Star of the latest season of The Block, Tanya Guccione, is no stranger to controversy, having been embroiled in a cheating scandal that was revealed during the show’s finale. But it turns out she’s no stranger to reality television, either – The Block wasn’t her first time on the small screen.
Speaking to Kyle and Jackie O on Tuesday morning, Tanya revealed she was a contestant on the second season of Popstars back in 2001 (the season that produced short-lived group Scandal’Us). Jackie O was a judge on the show, and Kyle Sandilands also made a brief appearance during the season.
Of her time on the show, Tanya said, “I was 19 … I remember you guys from all the way back then. You were awesome then, and awesome now.”
Then 19-year-old Tanya made it through the initial cattle call audition, and was then selected as one of the 30 finalists to travel to the Gold Coast for the final competition to see who would make it into the band.
Tanya told Kyle and Jackie O that she swore she’d never do reality TV after her brief stint on Popstars, and watching her final episode, it’s easy to understand why. After being called into a meeting with the judges, Tanya was asked how she thought she’d performed that day.
She said, “I think I did pretty well. I’m actually really proud of myself right now, I’m not going to hold that back.” Judge Jason Coleman responded, “Well, good on you. I’m glad that you’re proud of yourself, because we’re going to let you go.” Ouch.
Tanya dealt with a tonne of backlash after admitting that she was responsible for The Block’s season-long cheating scandal in last week’s final episode, but winners Mitch and Mark threw their support behind her, urging fans to give her a chance. The couple wrote, “Tanya, the purple headed girl & the face of the big lie of The Block. She made a mistake. Have you ever made a mistake & tried to cover it up, it gained momentum and before you knew, there was no way out, you’d dug such a big hole you couldn’t see any way out – image doing this on the biggest show on Australian television…
“This is what happened to Tanya, we know her, she’s good, but she stuffed up, we have too made mistakes, you all saw me (Mitch) with my inside head thoughts that I blurted out. If you’ve ever made errors in judgment in your life that has embarrassed you, please consider what Tanya has gone thru (sic) and is dealing with before you judge her, she deserves a chance – we know this is difficult and we’ve had time to talk with Tanya and support her to move forward, please join us and give Tanya a chance, we all deserve it.”
Image: Nine/Seven
This article first appeared on Over60.