Advertisement

The Block rocked by lockdown cheating scandal

When the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown that followed hit The Block, finishing the properties was always going to be tough for the contestants but now cheating allegations have hit the show.

Speaking with TV Week, Jasmin revealed just how difficult it was to work on their houses, saying: "Obviously, I knew there were going to be some changes with things like masks and rules and hand sanitiser, but doing more meetings over Zoom or over the phone or over text was incredibly challenging."

Harry The Block
Contestants on The Block were upset to hear that Harry had been visiting his house during lockdown when they'd been doing the right thing. Photo: Nine

"Mistakes can happen with phone calls, especially things with scale. Or colours can look different. Plus, when you're ordering everything online, it becomes a bit of a logistical nightmare.

RELATED

With social distancing keeping tradies, contestants and crew at least 1.5 metres away from each other, finishing rooms became much harder.

Harry cheating The Block
Contestants were upset when they found out Harry had been visiting his site during lockdown. Photo: Nine

Then it was claimed Harry had been caught visiting his site and possibly even working on the house three times during the weeks the contestants were forced to step away from their projects.

When the other contestants confront him, Harry, whose new nickname is Dirty Harry, says he was only measuring the space so he'd be ready for when they were able to return and no one told him it wasn't allowed.

"The goal posts of The Block change every five minutes, so it's really hard to know what they are," Jasmin said, adding, "But I would have assumed that going on site when no-one else could have seems a little unfair."

Dan and Jade The Block
Dan and Jade were left fuming after finding out about Harry's visits to the building site. Photo: Nine

Tam, who appeared emotional, said on the show: "We were all in quarantine doing the right thing and for him to go on to The Block and do that, I am not cool with that."

Jimmy was also unimpressed, saying: "I think all the other contestants were a little unhappy about that. We are all in different states. We don’t have an opportunity to go in and throw a tape measure around, we can only work off the plans.

"For him to be able to go on site and measure things and make changes, to possibly advance himself in the competition, we were all dirty about that."

Daniel was just as angry, saying: "I’ll be honest, he better not ask to change a single thing with his house because it’s going to be a flat fricken no from me."

Jasmin told TV Week it had been yet another blow, after being forced to abandon her original dream design after being given a 1910s style house.

Click here to sign up to our daily newsletter to get all the latest news and hacks. Or if you have a story tip, email us at lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com.