Scotty Cam was on a mission to avoid this season’s The Block Australia stars as much as possible behind the scenes of Sunday’s final auction. Jokes were thrown around that he was “hiding from the contestants” – but a show insider reveals he wasn’t kidding.
He was especially keen to avoid controversial Kylie Baker and her husband Brad after becoming frustrated with the “flirt-gate” drama that saw the father-of-four, 32, getting close to Mimi Belperio, 28, and dominating the headlines, causing the couple to leave the show days before the auction.
“He did see them, but their exchange was brief, almost like a brush-off,” says a spy. “Each year he seems to get more and more hesitant to build relationships.”
This 20th season of The Block has been the most challenging for Scotty. He joined the show in 2010 and has dubbed this series “traumatic”. Of Kylie and Brad’s shock exit, he said, “It’s a really disappointing situation that we’ve found ourselves in.”
The usually neutral host, 62, appeared to be rocked by his on-camera feud with hairdresser Kylie, 37, who said she hated Scotty and called him a vulgar slur. She has reportedly solidified his decision to leave the show at the end of 2025.
“I don’t blame him for finally losing his cool with her,” one fan wrote online. Another added, “He felt shell-shocked by the whole thing and didn’t want to be there.”
Scotty is said to have been a nervous wreck in the lead-up to auction day – and not just at the thought of another confrontation with Kylie. After all, he’s borne the brunt of most of the criticism for the show’s apparent decision to boost ratings with the cheating scandal, and mental struggles of the participants.
“Scotty has been a problem and instigator all season,” one viewer commented. “Lost a lot of respect for him this year with various interactions and remarks that are obviously against the best interest of the mental health of the contestants he’s talking to.”
Another online critic said, “Personal and marital conflict shamelessly exploited for ratings. If this were a workplace, someone would have shut it down. Scott Cam is quickly losing any small amount of public goodwill he ever had.”
However, we’re told Aussie TV network Nine has taken responsibility for the criticism. A Block insider explains, “There were two couples that shouldn’t have passed the mental health screening throughout the casting process. They’ve gone back over the casting process to see where it all went wrong.”
The next season’s set to film in Daylesford, 90 minutes out of Melbourne. It will apparently feature a new casting team, who will reportedly be “spending more time on mental health assessments”.
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