Fed-up Scott Cam wants to change The Block’s rules next season

The Block host Scott Cam has revealed he’s about to meet with the show’s producers to discuss one glaring problem that’s plagued this season.

The Block host Scott Cam revealed in a recent interview that he’s considering extreme action to stop some of the mistakes of this season ever happening again.

Speaking to The Block colleague Shelley Craft for a recent episode of the show’s official podcast, Cam said he was frustrated by some teams’ spending habits, and wanted to figure out a way to stop contestants going so wildly over budget in the future.

“They just keep spending. Shell, I think we might have to change the rules next year,” Cam told her – which prompted a surprised reaction from Craft, given contestants are already on a tighter financial leash than they have been in earlier seasons.

Scott Cam says he’s asking for some big changes with how The Block operates.

“We’ve already reduced the budget so they only get what they can spend that week. Remember when they used to get the entire budget upfront, and some of them would blow that by week four? At least with these guys, they’re only blowing the week that they’ve got. What else can you do?” she asked him.

“Well, they only get, say, $25,000 for a bathroom. But they might spend $35,000 – and then the bill comes in the following week,” Cam said.

“I’m going to have a meeting about this. I’ve already discussed it with some people … We’re going to have a meeting, and I don’t know what we’re going to do. We’re going to make some changes.”

Cam didn’t elaborate on how exactly he thought the show could more closely monitor contestants’ spending – but it comes after near-constant budget woes for some of this season’s teams.

Money pressures really hit in the final weeks of the competition, with this year’s least experienced couple, Sharon and Ankur, even getting “cut off” by Cam.

Ankur and Sharon weren't too happy to be cut off from The Block bank.

“You guys have an encyclopedia of unpaid bills,” Cam told the couple, informing them they’d overspent by a whopping $53,000 and had left him no choice but to lock down their accounts and cancel their credit cards. He and the team behind The Block then closely controlled their finances for the remainder of the season.

“Some of our contestants this year say ‘It can’t be done, we can’t finish this.’ As I’ve said many times before, we only need one team to finish, and that means it can be done,” Cam said on the podcast.

He and Craft also each offered their biggest piece of advice for anyone thinking of applying for The Block.

Scott Cam and Shelly Craft both have some simple advice for prospective contestants. Picture: supplied

To Cam, the most valuable thing a Block contestant could do was learn how to plaster.

“Now, I’m not suggesting that Ankur and Sharon could plaster, but they could learn how to hang sheets. That’s very feasible and easy to do. Then when your plasterer comes in, you could learn off him and at least do the base coat, before he does the top coat,” he said.

Craft’s top piece of advice for contestants was even easier, requiring no skill at all – just a good work ethic.

“Be the best lackey you can be. If you are doing wheelbarrow loads of rubbish, keeping that worksite clean, then your tradies are going to work hard for you because they see you working hard alongside them. There’s nothing worse than a messy worksite,” she said.

Originally published as Fed-up Scott Cam wants to change The Block’s rules next season