Cheating & False Accusations: The Biggest Scandals On The Block 2023

When The Block hits our TV screens each year, we're guaranteed three things: lots of home renovation inspiration, plenty of laughs and of course, drama.

This season on The Block, which has seen five teams renovating houses on Charming Street in Melbourne's Hampton East, is no exception.

From tension-filled body corporate meetings to false accusations, here are the biggest scandals on The Block 2023 so far.

NSW couple Steph and Gian got off to a rocky start on this season of The Block.

During the first week, they struggled to keep up with the other teams as their main builder wasn't on-site enough, there was a debacle over a drain, and they missed the all-important Waterproof Wednesday.

After the first week, the couple decided to part ways with their original builder and find a new one.

"I don't think he really appreciated how much involvement he would need to have in this because he had never done The Block. And, quite quickly, there was a bit of a reality check where he was like, 'Oh my God, this is a lot and I can't do it. I can't give them what they need'," Gian told Nine.com.au.

"That's why we obviously, you know, parted ways with him early on, because we didn't want our experience to be not enjoyed because of the experience that we had with our builder."

Although parting ways with their builder meant the couple had to find another builder at short notice, Gian said site foremen Keith and Dan were glad they "made the call".

"Keith and Dan were saying, 'I'm glad that you made the call because there are so many other contestants in the past that should have done this and didn't, and their experience was hindered', and that's why we were like, 'Let's not think twice, let's do it'," he explained.

After their disastrous first week on The Block, Steph called her dad, who is a qualified builder, to give her a hand.

“He knew all the problems we were having with the builder and was like, 'I am coming to help'," Steph explained. “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.”

While at the Charming Street house, Steph's dad helped her get back on track to completing her guest bathroom.

However, the other contestants noticed Steph's dad's presence on the worksite and questioned whether it was allowed under the show's rules. They later organised a meeting of the body corporate to get to the bottom of the matter.

"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 at the meeting.

The other contestants then asked Steph whether her father had been inducted onto the worksite and whether he had been paid.

"I don't want it to happen again next week as I don't think it was fair," Ash explained.

Steph explained to the group that she had brought her dad in to help but didn't realise she was "bending the rules".

While Steph and Gian agreed they had made a mistake,  they believed Leah and Ash should have spoken to them privately, rather than waiting a day to call a public meeting.

Tensions continued to rise in the meeting as the other contestants were split as to whether Steph and Gian had broken the rules.

Kristy was caught red-handed lying about her fellow contestant, Steph.

During guest bedroom week, the two contestants had a brief conversation about a bedhead Steph had purchased and Kristy liked the look of.

After the conversation, Kristy told her fellow contestants that Steph refused to tell her where she got the bedhead from and how much she paid for it.

"Steph wouldn't tell me where she got it from or how much it was," she told Leah. "She wouldn't give up anything!"

"Why is it a secret what she paid for it?" replied Leah, who later shared in her confessional, "She wouldn't tell her!" 

In her own confessional, Kristy suggested there were two different sides to Steph.

"I would suggest that there are two different versions of Steph: one's on camera and one's off camera, and it's very different conversations you're having with both points," she said.

However, the whole exchange was caught on camera and in the clip, Steph clearly tells Kristy exactly where she got the bedhead from and how much she paid for it.

“That green bed in your challenge room, where did you get it from?” Kristy asks in the clip, to which Steph responds, “RJ Living”.

“RJ Living. And how much did you pay for it?” Kristy continues, and Steph replies, “I think it was about $700.”

Awkward.

During Master Bedroom and Walk-In Robe week, Kristy admitted that her friendship with Steph is 'fake' and that she was 'sabotaging' her work.

In their piece to camera, Kristy's husband Brett said Steph would be 'stupid' if she believed otherwise. "You're clearly messing with her," he added.

Earlier in the week, Kristy had convinced Steph and Gian to make some major changes to their ceiling, by adding extra beams, which ended up eating up a lot of their time and energy.

“So, Steph is very easy to get into her head. I can easily suggest something as a throwaway comment and it will eat her away,” Kristy boasted to the camera.

Master Bedroom and Walk-In Robe week also saw Victorian sisters Eliza and Liberty caught 'bribing' the builders on the worksite after they broke the rules.

The sisters were forced to find a 'reward' for the show's builders after they failed to follow regulations and had their room waterproofed without getting an official inspection first.

After the builders found out, Eliza and Liberty were faced with the prospect of ripping up their entire room and starting from scratch.

However, Foreman Keith later chose to turn a blind eye after they bought the builders a case of beer and a bottle of Kahlua.

Kristy later found out about the incident and said it was another example of 'double standards' on the show.

“There are double standards a lot and it kind of does feel like the girls are getting a bit of an extra hand,” she said.

The week of non-stop drama also saw married couple Kristy and Brett accuse sisters Eliza and Liberty of getting special treatment by the show's producers.

“Liberty and Eliza get gifted everything, every week. I don’t know how they’ve blown out their budget because they get given money every single day,” Kristy said during last Monday's episode.

“They get everything handed to them on a silver platter, ‘You woke up this morning! Here’s $500.’ You know what? We’ll get a handout every fucking day of the week, then we’ll be sweet.”

A producer then stepped in and reassured the couple there was no favouritism between the teams.

“I don’t need reassurance. If this is how we feel then this is how we feel,” Brett replied.

Later in the week, Eliza called into Hit Breakfast with Maz and Matty to tell her side of the story.

“This actually really annoyed us,” she said. 

“We all had a level playing field when we started but I’m going to be honest with you, when you’re not treating people with respect, when trades don’t want to work with you, when you’re making crew cry, it really tends to flick people away," she continued.

“[The special treatment allegations] really upset us, our integrity being questioned because we were just kind and respectful people. And if you want to call that a game plan that we were being ourselves and being nice and pleasant to be around it just shows that when you give kindness you just get kindness in return.”

Remember to keep checking back here as we continue updating what we know about The Block 2023's biggest scandals.

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