If there’s one thing The Block host Scott Cam can say with conviction, it’s that West Australians know how to build houses. But could the popular TV show ever make its way to the west coast?
After WA winners Britt and Taz Etto made the highest profit on last year’s season, WAtoday sat down with the returning host to discuss season 22 – which airs next week on Nine, also the owner of this masthead – as well as the Gold Logie winner’s time living in Fremantle in the 80s.
WAtoday: What can we expect from this season of the Block?
Scott Cam: Well, we can expect a seaside town [Mount Eliza] with some $20 million homes surrounding it. It’s a real holiday destination for Melbourne, but it’s high-end. People live there, people downsize there, or people holiday there.
We’ve got five houses with water views, which is the first time we’ve ever had a water view, and views of the city 40 kilometres away as well.
But the other thing that we’ve got in Mount Eliza is what you have here in Perth … we have a water sunset. Because Port Phillip Bay is so big, and Mount Eliza is facing the heads, you don’t see land and the sun sets on the water.
We’ve heard this season is full of twists and turns, can you let us in on any secrets?
There’s always lots of twists. We’ve got a huge winner twist. There’s also a big scene on like day two. Like a big confrontation. That is a must-watch.
And we’ve got a surprise for the WA viewers as well. The contestants are also living in a share house [for the first time], but it’s not Big Brother-ish. We’re not using that as a big focal point of filming.
The building industry in WA is in a bit of a crisis, and has been for a while. How does that compare to the industry over east?
Well, the building industry is facing a crisis in the east as well. The price of materials has gone through the roof, probably in some cases a 40 per cent increase, and that’s COVID-borne, but it hasn’t come back. So that makes it difficult for affordability for even reno’s, but … Australians love to renovate and build, so we’re getting beyond that, and we’re working it out.
What could the WA building industry learn from The Block and previous winners Britt and Taz Etto?
I think the WA building industry is doing a good job, and they know what they’re doing. The only thing they could take from The Block is innovation because we’re always showcasing new products and new styles and new ways of doing things.
They know how to do stuff, WA is one of the few cities that only does double-brick. We used to do double-brick everywhere, but New South Wales and Victoria, is all brick veneer now.
There’s probably some builders here doing brick veneer now, but it’ll be only recently, maybe in the last 10 years.
You used to live in Fremantle when you were younger, can you tell me about your time there?
Well, I was travelling around Australia. I went in my 20s, and I actually came here for the Americans Cup in 1986, and then I stayed because I liked it. I stayed for a couple of years, and I lived in various houses.
I lived on Ord Street in a big house with about 10 people. I lived on Fothergill Street, Harvest Road in North Fremantle, I remember all the names. I lived there with about five other people as well.
It was a time of young people just hanging out and living together. And everybody that I lived with was from different places.
No one was from Fremantle because everybody came for the America’s Cup and some of us stayed. I went to Exmouth after that for a couple of years, and I left in 1988 or 1989.
Does this mean you’re a Fremantle Dockers fan?
No. But I don’t follow the AFL that much. Because I’m born and bred in Bondi, I follow the Roosters, which are the Bondi club.
You’ve been doing The Block for a long time now, did you imagine you’d be here 22 seasons later?
I was at Channel 9 for 10 years prior to The Block, and I did five or so different shows. So when I started … I was 36 and I was a carpenter. I had no idea I’d be here at 64.
I worked as a carpenter until I was 50. I did both, and carpentry is hard work. I don’t know if people realise how hard it is, and you’re pretty exhausted when you get home. So being on the telly is like a walk in the park.
Will The Block ever be set in WA?
Look, probably not. We’d love to do that. We would love to, but I think everybody that lives in WA understands about the logistics.
Just the fact that you refer to Sydney as “over east” – that sounds like another country. And we’ve got 100 people in our crew, and they all live in Melbourne.
What trends are popular at the moment?
People are talking about colour drenching, where the skirts, the walls, the cornice, the ceiling are all the same colour. It’s called “colour drenching”.
There’s a little bit of that this year still, but we’ve got this new product … that is a treatment that goes on gyprock.
So you put on like plaster, and it looks like rammed earth. I would put it in my house tomorrow if I had something to do, but one of our teams uses a lot of it, and it looks incredible.
New episodes of The Block start Sunday, August 2 on Channel 9 and 9Now. Nine is the owner of this masthead.
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