While contestants come and go and houses are built and sold, one of the fan-favourite fixtures on The Block is the jovial Scott Cam. The 60-year-old has been the host of the renovation reality TV show since it first aired in 2010. However, rumours recently emerged that he'll be hanging up his hosting boots after 13 years.
Yahoo Lifestyle reported that the show's producers were "scrambling", as an alleged insider claimed to the publication that "Scotty Cam's contract is up and it is believed he isn't signing for any more after this one".
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However, Blockheads have no need to fret, as a Channel 9 spokesperson has confirmed to Refinery29 Australia that the rumours are simply not true.
Cam has hosted The Block since Season 3 in 2010, taking over from Jamie Durie. The speculation about the Logie nominee's future on the show has arisen just weeks ahead of The Block's Season 19 premiere on Sunday, August 6.
Filmed on Charming Street in Melbourne's Hampton East, this season has been tipped to be unlike previous seasons, as there are a couple of Block 'firsts' and changes to the rules. As the five teams prepare to revamp the houses designed and built in the 1950s, they will be provided with the full renovation schedule ahead of time.
The stakes will also be higher than ever during the 48-hour House Decider Challenge, as the cast will see all finished designs of the houses on the first day, and then one team will get to pick the house of their choice first. Contestants will also receive their entire budgets upfront.
"This series is guaranteed to be a dead-set blockbuster," Cam said in an official press statement earlier this month, teasing "more twists, turns and curveballs than ever before".
"Our five new teams from across the country are all fired up to make their home states proud. But wait until you see their shock when they find out they’re building not one, but two new abodes, as we throw in a granny flat for good measure."
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Cam's co-host Shelley Craft, who has been on the show since 2011, will return this season. Shaynna Blaze, Darren Palmer and Neale Whitaker return as judges this year, with real estate expert Marty Fox joining them as a new judge.
The five teams of two are: personal assistant Eliza and integration producer Liberty Paschke (VIC), firefighter Kyle and teaching aide Leslie Cottone (WA), first aid officer Leah and builder Ash Milton (QLD), project manager Kristy and safety officer Brett Beams (SA), and architect Steph and start-up worker Gian Ottavio (NSW).
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