The Block host Scott Cam is ‘ready to call quits’ and retire for good from the reno show – after he slammed 2024 contestants for being ‘less resilient’
Scott Cam is reportedly ready to hang up his tool belt and retire from The Block after 14 years as host.
The 61-year-old media personality, who took over as host from Jamie Durie during season three of the series in 2010, is said to have been frustrated with the participants in recent years.
Women’s Day reports that Scott has had enough and that 2025 will be his last year, but Nine says that’s just not the case.
An insider claims that Scott revealed his retirement plans during the filming of season 20, saying he was only doing “this year and next” on the show.
“Like Jesse [Maguire] and Paige [Beechey] quit the series mid-season, it really shocked him and made him even more determined to walk away in 2025,” they said.
‘Scott holds The Block very close to his heart and he couldn’t understand why anyone would leave his hit series and the very emotional decision they made.
“It reinforced in him the idea of leaving next year on a high to spend more time with his family.”
The source then referenced similar rumors that spread in 2023 about Scott retiring soon, but Nine ‘quashed’ those by signing him to a new deal.
Scott Cam, 61, (pictured) is reportedly ready to hang up his tool belt and retire from The Block after 14 years as host
However, the deal would have only lasted two years, leaving Scott to host the 2024 20th anniversary season and the 2025 Daylesford season.
According to the insider, it was all “part of a grand plan for Scott to leave on a high with two different and challenging seasons of the renovation show.”
The Block was originally due to shoot in Daylesford this year, but complications with obtaining council permissions meant the renovation was postponed until next year.
Producers made a last-minute attempt to secure a run-down resort on Phillip Island, dropping a whopping $9.5 million on Island Cove Villas.
The insider said Scott was ‘bitterly disappointed’ when Daylesford was put on the back burner as he wanted to host that season ‘and then graciously bow out’.
However, Nine has once again quashed these rumors, telling Ny Breaking Australia on Monday: “Scott Cam has no plans to resign from The Block.”
It comes just days after Jesse, 29, and Paige, 27, lashed out at host Scott after he made “distasteful” comments about recent contestants on the show.
The media personality, who took over as presenter from Jamie Durie during season three of the series in 2010, is said to have been frustrated by the participants in recent years. Pictured: 2024 participants Jesse and Paige
Last month, Scott said contestants on the Channel Nine renovation series have less grit than they did 20 years ago when the show started.
“They’re less resilient than they were 20 years ago, 15 years ago,” Scott said news.com.au at the time.
‘There is more expectation that it will become easier, but that is not the case. It’s getting harder… And people aren’t ready for how hard it is.”
Jesse and Paige, who dramatically left the show midway through the current season, pushed back on Scott’s comments.
“A lot of people didn’t like what Scott said. A lot of people didn’t like that. I think that was very distasteful,” Paige said Yahoo lifestyle.
Jesse further pointed out that the show is completely different today and participants no longer have time to build due to challenges and daily discussions.
The Block presenter Scott spoke to Ny Breaking Australia last year about rumors surrounding his impending retirement from Nine’s popular renovation show.
The rumor now is that Scott has had enough and that 2025 will be his last year, Woman’s Day reported on Monday, but Nine says that’s just not the case. Pictured: Scott and co-host Shelley Craft
The builder turned reality TV host attended a launch party for the 2023 season of his show and told the audience he planned to stick around for a long time.
‘Two months ago I signed a multi-year agreement with the Nine Network. It was an easy decision because I love this show and couldn’t think of going anywhere else,” he said.
Scott then said that while he had no immediate retirement plans, when that day came in the distant future, he had the perfect person in mind to take over as host.
“I think the only person who could do this is my current co-host Shelley Craft, that’s right,” he said.
Shelley, 48, added that there was no one better suited than her to take the reins when the time finally came.
‘That’s my job, isn’t it? Shouldn’t I go one step further and get a sidekick?’ she joked.
In 2022, Scott again addressed speculation about his future on the show, telling Ny Breaking Australia that he would be on construction sites for decades to come.
The builder turned reality TV host has been the face of The Block since 2010, when he took over from original host Jamie Durie (right) in season three.
The veteran tradie has had a career spanning over forty years and has hosted The Block for the past fourteen years – with no apparent desire to stop anytime soon.
‘I am 60 this year and am physically fit. I’m currently renovating my house because of the mold from all the rain,” he told Ny Breaking Australia at the time.
‘I still have at least ten years left on the tools. I recently told my wife: we still have twenty years of good health to go, so let’s start a twenty-year odyssey of life from January 1.
‘I’ll keep going until I can’t anymore, because I love it. I think I can do 20 years with the tool, and I’ll stop when my body tells me to.”