Keith Schleiger has made a shock admission about The Block after walking away from the reality show juggernaut.

The television tradie, who starred as the foreman on the long-running Nine series for 11 seasons, stepped back from full–time duties on the show in 2024.

Speaking to Daily Mail, Keith, 50, revealed he hasn’t been tuning in to the current season, as his schedule is just too full.

‘I haven’t seen much of it, I must admit,’ said Keith, when asked for his thoughts about the current crop of contestants.

‘Both of my kids are very into sport and I’m quite often not home between the hours of 7.30 and 8.00 due to my kids playing sport, so I haven’t seen a lot of this season.’

Despite not being a regular viewer, Keith added he was sure the site at Daylesford had been left in good hands.

Keith Schleiger has made a shock admission about The Block after walking away from the reality show juggernaut. Pictured

‘I’m sure Dan [Reilly, current foreman] is doing very well,’ he said.

‘He’s very good at his job and I don’t know if he’s missing me or not, but I’d say he would be.’

Keith did admit to taking in some of the current series, when time permits.

‘It’s nice, I’ll just sit back and watch every now and again, I must admit. Last night’s episode was pretty cool, but I’ve probably watched about maybe an hour a week.’

Aside from sports runs with his daughters Ebony, 13, and Jasmine, 11, whom he shares with wife Rebecca, Keith has certainly been busy since stepping away from the camera.

In February, he was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery after an infection spread to his leg.

Keith revealed at the time that an infection in his hip, after a hip replacement a decade prior had spread to his entire left leg and he is on antibiotics after having the infected components removed.

Seven months on, Keith said, while not completely ‘out of the woods’, he is recovering well, admitting to being back on the tools and the golf course just a month after his operation.

Speaking to Daily Mail, Keith, 50, revealed he hasn’t been tuning in to the current season, as his schedule is just too full

‘I haven’t seen much of it, I must admit,’ Keith told Daily Mail when asked his thoughts about the current crop of contestants. ‘Both of my kids are very into sport and I’m quite often not home between the hours of 7.30 and 8.00 due to my kids playing sport, so I haven’t seen a lot of this season’

Keith has certainly been busy since stepping away from the camera. In February, he was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery after an infection in his hip spread to his leg

‘I recovered very quickly,’ Keith explained. ‘I had a hip washout, which is basically a hip replacement I had done 10 years ago, got infected. That hip was replaced, pulled out, and a new one pulled in.

‘They removed all the infection from me and now, so far, so good.’

He added: I’m not out of the woods yet, but, so far, the infection hasn’t come back, and I’m probably out of the woods in February next year.’

Keith also recently revealed a surprising new career move – as the Foreman of Workplace Hunger

The title was bestowed on Keith by iconic Aussie ice cream brand Golden Gaytime, in an effort to stamp out workplace hunger and spruiking the benefits of the new Golden Gaytime Slab – an ice cream sandwich sure to have tradies’ tastebuds salivating across the nation.

It’s a role that Keith has taken to with gusto. In fact, after chatting to Daily Mail, the foreman was getting straight back to work in his new role.

‘After this interview, I’m going to go to the factories around here and make sure that this snack stacks up,’ he said.

‘I’m going to be giving them a lot of our frozen sandwiches, which are the best and make sure that the Golden Gaytime slabs get out there.’

Keith also recently revealed a surprising new career move – as the Foreman of Workplace Hunger for iconic ice cream brand Golden Gaytime

‘After this interview, I’m going to go to the factories around here and make sure that this snack stacks up,’ he said

While he is relishing his new and tasty role, Keith said that he still missed the show that beamed him into households across Australia.

‘Oh, I definitely miss it, but I’m also enjoying spending more time with my children and actually spending more time on the golf course,’ Keith said.

‘I’m loving it, to be honest.’

While he said the decision to leave The Block was a ‘difficult’ one, remaining on the show became too big an ask.

‘It was virtually impossible for me,’ he said.

‘The last two seasons were in Phillip Island and Daylesford, which is basically a two-hour commute from my place.

‘The only time I would have seen my family would have been probably once a week on a Sunday for a few hours.’

He added: ‘I do miss it, but I’m also enjoying seeing my children more and spending more time with the kids and my friends.’

The television tradie, who starred as the foreman on the long–running Nine series for 11 seasons, stepped back from full–time duties on the show in 2024 to spend more time with wife Rebecca and their two children Ebony, 13, and Jasmine, 11

There was another change that Keith said he was pleased about, too. The absence, this year of serial Block bidder Adrian Portelli

Keith certainly built up quite the reputation as a hard taskmaster during his stint on The Block and he insists he has not softened away from the camera.

‘In my building, I’m still the same person you saw on TV,’ he said.

‘I don’t have to deal with contestants as much, so I don’t get as much arguing.

‘Having said that, if someone needs to be told off, I’ll certainly tell them off.’

Despite not being a regular viewer, Keith said that he was excited about the current season’s new format, which sees contestants renovate empty shells instead of existing abodes.

There was another change that Keith said he was pleased about, too – serial Block bidder Adrian Portelli departing the show.

‘I think it’s fantastic,’ Keith said. ‘I’d like to see the show go back to normal auctions.’