Controversial The Block 2023 contestants Leah and Ash Milton have defended their portrayal on the show, which has caused fans to dub them “aggressive” and “nasty”.
We may only be a couple of weeks into the 19th season airing, but viewers are already picking sides — and it seems Leah and Ash’s pool of supporters is VERY small.
From the Queensland parents’ contested approach to calling out other Blockheads on site to Leah’s friendship with fellow troublemaker Kristy Beams, the backlash has been hard and fast.
Given this, Leah has told Yahoo! Lifestyle that she’s opted to stay offline while the show airs, calling the experience “bittersweet”.
“It’s not how I am as a person in my everyday life,” she shares. “I am a straight shooter, that’s what we are, but we are not nasty.
“We don’t ever try and gang up on anybody.” *Insert side-eye here*
She added that their on-screen behaviour results from The Block‘s “competitive environment”.
“The way that you act and say things is not how you are in normal life, so it’s a shame that the audience isn’t getting an accurate view of me,” Leah said,
“But hey, the other thing is I am quite loud and confident and that is polarising for our society at the moment. ‘Women should be little wallflowers’, and I’m not one of them.”
The Block 2023‘s Leah Milton addresses on-screen beef with Steph Ottavio
Leah’s growing tension with co-star Steph Ottavio has also been the topic of many fans’ conversations, with many concerned that the mum-of-three was “bullying” the young architect.
“When you’re there filming you’re in this bubble, so it’s very difficult to put yourself in other people’s shoes and look at different perspectives,” she said.
“Going into The Block, you might think you’re going to have a level head but when you’re in it and amongst it, everything is very heightened and everything becomes a very big serious deal.”
She added: “We didn’t come on The Block to just hold hands and skip to the loo. We left our three babies behind to have a serious crack and it’s a very serious competition. So emotions were high and so were our opinions.”
It comes after she and Kristy told Woman’s Day that Steph was “smart and sneaky”. Ouch!
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