A complete scam and a 'hero' buy: What the heck went on with that Block house?

Senior Entertainment Writer / Weekend Editor

January 27, 2021

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In November, Queensland couple Jimmy and Tam walked away from The Block with a record-breaking win of $1.06 million.

In a nail-biting auction, serial The Block bidder Danny Wallis bid $4.2 million, immediately bringing the couple's profit to a mind blowing $910,000.

But in the end, it was cyber security specialist Emese Fajk who had the winning bid of $4,256,000, bringing Jimmy and Tam's total profit to $966,000 – the highest profit in the history of the show.

Watch a clip from Jimmy and Tam's interview on A Current Affair below. Post continues after video.

Video via Channel Nine.

"It's the most unbelievable thing I've ever witnessed in 16 seasons of The Block," host Scott Cam said at the time.

But one month on from the finale, Jimmy and Tam were forced to put their home back on the market after its 28-year-old buyer reportedly failed to make the deposit for the home available for Channel Nine.

While buyer Emese Fajk has reportedly shared receipts of bank transfers indicating that the deposit had been paid for the 1950s-style Brighton home, the money has not yet reached Nine.

Speaking on A Current Affair in December, Jimmy and Tam shared that they were blindsided by the news.

"It's something no one ever saw coming, no one ever expected, but it's something we now have to deal with," Jimmy told A Current Affair. "We've pretty much been conned."

"We feel like we've been played," Tam added.

"She came to our house to watch the final episode with us. She cracked a bottle of wine out of the wine fridge. She actually cried with us when the result came over. It was like we knew her as a friend. We welcomed her into our family as a friend."

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Jimmy added: "The auction was over a month ago and it's been strung along for that whole time leading up to this settlement date with no signs whatsoever that she wasn't going to buy the house."

While the home is now back on the market, the Queensland parents will remain the winners of the 2020 season, allowing the couple to keep their additional $100,000 prize money.

Jimmy and Tam during The Block finale. Image: Channel Nine.

"Everyone at The Block and Nine are very disappointed for Jimmy and Tam that the sale of their home was not completed as scheduled today," a Nine spokesperson said in a statement.

"The process of the auction, sale and follow-up was conducted in full regard of the appropriate regulations for property auctions in Victoria and monitored by the Victoria Department of Consumer Affairs.

"Nine have confirmed Jimmy and Tam remain the winners of The Block 2020 as they would have secured the win on the previous bid. We will now work with them and their agents to finalise a sale as soon as possible and we are confident of a positive result for this unique property."

Likewise, host Scott Cam claimed that the home will likely make even more money than it initially did at the televised auction.

"It'll sell, there's no doubt," he said.

"It might even sell for more because the market's going up."

He continued: "Obviously it's disappointing, and you know, we trusted her to have that coin. Like we trusted everybody that was in the room on the day and that every option trust every person that is around Australia. Stuff happens, and it's happened to us. It's about human nature, it's about honesty."

Earlier this week, rumours started swirling around that Cam secretly bought the house himself.

According to New Idea, the host reportedly "swooped in and saved the day".

"He and everyone involved wanted to keep it very quiet," an inside source supposedly told the publication.

It wouldn't have been the first time the host has purchased a past Block property.

In September, the 58-year-old shared that he previously bought an apartment in Port Melbourne from The Block 2016 for $2.2million.

"I loved this building so much I wanted to buy one of the apartments," he told The Herald Sun last year.

Alas, it appears the rumours are in fact, just rumours.

In yet another development, Cam's manager, Chris Giannopoulos has addressed the speculation, telling the Daily Mail that the rumours are "not to be believed" and he didn't purchase the property.

"It's pretty simple. The rumours are not true. It's unfounded," Giannopoulos told the publication.

He also explained that Cam hasn't been able to comment himself because he's away on holidays.

"He's away for a few days and is unavailable for comment."

Image: Channel Nine.

Meanwhile, Emese denied the claims put forward on A Current Affair, writing on social media: "This was absolute fiction and I'm not gonna let you run with this s**t."

According to the Daily Mail, the 28-year-old has claimed she is "working on" providing the funds to Nine.

"I’m working on fixing the issue that I was part of as I was too lenient and trusting. I have a new firm behind me and I reached out to those who are behind the technical part of settlement and we are working this out," she said.

Earlier this week, the Daily Mail alleged that Emese has previously sent "fake" bank receipts to "prove" that she had paid for things.

According to an anonymous European designer who spoke to the publication, Emese allegedly failed to pay for design work she had commissioned.

"I own a design company and she solicited us to create the branding for her new business," the designer alleged.

"I, of course, never received what she owed me and heard a billion excuses about how her bank wasn't cooperating but swore again and again that she paid me."

Although the designer received screenshots from Emese indicating that the payment had been made, the money never arrived.

Image: Channel Nine.

"I didn't waste my time with her anymore after this," the designer said.

In response, Emese told the Daily Mail that she is happy to "sit down with anyone who would be interested and refute any of the allegations and claims against me"

She also added that she is still trying to "sort this situation out" with The Block.

You can view the photos from Jimmy and Tam's The Block home below.