The Block: Tanya Guccione tells the full story behind the cheating scandal

Tanya Guccione has spoken out about her 'villainous' portrayal after being at the centre of the biggest cheating scandal in The Block's 17-year history.

The makeup artist, 39, became public enemy number one after an 'anonymous tradie' sent her a photo of the show's production schedule, giving her and husband Vito - plus the Packham twins - an unfair advantage over their rivals.

While both teams had two points deducted from their basement challenge, the scandal continues to cause tension on the building site - with Ronnie and Georgia Caceres in particular unwilling to forgive Tanya.

But speaking to Daily Mail Australia this week, Tanya was adamant that more people were involved in the scandal - before making bombshell claims about what really happened behind the scenes at Bronte Court.

'There's no doubt I lit the match. But that fire kept a lot of people warm, let me tell you,' the mother of two said in her most uncensored interview to date.

'It's hard to take the full brunt of it when you know there were other willing participants, to be honest.' 

Tanya said she was wary of speaking further about the incident after being threatened with a defamation lawsuit from one of her co-stars.

'I have to be completely honest, I was afraid many times,' she said. 

'There was chitter chatter of, "We'll sue for defamation if you say this or do that" 

'I thought the best thing for me to do moving forward was to say, "I take full responsibility, and I'm sorry".'

While she wouldn't reveal the names of those who allegedly made the threats, Tanya confirmed it was both a 'builder and a contestant'.

'It's fair,' she added. 

'It can damage your character, it can damage your business. It's damaged ours. People who don't know us have questioned our integrity, so I get it.

'They act out of fear, and everybody was just trying to protect themselves - including myself, as I was afraid of what was to come.'

Tanya and rival contestant Luke Packham had confessed to producers on the show to having received a photo of the production schedule from an 'anonymous tradie' - but she maintains her husband Vito had nothing to do with it.

Anyone who saw the photo would have the advantage of being able to plan their specifications weeks in advance, or pre-order something for a specific room. 

Interestingly, Tanya said she had since spoken to the tradie who sent her the image - but insisted she'll never reveal his identity.

'My tradie who sent me the photo is a good friend of mine,' she said.

'He's texted me throughout the season going, "Do I need to speak to somebody? Do I need to be the one to come forward and say, this was actually something that really happened?"

'I said, "no, not at all. I'm not going to put your business in that position".' 

Following the cheating scandal, Tanya has been portrayed as the show's main 'villain' - which is something she never thought would happen.

'I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would get the title of a villain,' she said.

'I never applied with that in mind, and my mum and everyone who knows me just laughs.

'I never thought that would be me - ever. It's hard to digest that could be the way that people are perceiving me. We watch it and think, "How did this happen?"'

However, Tanya did acknowledge she would have perceived her actions with suspicion if she were a viewer - especially after seeing hidden-camera footage which showed her and Vito appearing to conspire before she confessed to producers.

In the footage, Tanya was heard saying: 'I'm going to tell the camera what happened about the tradie sending me the photo. It was a number I didn't know, and I deleted it straight away. You've got to always have the same consistent story...'

Speaking about the footage, she told Daily Mail Australia: 'They've taken one little snippet and used that like I was scheming and scamming my way through.

'I look so, so dodgy. It's no secret that reality TV portrays anything but reality, but [viewers] also look at these reality stars and think the edited version is gospel.

'We knew there were going to be some bad days coming, but we also thought they would show all facets of why some of our reactions are the way they are.

'I'm sitting on the couch watching myself as a viewer, and I look at it and think: I wouldn't like me either. Look at this incompetent, cheating cow. Why is she wondering why people don't want to be friends with her?'

While the Gucciones and the Packhams were each slapped with

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