Scott Cam is reportedly ready to hang up his tool belt and retire from The Block after 14 years as its host.
The media personality, 61, who took over as host from Jamie Durie in 2010 during season three of the series, is said to be frustrated with contestants in recent years.
Woman’s Day reports that Scott’s had enough and 2025 will be his last year, but Nine says that’s just not the case.
An insider alleges that Scott revealed his retirement plans while filming season 20, saying he was only doing ‘this year and next’ on the show.
‘When 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 dear to his heart and he couldn’t understand why anyone would leave his hit series and the highly emotional decision they made.
‘It reinforced to him the idea of leaving on a high next year to spend more time with his family.’
The source went on to reference similar rumours which spread in 2023 about Scott retiring soon, but Nine ‘squashed’ those by signing him onto a new deal.
However, the deal is said to have only covered two years, keeping Scott on as host for 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 very two different and challenging seasons of the renovation show’.
The Block was originally set to film in Daylesford this year, but complications with receiving council permits pushed that renovation back to next year.
Producers scrambled at the last second to secure a run down resort on Phillip Island, dropping a staggering $9.5 million on Island Cove Villas,
The insider said Scott was ‘bitterly disappointed’ when Daylesford was put on the backburner because he wanted to host that season ‘then bow out graciously’.
However, Nine has once again put those rumours to rest, telling Daily Mail Australia on Monday: ‘Scott Cam has no plans to step down 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 participants on the show.
Last month, Scott said contestants of the Channel Nine renovation series 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,’ Scott 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.’
Jesse and Paige, who dramatically left the show halfway through the current season, hit back at Scott’s comments.
‘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 told Yahoo Lifestyle.
Jesse went on to point out the show is completely different these days and contestants no longer have time to build due to challenges and daily consultations.
The Block host Scott addressed rumours of his impending retirement from Nine’s hit renovation show to Daily Mail Australia as recently as last year.
The builder-turned-reality TV host attended a launch party for the 2023 season of his show and told the crowd he was planning on staying for a long time.
‘Two months ago I signed a multiple year deal with the Nine Network. It was an easy decision as I love this show and couldn’t think of going anywhere else,’ he said.
Scott then said 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 reckon the only person who could do it is my current co-host Shelley Craft, that’s right,’ he said.
Shelley, 48, added there was no one better suited than her to take over the reins when the time finally came.
‘That’s my job, isn’t it? Don’t I step up and then I get a sidekick?’ she joked.
In 2022, Scott addressed speculation about his future on the show yet again, telling Daily Mail Australia he would be on building sites for decades to come.
The veteran tradie has a 40 plus-year career behind him and has hosted The Block for the past 14 years—with seemingly no desire to stop any time soon.
‘I’m 60 this year and I’m physically fit, I’m doing a renovation of my home now because of the mould from all the rain,’ he told Daily Mail Australia at the time.
‘I’ve got at least another decade on the tools. I told my wife recently, we’ve got 20 years of good health left so from January 1, let’s start a 20-year odyssey of living life.
‘I’ll keep going till I can’t anymore because I love it. I reckon I can do 20 years on the tools, and I’ll pull up when my body tells me to.’
