Scott Cam has accused ‘quitters’ Joel Patfull and Elle Ferguson of fleeing The Block in the middle of the night and giving no explanation for their departure.
Fashion blogger Elle, 36, and retired AFL player Joel, 37, were meant to star on The Block’s upcoming ‘Tree Change’ season, but downed tools just two days into filming.
The Sydney-based couple later claimed they needed to visit Joel’s mother, who had injured herself in a nasty fall at her home in Adelaide.
Scott Cam has accused ‘quitters’ Joel Patfull, 37, (left) and Elle Ferguson, 36, (right) of fleeing The Block in the middle of the night and giving no explanation for their departure
Scott has since rubbished this excuse, telling News.com.au that while Joel’s mother did injure herself before filming began, this wasn’t the excuse the couple gave for throwing in the towel.
In fact, he claims, they didn’t give any excuse at all.
‘They didn’t give us a reason why they were leaving. They never mentioned anything to us about visiting their sick mother,’ the long-time host said on Tuesday.
‘In fact, we flew them to Adelaide before The Block started for a week, and put them up in a hotel so they could see [Joel’s mother]and they came back and said everything’s fine,’ he added.
‘They never spoke to us [about quitting]; they just left in the middle of the night.’
Scott went on to claim the couple ‘never mentioned’ Joel’s ailing mother ‘in the 48 hours before they left, or after they left’.
‘They didn’t give us a reason why they were leaving. They never mentioned anything to us about visiting their sick mother’, Scott (pictured) told News.com.au on Tuesday
speaking to TV Week on Monday, Scott also agreed The Block would have been prepared to temporarily shut down production to accommodate the couple’s visit to see Joel’s mother, if they had been made aware of the situation.
‘Of course, family comes first on The Block – we’ve stopped production before when people have had family emergencies,’ he said.
‘And of course, I wasn’t referring to somebody going to visit their sick mother… It was because they’d given us no reason.’
The couple downed tools in April, just two days into filming, after Joel’s mother Trish fractured her neck during a fall at her home in Adelaide
Scott previously said at the Logie Awards that Elle and Joel giving up so soon into the competition was ‘unAustralian’ and ‘p**s poor’.
He told TV Tonight: ‘We had a 48-hour challenge to choose the house that you get and they scarpered after 48 hours. It’s something that’s never happened before.’
‘Forty-five thousand people applied to be on The Block and win life-changing money. These guys got on and they just couldn’t handle the pace after 48 hours,’ he continued.
Scott recently told TV Tonight, ‘We had a 48-hour challenge to choose the house that you get and they scarpered after 48 hours. It’s something that’s never happened before’
‘Which to me is a bit unAustralian! Have a go! It’s p**s poor.’
Scott reportedly told the other contestants Elle and Joel left because the renovation show wasn’t ‘on brand’ for them as Bondi influencers.
He also said they had complained ‘the toilet paper was too scratchy’.
Scott reportedly told the other contestants Elle and Joel left because the renovation show wasn’t ‘on brand’ for them as Bondi influencers
The pair made the difficult decision to leave the Channel Nine show two days into filming in mid-April, after Joel’s mum suffered the nasty fall.
The former footy star’s mother reportedly broke her coccyx and fractured her wrist.
According to reports at the time, they initially tried to stay on the show but left after they ‘couldn’t get a definitive answer’ from producers as to whether Joel could ‘come and go’ from the construction site in Gisborne to visit his ailing mother in Adelaide.
However, The Block’s executive producer Julian Cress has since disputed this, telling the Herald Sun that Joel and Elle ‘never’ made such a request.
Mr Cress added that The Block is always willing to accommodate teams during family emergencies, and once shut down production for an entire week in 2013 when the mother of one of the contestants fell ill.
According to previous reports, they initially tried to stay on the show but left after they ‘couldn’t get a definitive answer’ from producers as to whether Joel could ‘come and go’ from the construction site in Gisborne to visit his ailing mother in Adelaide
A Nine spokesperson confirmed their departure to Daily Mail Australia, saying: ‘Over the weekend, we were surprised to have one of our new contestant teams depart The Block a few days into filming for the upcoming season.
‘We wish them all the best for the future and we’re excited to cast two new Aussies for the opportunity of a lifetime on The Block. The Block Tree Change will air as scheduled later this year.’
Their exit from The Block will be a major storyline in the first few episodes of the new season, which premieres Sunday, August 7, on Channel Nine and 9Now.
After their exit, Elle shared this photo to Instagram of their suitcases at Melbourne Airport, and wrote: ‘Wherever you are in the world, whatever you are doing, family always comes first’