Scott Cam gives Block contestants brutal ultimatum: Quit or shut up

The cash has run dry and the contestants are all conspiring to walk off the show — so Block host Scott Cam is resorting to extreme measures.

Scott Cam delivered a brutal ultimatum during Sunday night’s episode of The Block after the program appeared on the brink of contestant mutiny.

Cam’s message was simple: Quit or shut up.

“I’ve heard what everybody’s been saying over the last couple of days — all the moaning about your dwindling budgets. Guys, I told you in week one you did not have enough money to finish these houses. That is the game you are playing. This is the hardest Block ever,” Cam told the couples, who’d assembled to hear the judges’ critiques of their newly-renovated kitchens.

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Each couple was initially given a budget of $250,000 to transform a dilapidated St Kilda backpackers hostel into one of five luxury three-storey townhouses. With six weeks and twelve remaining spaces left to renovate, some couples have as little as $30,000 left in their kitty.

Scott Cam lets the contestants have it.

“If you want to win this thing, you’ve got to win rooms, you’ve got to win challenges, or you’ve got to learn to renovate to a very high standard on the smell of an oily rag. Whingeing about it is not going to get you anywhere — especially behind my back,” he said.

“So, I’m standing right here, let's do this. What the problem?”

“We don’t have enough money,” said contestant Jesse.

“You DON’T have enough money. I’ve said. You’ve got to win. Is there anything else anyone wants to say to me?

Jesse once again piped up, suggesting Cam needed to “open up his wallet”.

“We just think everyone’s underestimated the sheer size and cost of this project — there’s no money for it,’ Jesse said in a to-camera interview. “We’re going to struggle to finish next week’s room, let alone the other five, six weeks to go.”

Cam said he firmly believed the couples were responsible for their financial situation, pointing out that their plan to install optional extras like terraces and swimming pools in their beachside townhouses.

“You guys are adding spaces to the build and putting pools on them, then blaming me for running out of money. I think that’s a bit harsh,” he said.

“I’ve heard the rumours and I’ve heard the statements being made, so this is a serious question: Does anybody want to quit the game? Cos if you do, the door is there. No-one’s holding you back. We’ve done eight spaces — if you think you can’t hack it, it’s probably best you go home.”

Tess and Luke now insist they're not leaving the show.

The couples all declined his invitation — even Tess and Luke, who had earlier declared that Sunday’s kitchen would be their final Block room reveal.

“We were never going. We’re staying til the money runs out,” Luke said in a to-camera interview.

Mitch and Mark too — who were caught on camera last week plotting a mass contestant walkout — insisted that “we were never leaving, so it didn’t apply to us.”

Cam’s ultimatum came after an emergency budget meeting in last Wednesday’s episode of The Block proved too much for the contestants. Told they must seriously curb their spending — and advised by judge Shaynna Blaze that they should simply focus on finishing, rather than decking out their rooms in finery to win — the couples revolted.

“Why would you come (on the show) and not try to do something that’s gonna wow the judges? ‘Try not to win every room’ — how’s that good motivation?” said Luke after the meeting.

His wife Tess snapped, addressing the crew directly: “Don’t get a Block you can’t afford to put money into! Don’t give us this thing to renovate when we can’t afford to do it! Don’t get something and make everyone do a sh*t job at it! It’s gonna be a fail. We shouldn’t be doing something this size.”

The couples finally get a bit of good news.

On Sunday night’s episode, after that harsh dressing down, Cam finally gave the contestants some good news: “Despite all the moaning and whingeing, to get you to the end, I am prepared to give each couple an extra $40,000 cash,” he said.

“I can guarantee you, that is IT. There’s no more in the bank. 120 people have done this show and finished it, and you guys can do it as well.”

The Block continues 7:30pm Monday on Nine.