Tanya from The Block opens up about ‘biggest cheating scandal in TV history’

In a new tell-all interview with news.com.au, the contestant embroiled in The Block’s biggest cheating scandal claims she’s been “set up”.

The Block contestant Tanya Guccione has spoken to news.com.au about what happened on-set during the explosive cheating scandal playing out on the show this week, blasting the other contestants and claiming she may have been “set up”.

During Tuesday’s episode, Tanya was seen admitting to receiving a photo of The Block’s production schedule from an unnamed tradie before passing it on to the twins who used it to plan ahead and ultimately win master bedroom week.

The production schedule that sparked a huge Block scandal.

But while hidden camera footage showing Tanya and husband Vito conspiring to get their story straight in a hushed phone call cast doubt over her confession, it now seems her story has changed again.

Tanya told news.com.au she was not the one to take the snap, but said she definitely saw the schedule on the whiteboard – as did the rest of the cast.

“Obviously the photo did end up in my possession, but it was actually in a really obvious spot,” she said.

“The conflict about this photo isn’t always ‘who took it,’ it’s about the conflict of all of us going, ‘Well, you saw it, and you had it, and you’re putting it all on me.”

Despite declaring she first saw the schedule in an anonymous text message during last night’s episode, Tanya now says she actually saw the schedule on the whiteboard herself. Picture: Channel 9

“Most of us came by [the schedule] because it was right by the toilet, it was right there on a massive board. It was right there in front of us, so I felt very singled out, like I was the only one who saw it but plenty of others used the toilet that day,” she said.

“It felt almost like it could have been set up.

“I know the story coming is that someone found the schedule in Scotty Cam’s office, and yes, it was there, but making it sound like I’m a commando rolling on the floor sneaking into his office is definitely a reality TV part of it.”

News.com.au has contacted Channel 9 for comment about Tanya’s claim the production schedule was easily viewable by the other contestants.

On Tuesday night, viewers watched as Tanya called for a “highly unusual” sit down interview with fellow contestant Luke and a producer to share “her truth” about how the photo circulated among the contestants.

It came after days of Tanya and husband Vito insisting they had nothing to do with the drama.

Vito had previously told producers he knew nothing of the circulating photo.

“I think that obviously some of the choices we made were made out of fear for being called cheaters,” Tanya told news.com.au of their initial decision to play dumb.

“I have a career, I have children, I’m a mum, I’ve got so much more to consider and think about … ‘cheater’ is a hard label to remove.

“Absolutely we cheated, and I’m sorry about that,” she conceded, before questioning this season’s ‘Fans vs Faves’ format: “But even now, when I look back at The Block I’m like, ‘Well are we really cheaters?’ If we want to talk about an advantage, [the Faves] have done it all before.”

Returning contestants Ronnie and Georgia, and Mitch and Mark have been seen erupting over the incident in a fiery clash involving twins Luke and Josh, and Tanya and Vito.

Now, Tanya says they found the saga and reaction “funny”.

“It felt like myself and the boys had committed this huge sin and we were going to be disqualified from the show,” Tanya said.

“Everybody gets so angry and we kind of thought it was almost comical to be honest.

“We thought, ‘Oh this is so funny, we’ve got this little advantage up against the All Stars,’ because, really, if you want to talk about advantage, the biggest advantage is them having done it before.”

“We’re looking at it from a funny perspective now and we were then too.”

Tanya and Luke did a sit down interview to share their side of the scandal.

When asked about the viewer backlash to the scandal, Tanya asked fans of the show to remember “it’s just a TV show, there are bigger things going on in the world”, before questioning whether having the schedule even gave them an edge against the others.

“I know that there’s a lot of diehard Block fans and they’re going to think this is so, so bad, but unless you’re an experienced renovator … like the Faves, I’m still wondering what the advantage is having that schedule,” she said.

“Honestly it was just like, ‘In three weeks … kitchen week’. Well, no sh*t Sherlock. My builder didn’t even look at it because he was like, ‘Well, big deal.’ It doesn’t mean anything. What does it mean? You’re not allowed to pre-build, you’re not allowed to pre-order, so what’s the point in even having it?”

She concluded: “All you can do is own what you did and own your part of it. But when I look at ‘The Block rule book’ I think well hey you might as well throw everything in that rule book in the bin. I can think of every couple this season that’s broken at least one. It’s a season where the rules are thrown out the door.

“And everyone had the schedule. Looking back, in hindsight, they should be thanking me,” she added with a laugh.

Originally published as Tanya from The Block opens up about ‘biggest cheating scandal in TV history’