The Block: The most controversial contestants to ever appear on the reality show
It wouldn't be reality TV without a whole lot of drama.
Let's face it, reality TV just wouldn't be the same without a scandal or two and these contestants certainly made it their job to rock The Block during their time on the reality series. Here's a look back at some of the show's most scandalous contestants.
Jason and Sarah
Back in Season 13, Jason and Sarah were almost kicked off the show after a tumultuous week and a dwindling budget led them to present the judges with absolutely nothing in their master bedroom - the first team ever to do so on The Block.
The controversial couple was given an ultimatum to leave the show or complete both the master bedroom and kitchen in one week - which they managed to do by working overtime.
However, they came under fire from viewers once again when they refused to let fellow contestants Hannah and Clint remove their broken spa just before the auction. After being labelled "hypocrites", they eventually relented, but not before letting everyone know they weren't happy about it.
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Omar and Oz
" If anybody can explain to me what happened there, I'd love to hear it," host Scott Cam said following Omar and Oz's massive win on The Block: Tree Change in 2022.
The best mates from Sydney sold their property for a whopping $5,666,666.66 to regular bidder Danny Wallis, who has purchased several Block properties over the years. His winning bid made the pair a hefty profit of $1,586,666.66. They also walked away with an additional $100,000 for the win, making them the highest-paid winners ever on the show.
But questions were soon raised about whether their record-breaking win was "rigged" and how well the boys knew the other bidder Adrian Portelli — also known as Mr Lambo — before the auction.
After losing out to Danny, Adrian left the auction without bidding on any other property, leading some viewers to believe Danny was a "dummy bidder" simply there to drive up the price of Omar and Oz's house.
But the boys shut the accusations down, saying they did nothing wrong. "We only knew [Adrian] from when he first visited our house... they came to the house a few times, we took them to the basketball as well. Everyone who was a potential buyer, we really gave up our time for them," they told 2DayFM's Hughesy, Ed and Erin.
Mr Lambo himself also slammed the rumours. Taking to Instagram, he said: "For everyone questioning the legitimacy of the auction, I was a genuine buyer with every intention to purchase that property. Nobody is to blame for what happened. It's an auction."
Tanya and Vito
Tanya Guccione became one of the most infamous women on Aussie TV following the explosive cheating scandal that shook Season 17 of The Block.
Although she denied it throughout the series, Tanya secretly took a photo of the show's production schedule. This gave the pair an unfair advantage as they could plan their rooms ahead of time and created one of the biggest cheating scandals the show has ever seen.
While Tanya refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing for weeks, she eventually admitted to snapping the pic, for which she copped fierce backlash from fans and fellow contestants. "I'm not a stupid woman, but I did a stupid thing," she said on the show's season finale.
Scott Cam blasted the couple for their disloyalty, saying what they did was "unAustralian".
In an Instagram post following the series, Tanya was once again apologetic for her actions. "The humiliation on national television, I can assure you is the biggest punishment of all! My children, family and friends are still so proud of our efforts and I'm so grateful to everyone who has supported us and continue to care for us on this journey," she wrote.
Jas and Luke
While every Blockhead looks for a little inspo when planning their room transformations, creating an almost identical copy isn't what the judges are after.
Jas and Luke learned this the hard way when they were called out by viewers for copying a room by interior design company The Designory. The judges only learned of the room similarities after the judging took place, prompting Shayna to call them out in a later episode.
"When you present it in a competition and say, 'I put this together', it’s like, 'Well, no you haven't! You just copied somebody else's hard work and claimed it as your own'," Shayna said.
But Jas hit back at claims the pair cheated, saying she was open about using the original room as inspiration. "I know for a fact that other contestants did the same for rooms in their houses this season and in previous seasons. None of us are designers – we're just ordinary people having a crack at something very unfamiliar. We need all the help we can get," she told TV WEEK at the time.
Kristy and Brett
Kristy and Brett Beames were labelled the 'villains' of season 19 after stirring the pot with their co-stars and sharing wild 'conspiracy theories' about production. Kristy and her co-star Leah Milton also had one of the most tumultuous friendships on the reality show, going from best friends to sworn enemies in a matter of weeks.
Throughout the competition, Kristy was accused of “bullying” the season’s eventual winner Steph Ottavio. She appeared to spread lies about the interior designer and called her “two-faced” in a piece-to-camera interview, and even admitted that she intentionally ‘sabotaged’ her build.
“Steph is very easy to get into her head. I can easily suggest something as a throwaway comment and it will eat her away and I did that,” Kristy shared on the show. “Let's not forget that this is a game and if anyone doesn't think it wasn't a game plan to be friendly at the beginning, they’re underestimating us.”
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Kristy and Brett’s divisive strategy didn’t seem to pay off, however, with the couple left devastated after scoring a profit of just $65,000 over their reserve at the auction.
"We haven't even covered half our wages for being here," she said as the auction came to an end.
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