Everyone remembers The Block season of 2021. Not for the houses, not for the contestants and not for the amazing design or architecture – they remember it for the cheating scandal.
The usually tame renovation competition saw a cheating scandal dominate the show over two years ago and since then the producers have brought in several new changes to minimise the chance of any similar drama ever re-occurring.
However, it’s only week one on The Block 2023 and a new cheating scandal is already brewing.
Week one saw New South Wales team and high school sweethearts, Steph and Gian have a rough go of things.
Sure, the beginning of The Block is always challenging, but this team in particular just couldn’t get their head around things.
Even with Steph’s experience as an architect, the duo came across problem after problem. Room plans read wrong, floor levels incorrect, slow tradies and waterproof Wednesday missed – the team were struggling to keep up.
By the end of the week, Steph called her dad to help and rumours quickly emerged that the visit was not by the book.
“He knew all the problems we were having with the builder and was like ‘I am coming to help,'” explained Steph. “It’s like the gods were aligned this week for my dad to be in town because this was a really hard week and having someone you trust there and having someone who is qualified… it’s just the perfect person.”
Steph’s dad, who is a builder, stopped by and quickly got stuck into helping his daughter get back on track and complete their guest bathroom and his presence was not unotinced by fellow contestants.
Both Kristy and Leah kept a close eye on Steph’s dad and his time spent at their house. Although they initially thought he was just visiting, teams quickly spotted him measuring in the bathroom and looking like he was doing work.
The problem? It’s basically against the rules. Whilst her dad is a certified builder and there are no rules about family members working for you, the contract all contestants signed on The Block clearly states that anyone working on site must be paid minimum rates and complete an induction process.
Some teams have already jumped to the conclusion that Steph and her dad have not gone through this process and organised a body corporate to find out once and for all if Steph and Gian broke the rules.
Even if they did – the presence of Steph’s dad didn’t help them win any extra points! The New South Wales team did complete their room but scored the lowest out of the five teams. Whilst the judges enjoyed parts of the room, they couldn’t overlook the poor workmanship and incomplete finishes and disliked the wooden beams that were a feature point of the ceilings.
“We thought a body corporate [meeting] was a good space to get everyone together and lay down the rules so no one gets confused,” explained Leah.
After Leah and Ash called the snap meeting, they revealed they had two main questions: Was Steph’s dad inducted and was he paid?
“I don’t want it to happen again next week as I don’t think it was fair,” explained Ash, before Steph began explaining her side.
“As you know we just lost our builder…I didn’t realise I was bending the rules,” she revealed before confirming that her dad would be getting paid, but he never went through the induction process.
Although Steph and Gian agreed that they had made a mistake, they believed Leah and Ash should have spoken to them privately and immediately, not waiting over a day to call the meeting.
The responses from other teams was mixed. Whilst some teams believed that it was just an honest mistake, others disagreed and continued to berate Steph and Gian for their “cheating,” and the body corporate quickly became tense.
“You’re not letting anyone else explain,” Kyle told Leah, before adding in the interviews that “she spoke over everybody.”
Interested in learning more about The Block? Check out these articles
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