Scott Cam losing patience with this year’s ‘less resilient’ Block contestants

The Block host Scott Cam couldn’t hide his frustration when asked about the ongoing issues with this season’s contestants.

It’s been the most dramatic week of the season so far on The Block, with tears, dummy spits, and one team quitting entirely.

But amid all this contestant drama, it seems the person suffering the most is Scott Cam, who can no longer hide his frustration at having to babysit this current crop of Blockheads.

Cam recently told news.com.au that he’d observed one simple change in the calibre of Block contestants in the 18 seasons he’s been host: They’re “less resilient” than ever, and appear totally unprepared for how hard the show is.

Week five on The Block started with a bang on Monday’s episode, as engaged Perth couple Jesse and Paige made the decision to quit the show.

They’d been struggling since day one, and their tensions had spilled into late-night fights with each other so bad that one of the show’s executive producers was forced to intervene and urge them to make a big decision about their future on The Block.

After the tearful couple bid farewell to their fellow contestants, Cam told those remaining that The Block’s behind-the-scenes team had witnessed weeks of “concerning behaviour” between the pair and that their departure was “for the best”. He encouraged the remaining contestants not to wallow in sadness and to get on with the task at hand.

One episode later, though, the drama continued.

Cam apologises to Courtney after calling out her husband not attending a challenge.

On Tuesday night, Cam didn’t hold back when he learned that one contestant, Grant, had failed to turn up to a compulsory challenge.

“Who’s running this show?” he barked at Grant’s wife Courtney. “Well, now I’m grumpy.”

That brief dressing-down left Courtney in tears, cameras following her as she fled outside. Later, Cam apologised to her on camera for going “a bit hard.”

And even the injection of some fresh blood into the series hasn’t been without drama, as Jesse and Paige’s replacement team Maddy and Charlotte joined the show last night.

Kylie’s had a few dummy spits so far this season.

The 20-something Sydney sisters were an instant hit with viewers, who praised their bubbly personalities and eagerness to take on the challenge at hand. But they copped a very different welcome from one fellow contestant, Kylie, who fumed over their recruitment and refused to engage with them.

Earlier in the episode, Kylie had apparently threatened to walk off the show if visiting Block veterans Ronnie and Georgia were installed as the replacement team.

Cam was shown on camera phoning Kylie, explaining to her that Ronnie and Georgia were just there for one day to help out, and that it had only been a joke that they would stick around as the new contestants.

Scott Cam phones Kylie to coax her back to The Block.

Kylie gave giving monosyllabic responses as Cam tried to coax her back to set.

“I’m running around, trying to get new contestants to take [Jesse and Paige’s] place. You get it? You’re alright? We’ll see you back here?” he pleaded.

“Sure,” she sniffed.

“She’s not happy with me,” a visibly exasperated Cam told the cameras after she’d hung up.

Bizarre scenes like that go some way to explaining Cam’s blunt answer last month when asked by news.com.au about how he thought contestants had changed in his time hosting The Block.

“The contestants are less resilient than they were 20 years ago, 15 years ago,” Cam told news.com.au, on location in Phillip Island in early August.

“There’s more expectation of it getting easier, but it’s not. It gets harder,” he said.

“And people aren’t ready for how hard it is.”