Insiders have dashed hopes that TV tradie Scott Cam swooped in to buy Jimmy and Tam’s home on The Block after cyber security expert Emese Fajk failed to pay up.
New Idea claimed on Monday that the renovation show host had saved the day by secretly purchasing the $4.2million mansion for himself.
But sources dismissed the magazine’s claims as rubbish. ‘There is absolutely no way Scott Cam bought the house,’ one insider said.
The Palm Springs-style property in Melbourne’s affluent Brighton area remains on the market more than a month on, although it isn’t publicly listed.
Scotty to the rescue? Insiders have dismissed a rumour Scott Cam has swooped in to save the day by purchasing Jimmy and Tam’s home. Above, the trio on auction day
The sale of Jimmy and Tam’s Palm Springs-style townhouse to ‘cyber security expert’ Emese Fajk fell through in December
Mysterious cyber-security expert Emese Fajk – who claims to have worked with Apple and the United Nations – bought the home at auction for a show record of $4,256,000.
But just days before Christmas, both the 28-year-old’s settlement and deposit payments failed to go through. That’s despite Ms Fajk sending ANZ Bank screenshots to Nine producers as ‘proof’ of her purchase.
Jimmy and Tam were left in the unenviable position of having to find a buyer for a prestige home right as the summer holiday period began, a slow period for the real estate market.
A Nine Network spokesman declined to address the false rumour Cam had came to the couple’s rescue. ‘Scott and Nine will not be commenting on this.’
The iconic tradesman – the face of the show for more than a decade – has form, having previously purchased property renovated by contestants.
New Idea claimed that Cam and those involved wanted to keep his alleged purchase ‘very quiet’. But an insider rubbished that as untrue, saying ‘no way’
Last September, the media veteran revealed he’d secretly purchased an apartment in Port Melbourne that was transformed in 2016.
Cam spent $2.2million on the Port Melbourne bolthole in 2017, where he lives for four months of the year.
The apartment wasn’t auctioned off during the show and was placed on the market separately after the program aired.
‘I loved this building so much I wanted to buy one of the apartments,’ Cam told The Herald Sun.
Not his first rodeo: In September, Scott revealed he’d secretly bought an apartment in Port Melbourne that was renovated on The Block in 2016. Above with the cast of that season
The failed sale of Jimmy and Tam’s home has devastated the Queensland couple who even watched the finale over celebratory drinks with Ms Fajk.
The renovators choked back tears as they told A Current Affair how they’d been left blindsided by the strange turn of events.
‘Here we are now not knowing what’s going to happen,’ Jimmy said.
‘It’s something no one ever saw coming, no one ever expected, but it’s something we now have to deal with.’
What happened? Ms Fajk, 28, (centre) produced screenshots to ‘prove’ she had paid for the property… but the funds haven’t arrived more than a month later
Ms Fajk’s contract is now void. Her funds never reached Nine’s bank account.
She has blamed an unnamed conveyancer, claiming she was ‘thrown under the bus’.
‘I didn’t get forms in time that I needed to sign,’ she claimed.
‘I had to find crucial information on my own, even though I paid someone else to make sure there are no hiccups.’
World traveller: Ms Fajk, who also goes by the last name Fayk, was born in Romania and previously lived in New York City, before relocating to Australia a year ago
Ms Fajk has rejected claims she sent doctored screenshots of bank transfers to an ex-boyfriend in the past.
She did not directly respond to questions about separate allegations she sent fake screenshots to a former classmate.
‘I’m more then happy to sit down with anyone who would be interested and refute any of the allegations and claims against me,’ she said.
Ms Fajk narrowly outbid Melbourne IT entrepreneur Danny Wallis to win the property. But Mr Wallis, who bought three homes at this year’s auctions, has kept mum about his thoughts since the purchase failed.