IT WAS RIGGED! WHAT’S NEXT FOR THIS YEAR’S BLOCK STARS?
Questions are raised over the results of the reality show
The auctions for The Block Australia are done and dusted, but some fans don’t believe it was a fair race.
The Block has been accused of “rigging” the results of this year’s much-hyped sales.
“It’s all a production-run project,” says an on-set spy, who worked on a previous season of the show. “The contestants are just characters... I have to remind myself that it’s all fake.”
Especially when it comes to auction day, tells the insider, who suggests serial buyer Danny Wallis – the IT entrepreneur who has snapped up multiple Block properties over the years – is proof the show is a set-up. “Knowing that producers are buddies with one of their regular buyers shows they can even rig the outcome,” says the spy.
Another source agrees that the series is all smoke and mirrors. “The whole show is about promotional sales. I’m amazed it’s still running as the scripting and staging is so obvious.”
According to the TV industry insider, there are “way more production tradies on site than there are house tradies”.
The source explains that “tradies barely interact with the teams. Everything is done through the production builders – the teams are usually filming or off-site anyway.”
MONEY-SPINNER
The series is a cash cow for Australia’s Channel Nine, which is why they’re happy to keep faking it while they’re making it!
“They get big money from The Block,” shares our in-the-know spy. “The general population underestimates how much of a money maker it is.”
Meanwhile, insiders have also slammed host Scott Cam, 60, and the producers for trying to pass off the house he “renovated” this season as his own. “It was all on us to build the house, and Channel Nine producers designed and styled the house,” another spy says. “Scotty was just the face.”
And while the series tried to portray the home as Scott’s, the star has since confessed he doesn’t own it. “That is not our house,” he admits. “I would love to live there, but my family is based in Sydney.”
Instead, the Nine insider reveals the network is going to use it “as a CEO/higher-ups weekend retreat house”.
But some viewers didn’t appreciate being misled.
“You continually implied certain rooms were for your children,” one wrote on social media to Scotty. “More bull from the Blockheads.”
‘It’s all fake... The scripting and staging is so obvious’
A NEW SEASON OF ALL STARS FOR SARAH-JANE & TOM?
When host Scott Cam told Sarah-Jane and Tom Calleja he’d “see you next year”, the rumour mill went into overdrive that this season’s faves could be returning for an all-stars season of the show. Production on The Block 2023 is already in full swing, with the network snapping up five houses in the up-andcoming Melbourne suburb of Hampton East, and rumours are swirling it will be returning favourites doing the renos.
Sarah-Jane, 30, tells Woman’s Day she loved her experience on the show. “By week two, the cameras feel so normal and the whole crew is so friendly that it’s almost like you’re hanging out with friends,” she says.
So there’s no doubt she’d be eager to come back. And fans are already throwing around their wishlist for who could join social worker Sarah-Jane and her plumber husband Tom, 34!
“I really liked Andy and Deb – would love to see them again,” said one viewer of the couple, who appeared in the 2019 series.
Another fan thinks twotime Block contestants Mitch, 59, and Mark, 60, who won in 2021, “were perfection in calling out the rubbish behaviour last year”, saying they should join the cast.
SHARON’S GETTING BACK TO BUSINESS!
Sharon Johal seems keen to get her acting career back on track now that The Block
is over. The 35-year-old star was seen cosying up to Aussie actress Rachel Griffiths at Derby Day in Melbourne last year.
Sources say the former Neighbours star has been hitting up her old friend on acting gig leads.
She confessed to Woman’s Day she’d much rather have her day job than The Block.
“I definitely prefer scripted drama, that’s for sure! You know exactly how you’re being represented – context is important.”
COULD JENNY COME BACK AS A TRADIE?
Rumours abound that Jenny Health could be back on The Block next season, but this time, in the role of tradie. Sources suggest producers are keen to add a “lady tradie” to the show’s cast and believe the 25-year-old apprentice carpenter is perfect for the role.
The star’s certainly had the tick of approval from host Scott. “Hard-working team, great couple,” he gushed of Jenny and her partner Dylan Adams, 28. And the Gold Coast resident seems keen to return to the show.
“We had the time of our lives,” Jenny tells Woman’s Day of her experience.
IS IT FINALLY TOOLS DOWN FOR SCOTTY?
After 16 seasons at the helm, fans suspect Scott may be ready to hand on The Block baton.
One viewer pointed out the star, who turned 60 in November, was “consistently grumpy this season”, suggesting he’s “tired of the show”. Or could something more serious be causing it?
Another viewer noted Scotty had a “greyish tone to his face” and added, “Hope he’s OK.”