Two former contestants on The Block have lashed out at host Scott Cam after he made ‘distasteful’ comments about recent participants on the show.
Last month, Cam said contestants of the Channel Nine renovation have less grit than they did 20 years ago, when the show began.
‘They are less resilient than they were 20 years ago, 15 years ago,’ Cam told news.com.au at the time.
‘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.’
Paige and Jesse, who dramatically left the show halfway through the current season, hit back at Cam’s comments.
Speaking to Yahoo Lifestyle, the WA-based team were not impressed with the Cam’s remarks.
‘A lot of people didn’t like what Scott said. A lot of people did not like that. I think that was very distasteful,’ Paige said.
Jesse went on to point out that that the show is completely different these days, and the contestants don’t have time to build because they are caught up in daily consultations.
‘We’re 20 years through and the show’s changed. We probably don’t do as much building as 15, 20 years ago, because you can’t. You have consultations every single day,’ she said.
The couple then went on to complain about the amount of driving required on this year’s season.
The building site on Phillip Island is about a two hour drive from Melbourne where contestants are expected to head for challenges and sponsorships daily.
‘This year was a lot of driving, like you’re on the road for eight to 10 hours a day…a lot of people don’t realise that,’ Jesse added.
This week fans of the hit renovation show have threatened to switch off en masse because of all the drama on the current series.
Viewers flocked to Reddit this week to call out scenes which have left them feeling ‘anxious and angry’, with concerns raised for newcomers Maddy and Charlotte.
Supporters of the Sydney sisters fumed the pair were ‘being set up to fail’ after they were thrown into the deep end in week five and faced off against their fiery builder.
‘Last few episodes have made me feel anxious and angry. Which is not really what you want from a bit of fluff building show,’ one person wrote in a lengthy post.
‘There is a certain kind of man who, when dealing with young women, especially pretty young women, immediately try and get one over on them, try and exert dominance, no matter how low the stakes.
‘They just try and thwart you at every turn, for what? To punish you for being a young woman?
‘Ever since Maddy and Charlotte have arrived I’ve felt this rising tension in my shoulders watching this show in recognition of the way they’re being treated.’
The Redditor went on to say it felt like Maddy, 24, and Charlotte, 22, have received little support from the show, with the sisters recently left in tears when their builder Zak brutally turned on them and quit the series.
‘Anyway, I hope things start to change because it’s not fun to watch two young women being set up to fail through no fault of their own,’ they added.
Many viewers agreed with the Reddit post, with some saying they have since stopped watching the show entirely or only tune in for room reveals every Sunday.
‘I stopped watching. I did consider just watching Sundays, but The Amazing Race started. Life’s too short to watch this bulls**t,’ one person wrote.
Another added: ‘How is this behaviour not only NOT called out on screen, but actually used as a dramatic storyline with no consequences for the appalling behaviour?’
‘I used to watch every episode, now I record Sunday’s episode so I can fast forward through the crap and just watch the judging,’ another fan remarked.
