‘Concerning behaviour’: Block stars exit show after producer intervenes
One Block team has dramatically exited the show after weeks of “concerning behaviour” that finally saw the executive producer step in.
One of this season’s teams quit The Block on Monday’s episode of the hit reno series, following weeks of on-air drama and speculation about their future on the show.
Young WA engaged couple Jesse and Paige had been having a rough time on The Block since the very first episode, and had been shown on camera increasingly taking out their frustrations on each other.
Tensions came to a head in one late-Friday-night fight that was captured on audio and played at the start of Monday’s episode.
An emotional Paige could be heard suggesting to her electrician partner that their relationship was in trouble, telling him: “There is no us.”
“I don’t give a f**k how you feel – deal with it yourself,” she told him.
She also repeatedly threatened to quit the show.
At 11.30pm, with the couple’s raised voices audible throughout The Block, the show’s executive producer Justin Sturzaker intervened.
Their meeting happened off-camera but still mic’d up. He pointed out it was not the first time they’d been recorded yelling at each other at length.
“It seems like a relationship that’s getting pretty bad. Your neighbours can hear you too, you know?” he said, asking Paige if she’d reached out to the counselling services the show offers.
“You don’t have to voice all of your stuff just to Jesse. We need to get some other people in to talk to you, where you guys need to make a big decision,” he told them.
Which they did: After a weekend meeting with a health professional Jesse and Paige rose on Monday morning and gathered the rest of the teams to share some big news: They’d decided to quit the show, effective immediately.
Jesse said Paige had been stuck in a “cry for help” for the past week, which he’d been trying to downplay as he wanted them to stay on.
“It was just like a black hole in my head,” Paige explained.
Reflecting on their news in an on-camera interview, fellow contestant Mimi said: “The psych said that they need urgent help … It’s actually scary.”
It was then up to host Scott Cam to give the pair a final farewell, less than halfway into the season.
“We feel as though you need to get to a place that’s out of here, to take care of yourself,” he told the couple, adding that their departure was “for the best”.
After they’d left, he addressed the remaining contestants, promising to have new information soon regarding what exactly would happen to their unfinished home.
“I know it’s a lot to take in, and it’s shocking. There has been some behaviour over the last couple of weeks that was concerning for us. We had to do the best thing for Jesse and Paige, and we also had to base it on the best advice we could get,” he said.
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And there could be a lot more drama to come this season on The Block, with a report last week claiming that another couple quit the show even later in the season.
The Daily Mail claims contestants Kylie and Brad bail on the show in week 12 after Kylie has “an absolute meltdown” and storms off the set.
“I’ve got no clue how the producers are going to handle this on screen or how they’ll edit around it,” an anonymous insider told the outlet.