She may be blunt to the point of appearing rude on My Kitchen Rules, but she wants viewers to know that she isn’t the person the hit Seven show is portraying her to be.
“Think about it, in all reality shows the strong woman with an opinion gets called a villain,” she tells news.com.au.
“But at the end of the day, I think if you are a really nasty person it will show.
“I don’t talk about other people negatively.
“I only critique the food and I’m just really honest.”
Zana quickly got off on the wrong foot with viewers by declaring that the show’s first prize of $250,000 wasn’t a lot money compared with what she can earn as a lawyer.
Things went quickly downhill from there as the twittersphere went on the attack.
User @khardingg wrote during the show: ’10 minutes in and you can already spot the b***h… Zana #MyKitchenRules’.
And @stweet_heart tweeted: ‘I can’t get over how awful Zana is, and I don’t think she can even blame the editing… she’s just a nasty person.’
In response to Zana’s dislike of the salmon main course, @colonelkickhead wrote: ‘Personally, I would have served Zana a big plate of Salmonella instead’.
Zana says she is coping with all the attention and negative criticism, thanks to the support of her husband and MKR partner Gianni.
“Thank God I do have my husband,” she adds.
“Gianni is a legend, and nothing phases him.
“He is like: ‘We know who we are, our friends know who we are, why are you worried’?
“I’m not worried, but I would like the nicer side to come through as well.”
Zana is confident that moment will come as they make friends with the other contenstants.
“I think as the show goes on, we become friends with everyone and they love us.
“I think Australia will see that too – I’m just waiting for that moment.”
Meanwhile, check out the couple’s Hayman Island wedding dance video on YouTube.