Just days ahead of The Block 2022 premiere, Scotty Cam has spoken out again about the influencer couple who quit the show two days in, and he didn’t hold back.
Appearing on the Kyle and Jackie O show, the TV host revealed he actually gave the couple in question – Elle Ferguson and Joel Patfull – “an out” hours before they threw in the towel.
“The night before I actually said to all contestants, ‘now’s your opportunity to get out if you think it’s too hard’,” he said.
“I gave them an out! But they didn’t take that out at the time, they left in the morning without saying goodbye or anything.”
Scotty Cam says he gave the couple “an out” hours before they threw in the towel.
(Image: Instagram)Joel and Elle shared a post on Instagram at the time saying “family always comes first”, with Nine later confirming they had left the show “a few days into filming”.
It’s understood they quit to return to Adelaide to be with Joel’s mother, who was seriously unwell – but as Jackie said to Scotty, “for you it’s a different story.”
“They didn’t tell us that they were leaving because of their mother – they were leaving for other reasons, that’s what they said,” he explained.
“Their mum was sick before the show and when we got shut down for a week because of COVID… we said ‘well look, your mum’s a bit crook’… so we flew them to Adelaide for a week, put them up and flew them back.”
WATCH: Meet the cast of The Block 2022
Scotty insisted that they “didn’t mention the sick mum to us”, but producers would have been happy to fly Joel and Elle back to Adelaide for as long as they needed to be with her.
Jackie noted that there were also rumours the couple refused to wear the standard high-visibility clothing on the show and being “difficult” to work with.
Scotty admitted there was “a bit of that”, revealing that Elle turned up to the filming location with “a lot of outfits ready to go”.
When Kyle asked if Scotty suspected the pair simply realised they had “bitten off more than they could chew” and left, The Block host seemed to agree.
Joel and Elle left the show after just a few days of filming.
(Image: Are Media)“They did speak to our producer and said they’ve decided The Block’s not ‘on brand’ for them,” he added.
Jackie responded: “She’s [Elle] definitely up there as an influencer. But I can’t imagine even applying for The Block if I didn’t know what The Block was about.”
Though the drama has been going on for weeks now, Scotty insisted that he “understood” Elle and Joel’s decision even though they left “without saying goodbye”.
The influencer duo have chosen to stay quiet about the scandal, though they revealed on Instagram they were heading home to see family at the time they left filming.
“Having said that, The Block’s not for everybody and if it’s not for you and it’s not working out for you, just let us know,” Scotty added.
