Businesswoman and reality TV star Melanie Viljoen and her husband Peet Viljoen claim to be the founders of the Tammy Taylor South Africa franchise. Melanie is on The Real Housewives of Pretoria and now Real Housewives: The Ultimate Girls Trip SA. The couple was exposed on Carte Blanche for allegedly scamming franchisees. The battle seems to be far from over, as Tammy Taylor in America claims the couple stole her identity.

EXPOSED!

In 2022, Carte Blanche blew the lid on Melanie and her husband Peet Viljoen's franchising business after several women paid R345 500 to be franchisees but that never materialised. The people have since been refunded, according to reports. Melanie recently revealed that she and her husband "secured a victory in appeal" against Carte Blanche and their investigative journalist Catherine 'Kate' Innes Barry, whom they accuse of trespassing and harassing her during the shoot of the investigation. "The regional magistrate made a ruling that all the accusations against my husband were unconstitutional, unlawful, and biased. This is a victory for me because I have suffered tremendously because of this fake news that have been going on for about 15 years," Melanie reiterated on The Ultimate Girls Trip SA.

STOLEN!

The originator, CEO and founder of Tammy Taylor Nails from the USA, exposed Melanie and her husband saying they have stolen her identity and are claiming her business idea. "I am the founder and CEO of Tammy Taylor Nails since 1983. They are illegally using my name to sell franchises. They are counterfeiting and selling my products," Tammy said. Tammy went on to say the couple forged her signature on illegal documents. "They are also being deceptive in using my name, logos, trademarks, and copyrights on all their social media platforms. I have been threatened and harassed and now I'm being stalked by Melanie and Piet Viljoen. I will not be a victim of their abuse anymore." Piet said there was no trademark infringement on their side as they had redesigned the logo and the name and used the same manufacturing company as Tammy Taylor in the US.

HER SIDE

Responding to the accusations, Melanie said that Tammy is the scam. "I am done with the lies," Melanie said. "When we planned our business in South Africa, it involved our own salon and the use of the Tammy Taylor products. Tammy has always assured us that she made her own products in her own lab, but despite our request to visit the lab, Tammy consistently brushed them aside," Melanie said. "While Piet started noticing the warning signs, I believed that Tammy would honour the terms of our contract." Melanie said she discovered Tammy did not have her own lab as she claimed and operated in a tiny warehouse and products were purchased and stored and distributed as her own. "This is not the first time we were scammed by Tammy." She said during lockdown, she and Piet provided face masks for frontline workers. "We decided to give Tammy some of these masks. We later found out that she sold the masks to Billi Eilish, who gifted them to frontline workers."