Scott Cam reveals brutal surprise for this year’s Block contestants

Scott Cam had a savage surprise for this year’s Block contestants that meant their season immediately became a lot more difficult.

The excitement among this year’s crop of Block contestants soon turned to horror when host Scott Cam dropped a savage surprise in Monday’s season premiere.

Not only would the five teams start their Block stint camping on-site – an annual rite of passage for contestants each year – but they also wouldn’t be moving into an actual bedroom anytime soon.

Usually, contestants are first tasked with building a bedroom in their homes, thereby giving them a room to move into as they continue on the rest of the house. This year, the first room to be built is the main bathroom, meaning all five teams will be camping in a field on-site in tents for at least the first week of the competition, if not more.

And the tents on offer were first come, first served, with one lucky couple snagging a roomy six-person shelter while another were left with a tiny two-person tent they could barely sit up in.

Bedroom week can't come quick enough.

This year’s crop of Block contestants includes a few who should be well-equipped for the challenge, with sparkies, plumbers and carpenters in the mix among the five teams.

But in a preview of scenes which will play out this week on the show, WA carpenter Jesse is shown breaking down in his tent on day two, feeling absolutely overwhelmed at the task at hand as his fiance Paige consols him.

The Block hosts Scott Cam and Shelley Craft told news.com.au last week that they’ve noticed a real difference in contestants across the 20 years of the show – and it’s not a positive one.

“The contestants are less resilient than they were 20 years ago, 15 years ago,” Cam told news.com.au.

Contestants Haydn (left) and Ricky settle into their new digs.

Their new home: A tiny tent on cold concrete.

“There’s more expectation of it getting easier, but it’s not. It gets harder. And people aren’t ready for how hard it is.”

Recent years have seen some of the most wildly disparate auction results in Block history, as duelling mega-rich investors Adrian Portelli and Danny Wallis have engaged in frenzied bidding wars on some properties while totally ignoring others. The result? Some Block contestants become instant millionaires, while others walk away with nothing.

news.com.au asked if this season’s contestants were prepared for both outcomes.

“No, they’re not. And they’ve built accordingly – that’s the problem. There were reasons why last year houses didn’t do well: The kitchen was too small, too awkward,” said Cam.

“Or they’re built for themselves and not for sale; that’s a huge difference,” Craft added.

“In the industry, you’re either building for selling – flipping – or you’re building your family home. They’re two specific ways of renovating,” she explained.

“And I think some of the contestants get a little bit lost in the fact that there is so much amazing product available to them, they want to put everything in the one house and that’s a little bit overwhelming for a family that just wants to buy a family home.”