a great room. And it has the Cam seal of approval, with Scott saying it’s like “something out of a 16th-century French chateau”. He adds that Ann, who has inspected many a Block home over the years, has dubbed it “her favourite thing she’s ever seen on The Block”.
Charlie, Scott and baby Tiggy. (Credit: Image: Instagram)
The couple who seem to have had the toughest time this season were Han and Can in House 2. Scott thinks Han put “too much pressure on herself”.

“I think she was making decisions that were outside her comfort zone,” he says. “They were probably poor decisions on her part and she regretted them – and that put even more pressure on her relationship.”

Despite their ups and downs, the good news is the couple survived and will be there together at the auction. One person who won’t be, though, is billionaire bidder Adrian Portelli, who last year bought all five houses for a cool $15.3 million. While there have been rumours Adrian is banned from this auction, Scott says that’s “completely untrue” – and you can’t ban anyone from a public auction.
Scott won the TV WEEK Gold Logie in 2014. (Credit: Image: Yianni Aspradakis)
“We’re good friends with Adrian Portelli,” Scott says. “We said to him: ‘Mate, you’re more than welcome to buy one, but maybe we give someone else a chance to buy the others?’ “We haven’t had a falling out. We’re good friends.”

While we’re not sure Adrian sees it that way, another reason he’ll be absent is that he’s joined Channel Seven’s upcoming My Reno Rules – with ex-Block judge Neale Whitaker.

Next year marks 20 seasons of The Block for Scott. The former carpenter recalls his first day on set in Vaucluse, his head full of scripts. “I’m always very prepared; always on time; always ready to go to work,” he grins.