The 16th season of The Block 2020 has only been on air for two days and we’ve already hit quite a snag in the road.
A comment made by host Scott Cam has proven to be a little less flippant and more problematic.
Once again, McDonald’s McCafe is a proud sponsor of the series — however, if we were Maccas, we may not be so proud of the remarks Cam made when taking coffee orders on-site.
During the second episode of the season, the host was asking builders and contestants what kind of coffee they would like.
While a quip about one of the chippies being “trendy” for drinking oat milk was light-hearted and jovial, it was when Harry, who has a Greek Cypriot background, ordered a “hot cafe latte” with a slight accent, that Cam interrupted him and says, “What? Speak English.”
“That is English,” Harry says back, before asking if they have almond milk as well. Cam then stares blankly at Harry.
You’d be forgiven if you missed the comment due to the upbeat background music and the swift movement to taking other orders, but it was there.
Before you say I am being a “Karen”, hear me out.
We plead far and wide for diversity on TV, and then we are met with “witty” jokes about language barriers?! How is this still a thing?!
According to a Channel 9 spokesperson: “The scene was highlighting some of the complex coffee orders on-site at The Block. No offence was intended by the off the cuff comment. No offence was taken by Harry or any involved.”
Last year, Cam was in hot water for what was perceived as a homophobic comment by contestants Mitch, 56, and Mark, 57, who have been together for 15 years.
During judging, they objected to feedback about their “party room” and the “noisy people” who would live in their house.
Things got worse when the couple asked Cam what he meant by referring to them as “people like you”, leading to a heated argument off-screen.
Cam was devastated by the accusations and later told TV Week that “a quarter of our company are gay and they’re my best friends in Melbourne when I live there.”
“For me to be accused of making a homophobic slur was a slur on the friends I work with.”
Contestant Tess agreed with Mitch and Mark telling the outlet: “I think if they were offended by that, then it was offensive.”
While we have no idea if anything came of it — these types of comments are unnecessary quips to be aired on television.