The first scandal of The Block season has finally aired, with influencer Elle Ferguson and her AFL star pal Joel Patfull joining the show without so much as a goodbye in Monday’s episode at night.
It comes after weeks of headlines about his shock exit, which host Scott Cam branded “poor p*ss” and “un-Australian” in pre-season interviews.
Despite reports that the pair left the competition to be with Patfull’s mum after a nasty fall-out, it seems the duo left the challenge because it wasn’t “on brand”, with Cam telling fellow contestants that they ‘they had complained that the toilet paper was “too scratchy”.
Before the clash was revealed, Patfull and Ferguson’s first challenge received some negative reviews from judges Shaynna Blaze, Neale Whitaker and Darren Palmer, who commented that it was “too Bondi” for the country setting.
“They’ve ruined the life of this house … and it breaks my heart,” Blaze said of the room’s lack of character traits.
Whitaker agreed: “If they stick with that look throughout the old part of the house and the modern part of the house, it’s going to get very stale and very samey, very quickly.”
He recommended the couple “expand the heritage and “have respect for the original bones” in the coming weeks.
But instead of heeding the advice, the glamorous couple left without a word, leaving their assigned house in a state of disarray.
Hearing of his departure the next morning, Scotty was in disbelief.
“They just don’t feel it’s…right for them to do it The block”, executive producer Julian Cress told him.
“Why would you leave after two days?” Cam marveled.
Breaking the news to the remaining contestants, he said: “Last night, if you remember in the studio, I gave you a chance… a chance, if you didn’t think you could make it on the show, you could leave if you wanted to, you can pull the pin.
“Obviously, I said that language because I didn’t think anyone would pass up an opportunity like this, but I just found out that Joel and Elle are on their way to the airport. They’ve left the show,” he explained to gasps from the cast.
“Why didn’t they even say goodbye?” Jenny asked from house 4.
“They didn’t say goodbye … They didn’t say thank you for having us … They just left,” Cam said, explaining that they didn’t suggest he leave because of a family emergency.
“Well, everything is fine, it seems, for some reason, The Block it’s not ‘on brand’ for them… And they also said the toilet paper was too scratchy,” she told the shocked contestants, who admitted they’d all taken it “in the grass in the back yard” amid the competition
Meanwhile, House 1 winner Sarah-Jane revealed she had predicted the pair were not Block material.
“I saw it coming. . . . They made no effort to get to know us. . . . They looked miserable the whole time. . . . I felt them saying, ‘I can’t wear this, it doesn’t represent us,'” she he told the others, adding that they looked “sour” after coming fourth in the room reveal.
On learning that they were due to be replaced imminently, he said: “I’m glad someone has the chance who will appreciate it… Don’t take them from Bondi.”
Parents of three, Rachel and Ryan, have now taken up residence in House 2 instead of Ferguson and Patfull.
The Block Tree Swap continues on Tuesday night from 7.30pm on Channel 9
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