The Block: Did Scott Cam buy house at centre of Emese Fajk scandal?
The Block host Scott Cam is rumoured to have bought Jimmy and Tam’s winning Block property — but he’s staying quiet on the topic.
Scott Cam and Channel 9 are remaining tight lipped over rumours The Block host has bought the Brighton property at the centre of the show’s “conwoman” scandal.
But the real estate agent tasked with selling Queensland couple Jimmy and Tam’s winning creation, McGrath St Kilda principal Michael Townsend, says he’s not aware of a deal being done.
Mr Townsend said he had been “showing buyers through” the 1950s-style house as recently as “last week” in an attempt to find a new buyer off market, after an A Current Affair expose in December claimed winning bidder Emese Fajk hadn’t paid up.
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Jimmy and Tam with Emese Fajk, who was described as a cyber security expert.
Cam with the show’s 2020 contestants.
“Scott’s involved in the show, so there would be no need for a real estate agent to transact (the property). If he has bought it, it wouldn’t surprise me,” Mr Townsend said.
“But I don’t know anything about it.”
Gossip magazine New Idea reported a “close source” was insisting Cam had secretly snapped up the at 360A New Street property.
Cam and Nine declined to comment on this when contacted by the Herald Sun.
Fajk, 28, outlasted serial Block buyer Danny Wallis to place the final $4.256m bid on the four-bedroom house at its televised auction in November, gifting Jimmy and Tam The Block’s biggest winnings in history, of $1.066m.
But the following month, Jimmy told ACA there had been “no positive outcome” from the sale’s settlement.
“We’ve pretty much been conned,” he told the Nine program, which claimed Fajk had attempted to cheat The Block by presenting receipts of bank transfers indicating the money for the property had gone through.
Jimmy and Tam’s kitchen was the most expensive in Block history.
The Block judge Darren Palmer positively likened Jimmy and Tam’s winning guest bathroom to a “public pool change room” in that it had “retro yesteryear childhood charm”.
Cam confirmed on ACA that Jimmy and Tam’s “win will stand” regardless.
After the story aired, Fajk posted on Instagram: “When people I don’t know try to dig into my life, … I feel like it needs to be said: “BACK THE F*** OFF”.
Mr Townsend said he had been running an off-market campaign to try to land a sale that stuck for the property at the centre of the scandal.
This had involved contacting buyers on his office’ database and via buyer’s advocates to find interested parties.
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He said interest had been “strong” north of $4m, from a mix of local families, downsizers and investors.
Jimmy and Tam’s retro bedroom …
… and striking bathroom with blush pink tiles.
Wallis — who kicked off the property’s televised auction with an attempted-knockout bid of $4,200,001 — had also been approached, but may not be a contender for the keys as he went on to splash $12m on three of the other homes created on the 2020 season.
“Jimmy and Tam did exceptionally well throughout the show, winning several rooms, and they had a great floorplan,” Mr Townsend said.
“This is a highly desirable property, especially off the back of COVID-19, which has seen people moving for lifestyle reasons and thinking, ‘let’s get a pool and a house somewhere we can enjoy long term’.
“It’s in a great location — Brighton is blue chip. Plus (The Block properties) are incredibly well built … and they’re great investments.”
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