Tess Struber, who won The Block in 2019 alongside her husband Luke, has opened up about the relentless social media trolling she’s copped since shooting to fame on the renovation show.
Tess recently got candid on the It’s All Her podcast, revealing she not only received death threats, but some social media users took photos of her and Luke’s baby daughter Cleo and reposted them, posing as her parents.
“I’ve had someone steal photos of my little girl and use it as their photos of their little girl, and then tell me they are going to come and kill me,” Tess told podcast host Jordy Lucas.
Tess and her husband Luke pocketed $730,000 when they won The Block in 2019.
(Nine)Tess, who has suffered anxiety since she was a kid, said she even stumbled across an ultrasound photo of Cleo on a random person’s social media account.
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“[It is] shocking… someone was using one of her scan photos when she was still in the womb,” she said.
But the unnerving online abuse didn’t end there. Tess also found that people had re-uploaded photos of her dog Tilly and pretended to be her owner.
“Someone stole photos of my dog. It’s the world we live in. How much of your life do you want to share? You should be allowed to share as much as you want, but that’s just how it is these days,” she said.
Tess said online trolls have taken photos of her seven-month-old daughter Cleo and posed as her parents.
(Instagram)“It’s awful, but generally they’re just kids or people who have nothing better to do. I feel sorry for them I really do.”
Tess and Jordy then discussed their support of the Government’s proposed anti-trolling laws. If the legislation passes, social media giants would have to disclose the identities of anonymous trolls if they defame someone.
“I hope it works. I really do. But trolling, I don’t know how we are going to end it,” Tess said.
Tess said she sought help from medical professionals for her anxiety before appearing on The Block.
“I had done enough work on my mental health in the years prior to going on that I knew if you get stuck in that deep dark hole of I’m not good enough, everyone hates me, it’s going to make things worse,” she said.
“Just being a big talker and trying to do things to keep your mind clear is what got me through. I just really didn’t want to go back there.”
Tess and Luke, from Cairns, welcomed baby Cleo on April.
(Instagram)Tess and Luke were one of the most successful winners of The Block of all time, walking away with a huge $730,000 when their St Kilda terrace sold for $3.62 million.
The Cairns couple recently admitted that after their whirlwind reality TV experience, their lives went back to normal “pretty quickly”.
“We live a really nice, calm and quiet life in Cairns and every so often we get noticed by someone and it’s really lovely to be congratulated and recognised for the hard work,” they said.
“We love meeting new people and The Block has definitely made that happen for us. We have had some amazing work opportunities that have taken us to different cities and experienced things that we never would have before.”
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