The Block’s producers are in hot water over show’s mental health plan in light of Jesse and Paige’s shock exit drama

Block’s producers are said to have run into trouble over their mental health treatments after Paige Beechey and Jesse Maguire suddenly quit the program.

The engaged couple, who were dubbed the “villains” of 2024, resigned Monday after producers were forced to intervene during an explosive disagreement between the two.

After seeking professional help, they reported suffering from mental distress over their withdrawal from the competition, and their departure sparked much discussion about the show’s healthcare policies.

Paige has since slammed producers for her “horrible” experience on the show, while a 2023 The Block contestant has criticised the programme’s aftercare.

Given the controversy, it is now claimed that Channel Nine is reviewing its mental health policies across the board to prevent another dramatic incident.

“Unexpected events unfolded following Monday’s episode of The Block after a mental health warning was issued ahead of the show,” a source exclusively told Ny Breaking Australia.

“The network wants to hear your story and if you don’t speak out, certain practices may never be addressed properly.”

The source claimed that many former The Block contestants felt ‘triggered’ after watching Jesse and Paige drop out, and were therefore advised to speak to a professional.

Former stars of the show are said to have complained about the lack of support during their season.

It is believed that some former contestants have asked Channel Nine over the years to pay for their psychological assessments after appearing on the programme.

“It was mainly Block’s former participants who were triggered by Monday night’s episode,” the source added, noting that there was no increase in complaints from viewers.

Producers are said to be ‘looking back on their process’ of improving Nine’s mental health plans on reality TV shows such as The Block and Married at First Sight.

A Nine spokesperson said: ‘Nine and Cavalier Television take their obligations regarding the health and wellbeing of the participants in this program extremely seriously.

‘Nine has a service for all participants, in case they want or need individual and confidential psychological support.

This service provides participants with access to clinicians who have been specifically hired to support program participants regarding their experiences.

‘This service is available to all participants during the recording, the broadcast and once the program is over, as long as they need it, it doesn’t stop’.

Following her sensational exit, Paige broke her silence on the drama via TikTok on Wednesday, admitting she was “annoyed” by her edit of the show.

She slammed producers for her “horrible” experience on the show, accusing the show of editing her scenes to make her look “crazy.”

“I’m a little irritated. I think I’ve been through a lot this season and said very little,” Paige said in the first video.

“But the way they handled the whole mental health departure was a disgusting example of a TV show that just wants to make money by being relevant.

“It is clear that they want to enter the ‘woke’ phase and that this was an opportunistic approach, at the expense of their mental health.”

Paige said the four weeks she and Jesse were on the show were a “whirlwind,” but that everything went “smoothly” during the first two weeks of production.

She claimed the couple had a good relationship with the producers, who called her the ‘Energizer Bunny’, but after production, it was a different story.

“Nothing could stop me, there were no tantrums, no nagging, no arguments, absolutely nothing for two weeks, and that’s clearly not what you saw,” Paige said.

“That wasn’t the story they were pushing, because in those first two weeks they just turned it into something completely different.”

“They did this by literally putting entire sentences in my mouth, and we call those Frankenbites,” she added.

‘They were taking bits and pieces from everywhere and putting them together to make it all fit into the context they wanted, but it was obvious that things weren’t right.

“They would just flat out cut off conversations to make me look crazy. So we were pretty frustrated for the first two weeks with how we were being portrayed. We were just sitting there thinking, ‘What?'”

She claimed She endured an “absolutely horrific experience” in the third week of the show, when they left their tents and moved into the completed guest rooms.

Paige claimed that during that time, crew members would come to the contestants’ rooms in the morning to film while they were sleeping.

“Without prior briefing, without warning and absolutely without permission, the crew comes into our rooms in the morning to film us while we sleep,” she alleged.

‘For someone with a history of sexual abuse, that was terrible.

‘You wake up in your bedroom, it’s pitch black, and you have three black figures, two or three figures standing over your bed, and it’s terrifying. And that’s how you wake up.’

Ny Breaking Australia claims that producers were not aware of Paige’s experiences of sexual abuse during filming.

Paige added that the alleged situation had caused her to go into a “spiral” and become “paranoid.”

Paige also said she was “disheartened” by the producers’ response to her deteriorating mental health.

She concluded her videos by arguing that more needed to be done to prepare candidates for the experience.

After she and Jesse made a shock exit from the show, a former contestant also weighed in on the mental health debate.

Ash Milton appeared on the 2023 series with his wife Leah and gave a scathing assessment of his time in the renovation competition and the show’s aftercare.

“Last year, just over 12 months ago, we were there and the support after Block is not great,” he claimed.

‘My wife is seeing someone now and she’s doing well, but it took a while to find someone she could talk to comfortably. But yeah, there wasn’t a lot of help or support after the surgery, sorry.’

Ash then gave his candid opinion on the sudden departure of 2024 stars Jesse and Paige after they decided to call it quits following a series of explosive arguments.

He stressed that there were also tense arguments behind the scenes during the 2023 season, but that they were never televised.

“It’s hard to keep your relationship going when you’re under so much pressure. You have to be a solid unit when you start,” he said. “I think the other thing is, is [Jesse and Paige are] relatively new in their relationship, newly engaged.

“You know, they’ve probably never been put under this kind of pressure before. So, I mean, even if her mental health was a factor here, which we’re not allowed to comment on, you know, she’s probably never been through anything like this to know how you deal with it or not.

‘Leah and I went there as a solid unit when we did our season last year. But we heard that bickering earlier, during our season, that happened at my neighbor’s house, but it was never shown.

“So it’s on there and it’s happening, but it’s how it wants to be broadcast. It’s how they edit it.”

Ny Breaking Australia has contacted Channel Nine for comment.