The Block 2021: Scott Cam weighs in on the penalty given to the cheating teams

The photo of the production schedule has rocked The Block with a cheating scandal never before seen in the show’s 17 seasons.

But on Sunday night Scott Cam handed out the punishment to Tanya and Vito and Josh and Luke, who had the photo in their possession.

A deduction of two points per team was handed down, effectively ruling them out from winning Basement Week, a punishment the host didn’t necessarily agree with.

“We deducted those points, I mean I thought that punishment wasn’t harsh enough,” he told 9Entertainment.

View The Block 2021 properties for sale

• House 1, Ronnie and Georgia: 2 Bronte Court, Hampton
• House 2, Mitch and Mark: 4 Bronte Court, Hampton
• House 3, Tanya and Vito: 8 Bronte Court, Hampton
• House 4, Josh and Luke: 10 Bronte Court, Hampton
• House 5, Kirsty and Jesse: 1 Bronte Court, Hampton

“But we couldn’t make it so those people had no chance of winning The Block, because that would make the whole thing void, if it was just between three teams.”

The main objective that went into the decision to deduct points was making the game even again.

“If we gave them a too-harsh punishment, that would hamstring them too much, so we needed to start again and make the game fair, so we could actually have a series and have a show,” he explained.

As the teams arrived at HQ for Room Reveal judging, Scott explained he had been asked about a penalty being levered against House 3 and 4.

“I thought long and hard about this and I’ve come to a decision. I will be deducting two points from each of your scores tonight, effectively ruling you out of this week’s room,” he said.

“This will also give the others a head start on the Domain leader board to choose the auction order at the end of the series.”

Josh and Luke were prepared to whatever the punishment was, even getting kicked off The Block if that was the case.

But while neither team was in the running to win for their Home Cinema, it also put taking out the coveted Domain Super Power out of reach. The team with the most points from Room Reveals across the season will win the power to determine auction order, which is crucial to winning the entire competition.

“I think that the auction order is really important, so deducting those points, it made it almost impossible for them to win the Domain Super Power,” Scott explained.

“I think that was pretty fair, that’s going to hamstring them at the end of the series.”

The reaction from the teams who weren’t explicitly involved in the photo scandal was very mixed. It was clear not everyone agreed it was enough.

“Yeah look, I think the penalty for stealing the photo and cheating is appropriate,” Mitch said.

Meanwhile, from Ronnie: “I think it’s flat-out bulls—, two points is not enough. All their points should have been stripped and all money should have been given back.”

Kirsty and Jesse were the only team looking at the end game with the penalty.

“Two points doesn’t sound like a lot,” Kirsty said.

“But when it comes to the end of this competition and you’ve got the Domain Leader board, you know, when you look at last year’s results and how close most couples come within each other. I think those two points, they’re gonna be all the difference.”

This article was originally published by Nine.com.au. Reproduced with permission