The Block host Scott Cam has been forced to endure a lengthy hospital stay in the lead-up to tonight\u2019s season premiere, having undergone a knee replacement in recent weeks. <\/p>\n
And Cam revealed during a recent Block media day that the reason for the surgery can be found during tonight\u2019s opening episode, during an unplanned moment with one of the contestants.<\/p>\n
In scenes that will play out tonight, Cam welcomes the contestants to The Block for the year, and cops an enthusiastic greeting from one of the group, Victorian personal trainer Taylor.<\/p>\n
She approaches the host for a big hug \u2013 then leaps into his arms at the last moment, taking the 63-year-old Gold Logie winner by surprise.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust before the show started, I had an arthroscope on my knee, and it was very sore,\u201d Cam told media during a July 16 site inspection in Mount Eliza. <\/p>\n
\u201c[Taylor] ran from 10 feet away and launched onto me \u2013 I stumbled, I held on, and now on Monday, I\u2019m getting a new knee.\u201d<\/p>\n
A visibly shocked Taylor, also present at the media day, said she was \u201cso, so sorry\u201d her premiere stunt had caused the host such grief.<\/p>\n
And in a radio interview with B105\u2019s Stav, Abby & Matt <\/a>on Friday, Cam said he was doing his pre-Block press commitments from a hospital bed, where he\u2019d been for the past 12 days. <\/p>\n \u201cFirst five days is not good. Let me tell you. I\u2019m at the back end now,\u201d ht told the hosts of his recent surgery. <\/p>\n \u201cI was on the heavy duty [painkillers] in the early days because knee replacements are pretty big. Yeah, there\u2019s a lot of pain involved. But now I\u2019m at the back end. I\u2019m going home on Sunday, and I\u2019m still incapacitated a little bit with a walking stick.\u201d<\/p>\n Elsewhere in the same radio interview, Cam was forthright when speaking about the previous few tumultuous seasons of The Block, which has seen the show marred by contestant walkouts and dismal auction results. <\/p>\n \u201cWe had a couple of missteps for a couple of years. I feel that our casting was a bit off, and you know we just weren\u2019t heading in the [right] direction \u2026. we had some serious sit downs and chats, and we got it back to grassroots,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Cam said the cast mix this year was focused on \u201cpeople that work hard, that people that you know put their maximum effort in, and that\u2019s where we were lacking. <\/p>\n \u201cWe were choosing people that were too young, I feel, and they didn\u2019t have the effort.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, one big change to this year\u2019s Block season has some contestants upset: For the first time in the show\u2019s history, they\u2019ll all live together <\/a>in one big share house off-site. <\/p>\n