Depending on what day of the week it is and whether he has cash in his hand or not, The Block co-host Scott “Scotty” Cam can be the most hated man on site.
“The contestants think we’re heartless, but we’re not,” Scott, 60, tells TV WEEK with a laugh. “All we’re doing is giving them an opportunity to make a lot of money and be on television.”
Scotty has hosted The Block for 13 years.
(Image: Supplied)The show’s gruelling hours and exhausting workload can see contestants soon ask Scott for help, which he politely declines.
“Years ago, I did shows like Backyard Blitz, where I worked 15-hour days on the tools the whole time,” he recalls. “I’ve done a lot before, that’s why I don’t get in there and do it now. I remind them, ‘I’ve done 300 episodes of this and you’re doing 50.'”
Despite being disinclined to step in physically, Scott is all about boosting morale on site. He found the family reunion episode the highlight of the entire season.
Married to wife Ann for more than 30 years, the couple have three children: Charlie, 27, and twins Bill and Sarah, 24.
“I’m a family man.”
(Image: Instagram)“I’m a family man,” Scott declares. “I love my kids and my wife, so it’s beautiful to see. It’s a really nice episode to be a part of.”
Despite being treated “like royalty when they come to set”, Scott’s children have opted for a life away from the cameras, with his eldest working as an engineer, his daughter at a media company, and Bill in an undisclosed job.
After 13 years of hosting The Block, Scott says “every year is different” and that he never knows what to expect when he shows up to work. He’s often surprised by production staff, who greet him with a “Did you hear what happened last night?” as he arrives.
This season, in particular, has shocked him in terms of seeing sides to contestants he couldn’t have predicted.
“It’s been an unusual year for personality clashes,” he explains. “New personalities came out in different people that they didn’t show us in their interview. Some drama happens and you go, ‘Wow, I didn’t see that coming from that person.'”
Scott is frequently stopped on the streets by fans, who say they want to see less drama and more building, but he assures them the production team plays no part in the explosive fights between the teams in any season.
“The contestants think we’re heartless, but we’re not.”
(Image: Supplied)“We don’t create the drama,” he explains. “We never know what’s going to happen. It’s all happy days in the first week, but the nature of our show is it’s a crockpot and a bubbling mess, where everyone is lacking sleep from day one. Things just implode.”
Scott doesn’t believe the drama this season will overshadow the building.
“The construction comes first, the real estate second and the drama third,” he says. “It’s up to the contestants how they manage that throughout the process, but I like to remind them it [being on The Block] is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and to not go through it fighting the whole time. Enjoy it.”
As with his parenting style, which he describes as “old-school tough with a lot of love and laughs”, Scott gives contestants the tools (literally) to get the job done and from that point on they’re on their own.
As auction day nears and all the hard work comes to a head, Scott reveals it’s the one day of the year he gets very nervous.
“I’m already starting to feel sick in my stomach,” he admits. “We really want them [contestants] to do well.
We set them up for success, so if they don’t do well, it’s not our fault.”
