The Block’s Mimi Belperio has posted a revealing social media statement which details some of the negativity she has been receiving online.
Taking to Instagram, Mimi described her experience on and after the show as “heavily flawed” and said she wants to remind people that “everybody makes mistakes”.
“Perfect scores are hard to come by on the block and to have received three 10s from the judges last night was surreal. But “perfect” would be the last word I’d use to describe my experience on and after the show.”
Mimi has been at the centre of a what’s been dubbed “flirtgate” which has seen their fellow contestants Kylie and Brad leave the show following flirtatious comments between Mimi and Brad.
“I think that it’s important to remind ourselves, that not one single person in this world is perfect and that we all make mistakes,” Mimi’s post read.
The Block contestant, who took part in the show with husband Kristian, also revealed she has received negative comments on social media.
“I’ll admit, as much as I try to avoid hurtful and hateful comments, I’ll read a few and it upsets me but I guess that’s the aim of the author.
“I found myself deleting all of the bad comments because I didn’t want anyone, including myself, to see them.”
The flirtgate scandal came to a head on a recent episode. After finding out that her fellow contestant Kylie had dramatically left the show, Mimi seemed as confused as the rest of her fellow contestants.
The baristas at McCafe let Mimi revealed that House 4 was now left one team member down, which led to the Adelaide local acting confused. However, later in the day it was revealed that Courtney had shared the sad update with her via text the night before.
With viewers stumped over Mimi’s weird behaviour, Scotty Cam made a surprise visit to Kristian and Mimi, where he wanted to make sure they were “OK” with what had happened.
After assuring the long-time show host that she felt “comfortable” in the situation, which has been dubbed ‘flirtgate’ by fans and media alike, Mimi explained that she, Brad, and Kylie had just been “hanging out, drinking, chatting” until Kylie went to sleep on the deck next to them, and she and Brad continued the evening.
“I just stayed chatting and maybe there were some comments that were made that came across as flirty. [But] I personally felt comfortable in that situation.”
Kylie later revealed that one of the inappropriate comments Brad made to Mimi was that he would “subscribe to her OnlyFans” if she had an account.
“It’s unfortunate that Kylie overhead, which led to her leaving which was not anyone’s intention,” Mimi added, her husband Kristian quickly rushing to her defense.
The update comes mere weeks after fellow contestants Maddy and Charlotte alluded to the drama in a live radio interview.
Speaking with HIT WA’s Allan & Carly, the Sydney sisters confirmed “all will get revealed” in upcoming episodes of the show.
Despite being pressed for more information, Maddy and Charlotte remained tight-lipped about the situation.
“We don’t want to speak on it specifically because it’s people’s real lives at stake, and we weren’t obviously there, so we don’t know full details,” Maddy shared.
“But I think, yeah, look, things hap-something happened. But we’re probably not the right people to speak on it.”
Charlotte jokingly added that she and Maddy “were in bed too early” to catch the full extent of the drama for themselves.
Speaking with So Dramatic! at the time, an insider source revealed that after a drunken cast night out, Brad and Mimi did something that “crossed a line” in Kylie’s eyes – resulting in her dramatically quitting the show.
“They weren’t doing anything physical. They were flirting and being a little too friendly. But the fact everyone was drunk didn’t help the situation,” they shared with the publication.
It is alleged that Kristian “didn’t have an issue” with the situation as Mimi “didn’t do anything wrong”.
And now these claims have been backed up, Kristian telling producers when asked about the situation that his wife “shouldn’t have any regrets about going out and having a good time.”
“It’s coming to that time when we’re going to have to say goodbye, so she wants to make the most of the beautiful people and friends that we’ve met.”
“If Mimi didn’t feel uncomfortable about what was said, I’ve got no reason to.”
“You literally haven’t done anything wrong, you were just sitting there having a conversation. It’s not like you were flirting back,” he added to his wife.
Because of all the drama, Kylie reportedly will follow in the footsteps of Jesse and Paige and quit the show, leaving her and Brad’s communal space unfinished.
But despite what Maddy and Charlotte have hinted at, given how “messy” the situation is, Channel Nine may opt not to show it onscreen.
“They have chosen a suitable narrative that will finish Kylie and Brad’s time on the show, and that is all Nine wants their viewers to believe,” an insider source shared with our sister publication Woman’s Day.
“Usually if it’s on camera and you were miked – no matter how bad the contestants look – Nine will show it, but that won’t be the case with this year’s debacle,” they added.
It remains to be seen if Kylie and Brad will present a united front come auction day, which will take place on Saturday, November 9.
