For five weeks, viewers watched the controversial couple from WA, Paige and Jesse struggle on The Block.
Their turbulent journey was the focus in the few weeks before the couple’s decision to exit the renovation series – a move that came as no surprise to Blockheads.
Shortly after their departure, Paige Beechley took to TikTok to “lift the veil” on her experience, claiming their relationship was ‘incorrectly’ portrayed on TV.
“I think a lot of people have seen through this narrative that just doesn’t make sense. Week Four rolls around, Jesse and I have quite a big argument on the Friday night. I was pretty much done, I did not want to be there, I wasn’t feeling like myself,” she said.
“The time wasn’t even correct on the TV and we never fought at night time we fought during the day… they had a narrative because they start editing whilst we’re filming. So, they had a narrative ready to go and my mental health didn’t fit in that box.
“So, whilst you see this one narrative on TV, we were living this complete other narrative.”
In her three-part TikTok video, Paige admitted to “dealing with very real mental health issues” at the time.
“I really tried to push my mental health to the side, but anything was setting me off. I was nervous, anxious, paranoid… but I really did try my hardest to be ok,” she said after revealing it was a triggering experience to wake up to “crew coming into our rooms in the morning to film” with “no warning.”
“By the time the morning visits stopped it was just sadly a little too late for me. I was off the deep end,” she said.
Two weeks after this, Jesse and Paige decided to leave. She stood up for herself and allegedly questioned why no one had talked to her about her mental health. To which the producers reportedly sent an email.
Following their departure, The Block host Scotty Cam commented on the situation, explaining it “was a duty of care moment.”
“We didn’t force them out,” he said in a video published on 9Now. “We’ve always said we’re not doing anything important here, we’re just renovating. Health, well-being, happiness, always comes first on The Block. We always make sure contestants’ wellbeing is number one.”
“We got professional help and had extensive chats… we followed it up with professional care in their home state for as long as they needed it.,” he concluded.
Despite her experience, Paige remains close to the contestants as she revealed she will “watch [The Block] to support our wonderful castmates, especially Maddy and Charlotte who we are really close to.”
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