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Queensland sisters Talia and Ebony are victims of childhood cruelty.
As adults, they found the courage to tell police what happened to them – only to then see the woman who hurt them, their mother, on a reality television show alongside their stepfather.
Claudean Uamaki-Mu and her husband, Anthony Mu, were contestants on Season 13 of My Kitchen Rules.
They were charged with serious historic child abuse before the show aired, but Channel Seven continued to feature the couple throughout the series. Most of the charges were later dropped.
“Watching the two hosts walk up the stairs that I’d been pushed down was the hardest and most gut-wrenching thing,” said Talia, Claudean’s eldest daughter.
Talia and Ebony have chosen to waive their right to anonymity for the first time on A Current Affair, speaking out to show other survivors of childhood cruelty they’re not alone.
Ebony was diagnosed with the degenerative eye condition retinitis pigmentosa at the age of two, and is legally blind.
She said she was dependent on the very person she was absolutely terrified of, and recalled her mother beating her with the cane she used to walk.
“Being beaten with my own cane – the thing that is supposed to give me independence – was such a humiliating thing as a person with a disability,” Ebony said.
“It’s hard enough having to live life with a barrier that I can’t control, but to not have adequate support around me to be able to navigate that was terribly lonely.”
Growing up in a busy Brisbane home, the sisters said they protected each other throughout constant chaos. Talia wanted nothing more than her mother’s love, but was instead petrified of her.
“She would always pull my hair … until my knees would buckle out,” Talia said.
“She’d kick me in the stomach. She told me that she hated me and she wished I was never born, and she spat in my face.
“People at school saw bruises on me. In 45-degree summer heat, I used to wear a jumper and stockings to school so I could hide bruises.”
Over the past three years, the sisters have watched their stories unfold in the media.
Anthony Mu was found not guilty of his charges, but earlier this year, Claudean pleaded guilty to six counts of common assault relating to their treatment.
It was only recently that her most serious charges were dealt with.
Claudean initially faced dozens of historical charges in the District Court, including 12 counts of rape, but police prosecutors offered her a plea deal.
Those charges were dropped and she pleaded guilty to two counts of cruelty to a child under 16.
She was sentenced to two years’ jail, but was released on immediate parole.
“That has really affected me,” Talia said.
“We don’t call [the] shots. When it’s a criminal case, you don’t hire your own lawyers, you’re at the mercy of the crown. We both wanted to go to trial and continue.”
Claudean’s defence lawyer told the court her behaviour towards Talia and Ebony was reflective of how her own mother had treated her.
Ebony, a parent herself, said it was unnecessary and irresponsible for Claudean to blame her behaviour on her upbringing.
“I know the difficulties of not only parenting, but parenting with a disability, but I never let that decide how I would treat my children,” she said.
“It doesn’t matter what heinous, horrible things you’ve been through. It doesn’t justify how you treat children. If you are going to have children, those children deserve to be kept safe.”
Claudean has spent the past few years defending herself on social media.
“I’m serving my prison sentence out in the community, charged for disciplining my children,” she said in one video. “It’s called child cruelty these days.”
In another video, the mother said: “I was maybe advised or under pressure or felt like I didn’t know what to do.
“Yes, I did smack my children in the ’90s with a wooden spoon. I’m not going to lie about that. I yelled … oh my God, did I yell. I yelled like a bloody banshee.”
Talia said a wooden spoon would have been a welcome break. “Usually it was metal.”
The sisters do not consider Claudean their mother any more – just someone who gave birth to them.
“A mother is your foundation … the person you go to when you go through anything hard or when you want to celebrate something, someone that supports you and loves you, no matter what,” Talia said.
“I have never experienced that from her.”
Ebony added: “I think I’ve come to that realisation where I don’t need to forgive her. That’s for her to do with herself.
“I need to forgive myself for ever feeling like I deserved that treatment.”
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