May 7, 2026 • 37 mins
Rumours are swirling that the Hembrow sisters’ supplement brand is closing down. Abbie Chatfield’s tearful plea to the media. The message behind Chloe Szep's unprecedented singing video... AND Victoria Devine's return to botox.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello, and welcome to Outspoken. It's your dose of the
hottest influencer and pop culture news twice a week. I'm
Kate Trba, I'm Amy Torber, and I'm Sophie Torba and
coming up on today's show, Rumors are swirling that the
Hambro Sister's Supplements brand is closing down. Abby Chatfield's tearful
plea to the media, and Victoria Devine documents her return
(00:26):
to Botox, but first. Chloe Zepp has all but confirmed
her breakup with Mitch Orville. Earlier this week, she posed
for amra selfie with her ringless left hand deliberately on display.
If that wasn't enough, she also shared an unprecedented video
of her singing Yeah. This was really surprising because over
the last six or seven years, there's been whispers that
(00:47):
she has this amazing singing voice. Back in twenty nineteen,
there was actually speculation that she used to sing the
theme song of her YouTube channel. It was actually someone
else that sings it, and she's always really shied away
from showing her voice online. It was always Mitch who
would post these random snippets of her singing, but this
time it was Chloe herself. Posting it. Let's throw to
some of her singing. We chase out to me? Really hi, hell,
(01:19):
it would be.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Chelly break and between her let us me.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Why do I always find it so awkward when people
post these phone videos of themselves singing and they're almost
acting like the camera isn't there, but they're like really
going for it. It's a bit like content creator Millie Ford.
She posts all of those hilarious comedy videos. Recently she's
been posting more of herself singing, and I think a
few years ago she even dropped this single. But it's
so weird because I'm used to going to her page
(01:50):
to see comedy content and then I'm like, wait, is
this taking the piss or? Is this actually her legitimately
singing like she's good as well?
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (01:57):
I totally get what you mean when you're not expecting
it from some and Chloe'szepp has been pretty quiet on
social media. I mean the start of this year we
spoke about how she's having a bit of a trad
wife resurgence, but she hasn't seemed very comfortable to be
in front of the camera. But she held herself together
really well to perform this song. It felt like she
purposely put this out to make a statement. So the
(02:18):
song in question is a worship song called Founder Love
by Seven Hills Worship, and the song is about the
discovery of God's consistent love, particularly for those feeling broken, lost,
or in a challenging season. So it seems like it
sums up where Chloe's EPP is now. Is this the
modern day Pinterest breakup quote? Are we now going to
see influences eluding that something's going on by them breaking
(02:41):
into song? I mean, I hope so, because it's a
lot more entertaining, particularly if they have got good voices.
I mean it rivals miming in your car to a song.
I think that is the modern day Pinterest quote to me.
As for Mitch, he is posting as normal. He's sharing
about his adventures with his two sons. At the moment,
he hasn't really thrown any shade Chloe's way. As women,
(03:01):
gut health is so important, so Darthaya having a gut
health drink in our selfish range was literally so important
to us. Rumors are swelling that the Hembro Sisters supplement
brand is closing down. It was only a year ago
that the social media moguls launched Selfish Subs. However, there
are some troubling signs emerging already, and what adds even
(03:24):
more fuel to this fire is the latest speculation comes
fairly fresh off the back of Tammy Hembro shutting down
her active wear label Saski. So Tammy announced the closure
to her followers in December last year, but she didn't
give a single reason as to why it was closing.
Shortly after that, a photo of an eviction notice on
the front of Saski's collection office went viral. At the time,
(03:47):
Tammy denied. She owed rent, I actually don't know how
this active wear brand has been operating for so long.
I have never come across anyone in the wild wearing it. Yeah.
I just assumed maybe it was popular in Queensland or
maybe in the US, because Tammy has a big following
over there, but clearly it wasn't that popular. Now it's
(04:07):
interesting because some eagle eyed followers think they've spotted some
signs that Selfish SUPs is following a similar demise as Saski. So,
just like what happened with Saski, Selfish SUPs account has
suddenly stopped posting content despite previously posting almost daily, so
the last time the account posted was on the eleventh
of December. Now that is very fishy. Considering the brand
(04:30):
celebrated its first birthday on the twenty second of April,
which also happens to be one of the co founders,
Tammy Hembro's birthday, you would think that they would have
had some type of celebratory campaign shared, or at the
very least a post signifying that they had turned one.
I mean, if that wasn't a big enough red flag.
Tammy and Emily have both also recently removed Selfish SUPs
(04:52):
from their bios. However, it is now back in Tammy's
bio since fans pointed out online that it was missing.
Like when people would call out the fact that she
had unfollowed her husband and then she was back following
him again. I just don't get why she continuously does
stuff like that. It's just like these little easter eggs
for people to find and it's like, well, do you
want people to find out this information until you put
(05:13):
something out publicly. I can't say I'm shocked that this
brand potentially might be closing down, because who in their
right mind thought it was a good idea to call
this supplement brand selfish in the first place, Like I
wouldn't want to walk in and be like, yes, I'll
have some selfish supplement because I'm just so vain and selfish,
Like that's the how the branding came across to me. Also,
not to mention the fact that all of the hats
(05:34):
they were passing out looked a bit like Maga hats
because the colors were like red and white. It's also
a very oversaturated market. I know that Tammy has made
a name for herself in the fitness space, but I
think that there are a couple of question marks developing
over how healthy her lifestyle actually is. And I think
what's made this whole speculation even more interesting is the
(05:56):
structure of this business because from the get go it
was promoted as Tammy, Emily and Amy Hembrow's brand, so
they are the faces of the business and they're listed
as the founders. However, it turns out that there is
actually a secret joint partner. So after doing some digging,
I discovered that Selfish Subs isn't just run by the Hembros.
(06:16):
So on the back of its packaging it lists an
entity called CBG times hem Ventures. Now, as the name suggests,
hem Ventures represents the Hembro sisters, while CBG appears to
be represented by a key figure behind one of Australia's
biggest supplement brands. So his name is Kieran Lahy and
he is the CEO of supplement brand Veda Glow that
(06:38):
was founded by his wife Anna. Now he is also
the CEO of a company called Type B as well
as the co founder of Lumina Life Science. And it's
interesting because it seems like the Hembros and Kieran have
gone out of their way to conceal the partnership, but
his name is actually listed as the director and a
person of significant control on corporate records linked to Selfish SUPs.
(07:00):
I mean it makes sense because when Selfish Subs first launched,
it was rolled out nationally in Chemists warehouse from day dot.
I mean you need to have connections for that sort
of thing to happen. Yeah, I mean, I know the
Hembros are big names in the social media space, but
this sort of luxury is only usually afforded to a
company with a pre existing commercial partnership. I mean, I
remember at the time people were like hang on is
(07:21):
this brand owned by Chemists Warehouse, but obviously it's not.
This connection perfectly explains why this happened. Not to mention
why their supplement formulations are standardized, because a lot of
people have been talking about the ingredients in them, and
they are a standardized formulization. I also thought their marketing
campaign was rolled out pretty professionally. I mean, I know
you guys joked about I mean, I know you guys
(07:42):
said that you didn't like the name of the brand,
and also we mentioned the Maga hats. But other than that,
they have been very spot on with their promotion. They've
been posting consistently on social media. They've had a few
pop ups here and there. They've also had consistent blogging
on their website, which to me shows that they're getting
into seolo looking actually stopped in January as well. To me,
it's apparent that this business is slowly closing down. Clearly,
(08:06):
the higher ups have seen that it's not lucrative and
it's not worth continuing with it, so they've pulled the
money on all of the marketing and the social media.
They don't want to invest any more in it, and
potentially this is why Emily and Tammy have removed Selfish
Ups from their bio because they're pissed off that the
company is pulling the pin on it and saying nap,
that's it. I mean, I'm not actually sure that they're
(08:28):
pulling the pin necessarily, because this fresh information about the
new director makes a sudden shut down a bit less likely,
considering that there is someone there that has serious business
expertise behind it. In saying that though, operators like Kieran
are very strategic and they pivot fast, so potentially it
could be a case of cutting and underperforming brand, or
(08:50):
even maybe rebranding it and repositioning it quickly, so we
could potentially see some other influences popping up as the
faces of Selfish subs. I mean, I don't think that
that would be the case. I think that they would
either try and relaunch it with reformulated products or try
and reposition themselves in the market. Another interesting thing people
have pointed out is the fact that Selfish SUPs are
(09:11):
currently half price and they always seem to be on
sale at Chemists Warehouse. I'm also a little bit skeptical
about that, considering it's very common with Chemists warehouse's pricing behavior,
like they always have things half priced. I think if
stock starts disappearing from the shelves, we'll know it is
definitely shutting down. I just wonder how invested all of
the Hembro sisters are in selfish SUPs because when the
(09:34):
brand first launched, they were doing a tour around some
of the cities and Tammy would often not be in
attendance or she'd come later. It seemed quite clear that
she didn't really care about it, and also there wasn't
much fanfare, like I think people expecting hordes of their
followers to turn up, but when you saw photos of it,
there was just like a handful of people. I think
this is what makes this whole thing so awkward, because
(09:56):
you've got Saski shutting down because obviously it wasn't generating
enough sales. Now, only a year into the supplement brand,
it seems like it may be shutting down again because
there's not that public support, which is so interesting when
you consider that Tammy Hembro has you know, seventeen million
followers on Instagram. Her sisters also have a lot of followers.
(10:17):
Is it a case that they're not as influential as
we thought, or is this a trend for influencer brands?
Are people just not interested in buying influencer brands anymore?
As someone who follows Tammy Hembro, I'm following her for
the drama. I'm not following her to purchase her clothes,
to buy supplements with their name on it. And I
think a lot of people are in the same boat.
(10:37):
We're here for the drama, We're not here to buy.
I mean, I'm in that same boat. But I do
think that this plays into a larger trend that people
no longer want to support influencer brands and not interested
in them. I mean, as you said Sophie earlier, the
supplement space is so oversaturated. You've got the beauty space
that is oversaturated, and those are usually the markets that
influencers tap into. And I think they're just competing against
(10:59):
too many people because the influencer market is also oversaturated.
I think that we're also just savvy consumers. Now we
can tell when influencers have just slapped their name on
a brand that they haven't really had much to do with.
In saying all of that, there are actually influencer brands
doing really well, think Tony May by Laura Burn, one
Mile by Sammy Robinson, Fate by Britt Saunders. And the
(11:22):
reason they're doing well is because they stand alone. They
don't need the influencers backing. And that's because they've actually
been built up from the ground. They haven't just slapped
their name on it. I mean Tony May was created
by Laura Byrn before she had a following from the Bachelor,
she was a jewelry maker. You can tell it's very
authentic to her. Same with Fate, same with one Mile. Yeah,
(11:43):
they don't rely on that influencer being in every ad campaign,
Like think about one Mile. It's not like Sammy releases
every outfit and she's in it. They have models like
you don't even really think of it being Sammy Robinson's brand.
Don't you think The Australian Financial Reviews Young Rich list
is going to be very interesting this year because Tommy
Hembro has always ranked very highly. I think she's got
(12:04):
an estimated wealth of around fifty million dollars. However, if
Selfish Sucks shuts down and you've got SASKI shutdown, what
does that do to her projected earnings? I wonder what
financial documents the influencer or their manager actually has to
pass over to the AFR to prove their standing, because
I remember hearing PR specialist Sam Mangan talking about it,
(12:25):
and he was questioning the validity of some of these
rich lists because he's like, you can just say, oh,
I'm earned x amount, Like you don't actually have to
prove anything. It's not like you're going to give a
screenshot of your bank account, are you. And it's obviously
incredibly advantageous for the influencer to position themselves with that
amount of money because then you have people wanting to
invest in their business. You know, it comes with a
(12:48):
whole bunch of benefits.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
It's exhausting when in the last week I've just done
some breakfast radio and I went to the Devil we
was prior to premiere.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Abby Chatfield has issued a tearful plea to the media
begging them to leave her alone. The desperate appeal comes
after The Daily Telegraph ran with a headline claiming the
ARN board didn't back her for the permanent Kiss FM role.
It's been a big couple of weeks for Abby. For
the last fortnight she's been filling in as a temporary
host on the defunct Carl and Jackie O Show, and
(13:20):
during that time, she was forced to publicly apologize to
Harrison Boone after he launched a defamation lawsuit against her. So,
for those who haven't seen it, the former Maths contestant
claimed the podcasters spread constant lies and slander about him
that damaged his reputation and livelihood. Now, the defamation case
has been in the works since October last year. He
(13:43):
actually launched his own claims fresh off the back of
Abby being forced to pay her former high school friend
seventy nine thousand dollars after he successfully sued her for defamation.
Will he raise the funds through a gofund me account.
So this was something that the public were getting on
board with. Doesn't it seem like once someone has success
(14:03):
in suing someone for defamation and all the sharks come
out and everyone wants to get a piece of the pie.
Well that's exactly what it seems like here, and it
appears the pair have come to a resolution during mediation.
So while it's unclear whether Abby had to pay Harrison anything,
it's obvious she was forced to publicly apologize, and on Wednesday,
Abby shared a statement to her Instagram story that read,
(14:25):
on the twenty sixth of April twenty twenty five, I
published on my Instagram page certain fake and defamatory statements
about Harrison Boone. I unreservedly withdraw those comments and apologize
to you for the harm, hurt, and distress cause to
him and his family by reason of the publication of
these fake statements. Now, the post in question related to
(14:45):
Abby labeling Harrison as sexist and alt right freak who
supports fascism and stands by Nazi ideology. It is important
to point out that we are not suggesting any of
these allegations are true now. A few days later, The
Daily Telegraph ran with the headline AARN board will not
back Abby Chatfield for permanent Kiss FM role. The publication
(15:08):
claimed the AARN board did not want to give her
the permanent position. The Daily Telegraph reported it was told
that management under CEO Michael Stevenson, operates with editorial freedom,
but the board is not supportive of Chatfield on a
full time basis. The article went on to say that
the network will reportedly continue to use temporary presenters while
(15:29):
it considers longer term talent arrangements for its breakfast program. Now,
after all of that, the journalist Peter Jenkins then went
on to imply that Aarn didn't back Abby because of
the recent controversies that she's been involved in. Now, the
journalist Peter Jenkins then went on to imply that Aarn
didn't back Abby because of the recent controversies that she's
(15:51):
been involved in. When Kyle was still trying to fight
for his job, I actually said to a friend, how
sensational would a radio show with Kyle Sandalans and Abby
Chatfield b Like everyone has said previously. Oh, you know,
Jackie needs to hold him to higher standards. Can you
imagine these two discussing topics. I don't think she'd want
to align herself with shit like Kyle Sadley, but she
(16:12):
could actually do a really good job sticking it to him.
I mean, I would definitely listen to that. Now. Off
the back of this article, in a now deleted video,
Abby told the media that they had won and begged
them to stop. Let's take a listen to some more
of what she said.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
I'm really tired, I'm really exhausted, I am completely broken,
and I just want to tell the media that you
have one so you can stop now you've won, Are
you happy? I don't know how much one person is
(16:51):
supposed to take of this, but in the past here
the media I've gotten particularly vicious and relentless towards me,
And of course they've always been this way, particularly trash
news outlets, but it's becoming increasingly clear that even previously
(17:11):
reputable sources are beginning to attempt to profit off the
cash cow that the trash media outlets have created.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
That is Abby Chatfield.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
And what I mean by that is that continuous what
I would call, in my opinion, unfair reporting and twisting
of facts, and exaggeration of facts, and use of photos
of me in articles that have nothing to do with me,
attaching my face and my image to controversies that don't
(17:55):
exist or don't involve me, or have been exaggerated that
gets them clicks. And then anything that I do from
then on, they've created this caricature of me, and then
that caricature gets clicks. Even if I'm walking down the street,
they can twist it.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
That was really difficult to listen to her. You can
see how broken she is in that clip, and when
she went on to address the article about aarn specifically,
she actually started tearing up, but then stopped herself, and
she explained that she had now begun policing her own
facial expressions because she doesn't want the media to use
(18:34):
photos of her crying to then use next to irrelevant
articles about her. I have noticed this. Every time I
go onto the Daily Mail, there is some freeze frame
shot of Abby Chatfield mid sentence screaming, looking angry. I
feel so sorry for her. I actually, like, when I
saw this video, I was deeply concerned for her, and
(18:55):
I just was like, Yeah, these fuckers just leave her alone.
Like I get it that she you know, she obviously
gets clicks, but it's going too far. I mean, she
has spoken about her mental state previously. It's clear she's struggling,
and people continue to be vile to her. I saw
one of those comedians who's been doing impressions of her,
pretty poor impressions, I must say. She recently shared a
(19:17):
video of her taking the piss out of this. I
was like, what is wrong with society? Like she has said, please,
can you just stop? I mean, Amy, as you pointed out,
it is all about clicks, and that's exactly what Abby said.
So she pointed out that the media was already trying
to create controversy out of nothing the second that she
got hired in this temporary role, because she showed a
(19:38):
screenshot of this article that first went out with the
headline that read Abby Chatfield's push to be the next
Jackie O. Now, that article was accompanied by this photo
of her sticking out her tongue, and it was posted
on social media. I remember seeing it and thinking, oh
my god, I feel so bad for her, because there
were already three thousand comments under it, and when I
clicked on, the comments were EXAs like I feared, they
(20:01):
were so awful about her. I feel like there's almost
a group of men, a particular type of man who
sees it as a bit of an Olympic sport to
troll her in the comment section, and anytime she comes up,
they just really enjoy laying into her. Yeah, and it's
very clear that the media are rage baiting and they're
getting exactly what they want. So after claiming Abby was
(20:22):
striving to be the next Jackie O, they then conveniently
ran with the narrative that she had no future as
a permanent replacement. And Abby put it perfectly and she said, Well,
there's the setup and there's the fall from grace, and
they know that that will get clicks, and they're implying
that she has had some failing and hasn't performed well enough.
Let's take a listen to more of what she said.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
This impacts my income, This impacts my mental health, this
impacts my social life, This impacts so much. The way
that they write about me relentlessly, and the way that
neutral behaviors such as taking a job for two weeks
and lasting two weeks, there's no story there. They dig
and dig and dig and try and find a way
(21:05):
to make it seem like I've done something wrong.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Yet again, it's definitely what the reporting implies. But anyone
who knows Abby Chatfield and has actually followed her career
trajectory knows that she had a radio gig not so
long ago that she actually chose to leave because she
didn't like the lifestyle of radio. So she has just
jumped into this role for two weeks, wanting to take
(21:30):
it on board as a not a long term thing.
I mean, she said countless times it was just a
fun thing for her to do. It's quite clear she
doesn't want to do it full time because she already
turned down a great gig she already had on radio.
But unfortunately, there are people that don't follow her career
closely that are just going to go, oh, sucked in.
Like you can already imagine all the comments that would
(21:50):
have been on social media because there were so many
people tearing her down originally when they said she wanted
to be the next Jackie. Oh, I mean, the pile
on this week has just been discussing Abby. She shared
a headline that The Daily Mail ran with this week,
which was do you Know who I Am? Ozzie Influences
branded entitled for Q Jumping at the Devil Wears Prata
to premiere in Sydney Now. A photo of Abby looking
(22:14):
irritated accompanied the article, and the kicker is it wasn't
Abby who jumped the queue at all. It was her friend,
male podcaster Mitch Churi. Funny how they don't plaster his
face online and use Abby's because they know that they're
going to get outrage and clicks from her, not from Mitch,
because if they use Mitch, no offense to Mitch. But
most people would be writing under the comment section who
(22:36):
is it? Because that's another one that the Daily Mail
liked to do. They like to be like very famous
individual and then people are like who is it? And
of course Abby Chatfield has a bigger profile and the
Daily Mail constantly writes negative things about her, so their
audience well and truly know who she is and they
know that they're going to write negative comments about her. Now.
Abby finished up her video by saying this.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
In my opinion is the reason why there are so
many people that hate me for no reason, and the
reason why comment sections of feel of hatred towards me.
That is nonsensical. If you don't like me for a
reason that is valid, or you disagree with a lot
of my opinions, that's fine. But I find that a
lot of people hate me just because they hate me,
(23:21):
and my name is almost used as an insult. Now
they're going to get such an abbag chat Field and
people don't even know what that means, but it seems
to translate to entitled route evil vicious and it's because
of reporting like this, And I guess I just want
to say, you guys have won, well done, You've broken
(23:41):
me and I just would love for you to stop
now please. I'm actually begging please just talk.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
I think this is a real reflection of what a
sorry state the mainstream media is currently in because it's
all about clicks and vying for ads revenue. As Abbi
touched on, there used to be media outlets that wouldn't
run with this type of trash, but now they all
do it. The rage baiting is just out of control
(24:13):
and it would be incredibly frustrating for Abby, who's now
been sued twice for defamation. She made a comment how
she can't sue the media because despite what they attempt
to imply, their stories are based on what's factually correct, Like,
they're very careful when it comes to what they actually
put in print. Yeah, and that's because mainstream media have
(24:33):
big legal teams, so they know what they can and
cannot write, and they're very clever about it. But it's
very clear to me, with Abby only pointing out these
couple of headlines, that there definitely is a smear campaign
going on about her, and it is to benefit themselves.
It is to generate more ads revenue through clicks. And
it's actually so disturbing because you can tell how much
(24:57):
this has impacted Abbi Chatfield's mental health. I mean are
we forgetting that it was only a couple of months
ago that her ex boyfriend, Conrad Bim Stevens took his
own life. I mean, what does it take for the
media to go, hang on, we need to stop this.
Does it mean that someone has to take their own
life before they take things seriously? I mean I only
just recently watched the Caroline flat Docker. I know it
(25:19):
came out a couple of years ago, and to me,
it's very similar in terms of the way they just
pursued her and harassed her non stop, and then as
soon as she took her own life, everything was buried.
What's even worse is that Abby Chatfield has been so
open about her mental health struggles. Caroline Flack wasn't she
(25:40):
was trying to conceal that information. It doesn't make it
any better, but it's even more disturbing that they continue
to go for her when she has been so open
and honest. The most successful women are good at money.
We are shamed away from being good at money because oh,
we should just be passionate. No sorry, I actually want
to be rich. Victoria has documented her return to botox.
(26:03):
The finance podcaster took her followers along for the ride
as she got botox for the first time since welcoming
her daughter in January. However, not everyone was happy with
Victoria's transparency. No, I mean Victoria's decision to share about
this has been quite a divisive one, which I initially
found a bit surprising because cosmetic treatments have become quite
(26:25):
mainstream nowadays. Now. Ahead of the treatment, Victoria shared a
video from inside her car, raising her eyebrows to show
the movement and lines on her forehead. She also shared
a disclaimer, saying, also, let's be really clear, no woman
needs botox. You don't need it to be beautiful, worthy, confident,
or successful. And I hate that we live in a
(26:47):
world that can make it feel like you do. But
I also think there's something powerful about being honest. This
is something I choose to do for myself, not for
anyone else, not because I feel like I have to.
And part of sharing this is showing the reality because
it's not instant. I share this because I think transparency matters.
Too many women are comparing themselves to natural results that
(27:09):
aren't actually natural. You're allowed to opt out, you're also
allowed to opt in. That's what choice actually looks like.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Now.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
The following day, Victoria posted an update to her Instagram
story showing that the treatment hadn't actually taken full effect yet,
but was slowly doing its thing. She then said one
of her favorite things about botox is how smooth it
makes her skin, and for her, it's not about getting
the wrinkles, it's also about tightening her skin. She then
went on to explain that she asked her injector to
(27:38):
keep some of her smile lines, as she doesn't want
to look like she's frozen now. Some of Victoria's followers
weren't happy with the transparency, dming the podcaster to tell
her they felt uncomfortable about the posts she was sharing.
Victoria chose to share one of these conversations on her
Instagram story. So the follower wrote, seeing generations choosing to
(28:00):
inject neurotoxins in themselves to look like everyone else, it's
getting pretty sad to see on the sidelines. Hope you
bring your child up to feel better about who they
are to not need to do that to their bodies,
especially while they are still young and attractive.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Now.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Victoria responded saying, I think it's interesting you keep describing
other women's choices as sad. I don't feel sad. I
feel confident in my decisions and how I live my life.
I'm also very comfortable with how I raise my child.
So I'm going to leave it there now. The follower responded, saying,
you feel so confident in yourself that you literally inject
(28:36):
neurotoxins into your face. Sounds like a funny type of confidence,
Let's be real. Victoria ended up hitting back, writing, at
this point, this feels more like judgment than concern, and
your tone tells me that you're trying to undermine me.
I'm confident in my choices, and I hope you're offering
the people in your life more grace than you have here.
(28:56):
And when Victoria shared this conversation with her community, she wrote,
it's always the ones with the lack of profile photos.
It's also why I share this stuff because I know
so many women worry so much about what other people
would think than just doing what they want to do. Now,
I really wanted to bring this story to the table
because I think it is such a layered one. I
(29:17):
really don't think that Victoria would be receiving the backlash
that she is if she wasn't a new mum, so
as you touched on Cake, she gave birth to a
baby girl called Campbell back in January, and her pregnancy
came as a surprise because she never revealed online that
she was pregnant. She just posted once she had had
her baby. But despite this secrecy, she has been open
(29:40):
about some of her postpartum experiences and I have really
appreciated the way that she has shared about her journey
with baby formulas. So she has spoken about how she
mix feeds her kids because she doesn't like to put
too much pressure on herself and her breastfeeding experience. And
I think as women, we put so much pressure in
ourselves to be this perfect mother who exclusively breastfeeds. So
(30:02):
I think it's really important to have people like Victoria
sharing about how mixed feeding can actually be really beneficial
in the feeding process for babies. And I think that's
a big part of the backlash that Victoria has been receiving,
because when it comes to getting botox, it's not a
vice for mothers who are breastfeeding. Now, while Victoria has
been transparent about mixed feeding, I'm not sure if she
(30:23):
is still continuing with her breastfeeding journey or if her
baby is now fully on formula. And that's the thing
with social media, people don't know the full picture. So
she's obviously deciding what is best for her and her situation,
and other people are jumping to conclusions, being like, oh,
how can you do that when you're still breastfeeding. I
also think that anytime a mum with a young baby
(30:45):
is perceived as doing anything for themselves too soon, particularly
when it comes to their appearance, their slam for being
too self involved and not focusing on their child enough.
And I feel like there's this real tone of mum
shaming here, particularly from the follower who's post Victoria highlighted.
I mean, the follower essentially said to Victoria, you're a
bad role model to your daughter because you're choosing to
(31:06):
have anti aging procedures. I mean, it's such an unfair
comment to make when you were reading out that DM
so when it got to the bit about Victoria's child,
I was like, that is just way too far. And
it infuriates me that people continually bring other people's children
into everything. I think another part of why her post
struck such a nerve, though, is because Victoria is a
(31:29):
finance influencer, not a beauty influencer. It's not content that
we would naturally expect from her. She is a retired
financial advisor who made a name for herself about teaching
women financial literacy, so people look to her for money
saving tips. So if you're a mum on maternity leave
who's living paycheck to paycheck on government funding, you probably
(31:51):
look at Victoria getting botox and get a little bit
envious because you're like, well, that's not a financially viable
option for me. I mean, Victoria has made it very
clear in her content that she is in a very
different tax bracket to most of us. But the reality
is whether she likes it or not. Because she provides
financial advice and money saving tips to her audience, people
(32:12):
want to see her practicing what she preaches. So when
she does this little documentation of how her botox works,
people like that is not relatable. I mean. Victoria has
said in these posts that she's choosing to share about
the treatments that she's gotten because she thinks there's a
power in being honest and that too many women are
comparing themselves to natural results that aren't natural. And I
(32:35):
think it's really interesting because around seven years ago, we
saw this movement of influences opening up about their cosmetic
procedures and really being applauded for being transparent. On the
other hand, there was this side of people who said, well,
this transparency is just normalizing these procedures to very young
and impressionable people. I completely agree that it's an individual
(32:57):
woman's choice what they do to their face, and that
really should come with no judgment. But I personally, if
I'm gonna be honest, I don't know how I feel
about people normalizing these treatments. Still, even as someone in
their thirties who I know my self worth isn't wrapped
up in my appearance, it is hard not to feel
like the odd one out because I'm not getting these
(33:18):
anti aging treatments done. And when you look online now
almost everyone in the public eye has the signature shiny
frozen forehead. It almost comes with this level of prestige,
and to me, it almost feels like people are cheating
the system. I mean, I truly do believe that expression
lines and smile lines make women look so beautiful and natural.
(33:39):
But you know, in the past year, having a baby
and having sleepless nights, I do have this little voice
in my head telling me, well, maybe you'd look better
if you've got a bit of botox. So if you
say cheating the system, I almost feel like we're getting
to a stage where everyone is looking so similar because
of the work that they're getting. And if anything, sometimes
when I see someone who has had a lot of
(34:00):
anti aging procedures, sometimes it can actually make them look older. Yeah,
that's what I didn't really get about victorious apparent reasoning
behind posting because for the last ten years, people have
been really transparent about getting botox and what that procedure is. Like,
It's not like it's this earth shattering, lifting the curtain moment.
Like her content is one of a lot of similar
(34:22):
content out there, and I personally think now it's pretty
easy to tell who's got botox and who doesn't. I've
been seeing a lot of tiktoks that are like, are
we getting botox? Or are we having more children? And
the whole thing is, I personally don't care what people
do to their own faces. I just don't like when
people glamorize it and they make it so the norm
that it's unusual. If you don't want to do that
(34:44):
to your face, that's what scares me. I think everyone
just thinks, oh, I've had a baby now, so I'm
just going to go and get all of these cosmetic
procedures done because that's what everyone else is doing online
and it might not suit your face. Yeah. But then
there is also the argument, which I think is a
valid one, that if women go and get these procedures
done in secret, it's really difficult for the women who
don't because they're comparing themselves to people unrealistic standard online. Yeah.
(35:07):
But in saying that, we've all just said that people
who don't get it seem to be in the minority
these days. So and we know so much about it
that we can tell the telltale signs of it. I
think there are influencers out there, though, that are putting
up content similar to this to rage bait their audience
in order to start some kind of online debate that
(35:29):
then turns into some morning show segment. I've seen it
a lot recently. So they're sort of phishing for followers
to write something nasty to them in the comments section
that they can then share, and then it turns into
a pr opportunity for them until here on a morning show.
I've seen it so much. I'm not saying that Victoria
Devine was specifically doing that, but there have been other
influencers who you can just tell abaiting their audience and
(35:52):
then when they finally get the reactions say on TikTok
that they want, they're like fantastic. Now we can talk
about it on our podcast. Now we can go on
the morning show and talk about it. It's this pr
strategy to get them more attention. I think influencers need
to be really careful because there are some that I
noticed that that is their mo that is their media strategy.
(36:12):
They have teams behind them. But then you get into
the abby chatfield territory that we were talking about, where
the media then turn you into a caricature and then
they are the ones that start painting your storylines rather
than you feeding them storylines. Well, that is where we're
going to leave things today. But if you want to
hear more from us, we drop a subscriber only episode
(36:33):
every Thursday for our Outspoken Plus subscribers. If you want
to sign up, it's just five ninety nine a month.
All the details to sign up in our show notes.
We also have a second podcast called The Mums Group.
So if you want to listen to that that drops
on a Wednesday, just search the mums group on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
or wherever you listen to podcasts. This podcast was recorded
(36:53):
on the traditional land of the Ghana people of the
Adelaide Planes. We pay respect to elders past and present
Speaker 2 (37:01):
Appon a domper many mon
Hello, and welcome to Outspoken. It's your dose of the
hottest influencer and pop culture news twice a week. I'm
Kate Trba, I'm Amy Torber, and I'm Sophie Torba and
coming up on today's show, Rumors are swirling that the
Hambro Sister's Supplements brand is closing down. Abby Chatfield's tearful
plea to the media, and Victoria Devine documents her return
(00:26):
to Botox, but first. Chloe Zepp has all but confirmed
her breakup with Mitch Orville. Earlier this week, she posed
for amra selfie with her ringless left hand deliberately on display.
If that wasn't enough, she also shared an unprecedented video
of her singing Yeah. This was really surprising because over
the last six or seven years, there's been whispers that
(00:47):
she has this amazing singing voice. Back in twenty nineteen,
there was actually speculation that she used to sing the
theme song of her YouTube channel. It was actually someone
else that sings it, and she's always really shied away
from showing her voice online. It was always Mitch who
would post these random snippets of her singing, but this
time it was Chloe herself. Posting it. Let's throw to
some of her singing. We chase out to me? Really hi, hell,
(01:19):
it would be.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Chelly break and between her let us me.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Why do I always find it so awkward when people
post these phone videos of themselves singing and they're almost
acting like the camera isn't there, but they're like really
going for it. It's a bit like content creator Millie Ford.
She posts all of those hilarious comedy videos. Recently she's
been posting more of herself singing, and I think a
few years ago she even dropped this single. But it's
so weird because I'm used to going to her page
(01:50):
to see comedy content and then I'm like, wait, is
this taking the piss or? Is this actually her legitimately
singing like she's good as well?
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (01:57):
I totally get what you mean when you're not expecting
it from some and Chloe'szepp has been pretty quiet on
social media. I mean the start of this year we
spoke about how she's having a bit of a trad
wife resurgence, but she hasn't seemed very comfortable to be
in front of the camera. But she held herself together
really well to perform this song. It felt like she
purposely put this out to make a statement. So the
(02:18):
song in question is a worship song called Founder Love
by Seven Hills Worship, and the song is about the
discovery of God's consistent love, particularly for those feeling broken, lost,
or in a challenging season. So it seems like it
sums up where Chloe's EPP is now. Is this the
modern day Pinterest breakup quote? Are we now going to
see influences eluding that something's going on by them breaking
(02:41):
into song? I mean, I hope so, because it's a
lot more entertaining, particularly if they have got good voices.
I mean it rivals miming in your car to a song.
I think that is the modern day Pinterest quote to me.
As for Mitch, he is posting as normal. He's sharing
about his adventures with his two sons. At the moment,
he hasn't really thrown any shade Chloe's way. As women,
(03:01):
gut health is so important, so Darthaya having a gut
health drink in our selfish range was literally so important
to us. Rumors are swelling that the Hembro Sisters supplement
brand is closing down. It was only a year ago
that the social media moguls launched Selfish Subs. However, there
are some troubling signs emerging already, and what adds even
(03:24):
more fuel to this fire is the latest speculation comes
fairly fresh off the back of Tammy Hembro shutting down
her active wear label Saski. So Tammy announced the closure
to her followers in December last year, but she didn't
give a single reason as to why it was closing.
Shortly after that, a photo of an eviction notice on
the front of Saski's collection office went viral. At the time,
(03:47):
Tammy denied. She owed rent, I actually don't know how
this active wear brand has been operating for so long.
I have never come across anyone in the wild wearing it. Yeah.
I just assumed maybe it was popular in Queensland or
maybe in the US, because Tammy has a big following
over there, but clearly it wasn't that popular. Now it's
(04:07):
interesting because some eagle eyed followers think they've spotted some
signs that Selfish SUPs is following a similar demise as Saski. So,
just like what happened with Saski, Selfish SUPs account has
suddenly stopped posting content despite previously posting almost daily, so
the last time the account posted was on the eleventh
of December. Now that is very fishy. Considering the brand
(04:30):
celebrated its first birthday on the twenty second of April,
which also happens to be one of the co founders,
Tammy Hembro's birthday, you would think that they would have
had some type of celebratory campaign shared, or at the
very least a post signifying that they had turned one.
I mean, if that wasn't a big enough red flag.
Tammy and Emily have both also recently removed Selfish SUPs
(04:52):
from their bios. However, it is now back in Tammy's
bio since fans pointed out online that it was missing.
Like when people would call out the fact that she
had unfollowed her husband and then she was back following
him again. I just don't get why she continuously does
stuff like that. It's just like these little easter eggs
for people to find and it's like, well, do you
want people to find out this information until you put
(05:13):
something out publicly. I can't say I'm shocked that this
brand potentially might be closing down, because who in their
right mind thought it was a good idea to call
this supplement brand selfish in the first place, Like I
wouldn't want to walk in and be like, yes, I'll
have some selfish supplement because I'm just so vain and selfish,
Like that's the how the branding came across to me. Also,
not to mention the fact that all of the hats
(05:34):
they were passing out looked a bit like Maga hats
because the colors were like red and white. It's also
a very oversaturated market. I know that Tammy has made
a name for herself in the fitness space, but I
think that there are a couple of question marks developing
over how healthy her lifestyle actually is. And I think
what's made this whole speculation even more interesting is the
(05:56):
structure of this business because from the get go it
was promoted as Tammy, Emily and Amy Hembrow's brand, so
they are the faces of the business and they're listed
as the founders. However, it turns out that there is
actually a secret joint partner. So after doing some digging,
I discovered that Selfish Subs isn't just run by the Hembros.
(06:16):
So on the back of its packaging it lists an
entity called CBG times hem Ventures. Now, as the name suggests,
hem Ventures represents the Hembro sisters, while CBG appears to
be represented by a key figure behind one of Australia's
biggest supplement brands. So his name is Kieran Lahy and
he is the CEO of supplement brand Veda Glow that
(06:38):
was founded by his wife Anna. Now he is also
the CEO of a company called Type B as well
as the co founder of Lumina Life Science. And it's
interesting because it seems like the Hembros and Kieran have
gone out of their way to conceal the partnership, but
his name is actually listed as the director and a
person of significant control on corporate records linked to Selfish SUPs.
(07:00):
I mean it makes sense because when Selfish Subs first launched,
it was rolled out nationally in Chemists warehouse from day dot.
I mean you need to have connections for that sort
of thing to happen. Yeah, I mean, I know the
Hembros are big names in the social media space, but
this sort of luxury is only usually afforded to a
company with a pre existing commercial partnership. I mean, I
remember at the time people were like hang on is
(07:21):
this brand owned by Chemists Warehouse, but obviously it's not.
This connection perfectly explains why this happened. Not to mention
why their supplement formulations are standardized, because a lot of
people have been talking about the ingredients in them, and
they are a standardized formulization. I also thought their marketing
campaign was rolled out pretty professionally. I mean, I know
you guys joked about I mean, I know you guys
(07:42):
said that you didn't like the name of the brand,
and also we mentioned the Maga hats. But other than that,
they have been very spot on with their promotion. They've
been posting consistently on social media. They've had a few
pop ups here and there. They've also had consistent blogging
on their website, which to me shows that they're getting
into seolo looking actually stopped in January as well. To me,
it's apparent that this business is slowly closing down. Clearly,
(08:06):
the higher ups have seen that it's not lucrative and
it's not worth continuing with it, so they've pulled the
money on all of the marketing and the social media.
They don't want to invest any more in it, and
potentially this is why Emily and Tammy have removed Selfish
Ups from their bio because they're pissed off that the
company is pulling the pin on it and saying nap,
that's it. I mean, I'm not actually sure that they're
(08:28):
pulling the pin necessarily, because this fresh information about the
new director makes a sudden shut down a bit less likely,
considering that there is someone there that has serious business
expertise behind it. In saying that though, operators like Kieran
are very strategic and they pivot fast, so potentially it
could be a case of cutting and underperforming brand, or
(08:50):
even maybe rebranding it and repositioning it quickly, so we
could potentially see some other influences popping up as the
faces of Selfish subs. I mean, I don't think that
that would be the case. I think that they would
either try and relaunch it with reformulated products or try
and reposition themselves in the market. Another interesting thing people
have pointed out is the fact that Selfish SUPs are
(09:11):
currently half price and they always seem to be on
sale at Chemists Warehouse. I'm also a little bit skeptical
about that, considering it's very common with Chemists warehouse's pricing behavior,
like they always have things half priced. I think if
stock starts disappearing from the shelves, we'll know it is
definitely shutting down. I just wonder how invested all of
the Hembro sisters are in selfish SUPs because when the
(09:34):
brand first launched, they were doing a tour around some
of the cities and Tammy would often not be in
attendance or she'd come later. It seemed quite clear that
she didn't really care about it, and also there wasn't
much fanfare, like I think people expecting hordes of their
followers to turn up, but when you saw photos of it,
there was just like a handful of people. I think
this is what makes this whole thing so awkward, because
(09:56):
you've got Saski shutting down because obviously it wasn't generating
enough sales. Now, only a year into the supplement brand,
it seems like it may be shutting down again because
there's not that public support, which is so interesting when
you consider that Tammy Hembro has you know, seventeen million
followers on Instagram. Her sisters also have a lot of followers.
(10:17):
Is it a case that they're not as influential as
we thought, or is this a trend for influencer brands?
Are people just not interested in buying influencer brands anymore?
As someone who follows Tammy Hembro, I'm following her for
the drama. I'm not following her to purchase her clothes,
to buy supplements with their name on it. And I
think a lot of people are in the same boat.
(10:37):
We're here for the drama, We're not here to buy.
I mean, I'm in that same boat. But I do
think that this plays into a larger trend that people
no longer want to support influencer brands and not interested
in them. I mean, as you said Sophie earlier, the
supplement space is so oversaturated. You've got the beauty space
that is oversaturated, and those are usually the markets that
influencers tap into. And I think they're just competing against
(10:59):
too many people because the influencer market is also oversaturated.
I think that we're also just savvy consumers. Now we
can tell when influencers have just slapped their name on
a brand that they haven't really had much to do with.
In saying all of that, there are actually influencer brands
doing really well, think Tony May by Laura Burn, one
Mile by Sammy Robinson, Fate by Britt Saunders. And the
(11:22):
reason they're doing well is because they stand alone. They
don't need the influencers backing. And that's because they've actually
been built up from the ground. They haven't just slapped
their name on it. I mean Tony May was created
by Laura Byrn before she had a following from the Bachelor,
she was a jewelry maker. You can tell it's very
authentic to her. Same with Fate, same with one Mile. Yeah,
(11:43):
they don't rely on that influencer being in every ad campaign,
Like think about one Mile. It's not like Sammy releases
every outfit and she's in it. They have models like
you don't even really think of it being Sammy Robinson's brand.
Don't you think The Australian Financial Reviews Young Rich list
is going to be very interesting this year because Tommy
Hembro has always ranked very highly. I think she's got
(12:04):
an estimated wealth of around fifty million dollars. However, if
Selfish Sucks shuts down and you've got SASKI shutdown, what
does that do to her projected earnings? I wonder what
financial documents the influencer or their manager actually has to
pass over to the AFR to prove their standing, because
I remember hearing PR specialist Sam Mangan talking about it,
(12:25):
and he was questioning the validity of some of these
rich lists because he's like, you can just say, oh,
I'm earned x amount, Like you don't actually have to
prove anything. It's not like you're going to give a
screenshot of your bank account, are you. And it's obviously
incredibly advantageous for the influencer to position themselves with that
amount of money because then you have people wanting to
invest in their business. You know, it comes with a
(12:48):
whole bunch of benefits.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
It's exhausting when in the last week I've just done
some breakfast radio and I went to the Devil we
was prior to premiere.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Abby Chatfield has issued a tearful plea to the media
begging them to leave her alone. The desperate appeal comes
after The Daily Telegraph ran with a headline claiming the
ARN board didn't back her for the permanent Kiss FM role.
It's been a big couple of weeks for Abby. For
the last fortnight she's been filling in as a temporary
host on the defunct Carl and Jackie O Show, and
(13:20):
during that time, she was forced to publicly apologize to
Harrison Boone after he launched a defamation lawsuit against her. So,
for those who haven't seen it, the former Maths contestant
claimed the podcasters spread constant lies and slander about him
that damaged his reputation and livelihood. Now, the defamation case
has been in the works since October last year. He
(13:43):
actually launched his own claims fresh off the back of
Abby being forced to pay her former high school friend
seventy nine thousand dollars after he successfully sued her for defamation.
Will he raise the funds through a gofund me account.
So this was something that the public were getting on
board with. Doesn't it seem like once someone has success
(14:03):
in suing someone for defamation and all the sharks come
out and everyone wants to get a piece of the pie.
Well that's exactly what it seems like here, and it
appears the pair have come to a resolution during mediation.
So while it's unclear whether Abby had to pay Harrison anything,
it's obvious she was forced to publicly apologize, and on Wednesday,
Abby shared a statement to her Instagram story that read,
(14:25):
on the twenty sixth of April twenty twenty five, I
published on my Instagram page certain fake and defamatory statements
about Harrison Boone. I unreservedly withdraw those comments and apologize
to you for the harm, hurt, and distress cause to
him and his family by reason of the publication of
these fake statements. Now, the post in question related to
(14:45):
Abby labeling Harrison as sexist and alt right freak who
supports fascism and stands by Nazi ideology. It is important
to point out that we are not suggesting any of
these allegations are true now. A few days later, The
Daily Telegraph ran with the headline AARN board will not
back Abby Chatfield for permanent Kiss FM role. The publication
(15:08):
claimed the AARN board did not want to give her
the permanent position. The Daily Telegraph reported it was told
that management under CEO Michael Stevenson, operates with editorial freedom,
but the board is not supportive of Chatfield on a
full time basis. The article went on to say that
the network will reportedly continue to use temporary presenters while
(15:29):
it considers longer term talent arrangements for its breakfast program. Now,
after all of that, the journalist Peter Jenkins then went
on to imply that Aarn didn't back Abby because of
the recent controversies that she's been involved in. Now, the
journalist Peter Jenkins then went on to imply that Aarn
didn't back Abby because of the recent controversies that she's
(15:51):
been involved in. When Kyle was still trying to fight
for his job, I actually said to a friend, how
sensational would a radio show with Kyle Sandalans and Abby
Chatfield b Like everyone has said previously. Oh, you know,
Jackie needs to hold him to higher standards. Can you
imagine these two discussing topics. I don't think she'd want
to align herself with shit like Kyle Sadley, but she
(16:12):
could actually do a really good job sticking it to him.
I mean, I would definitely listen to that. Now. Off
the back of this article, in a now deleted video,
Abby told the media that they had won and begged
them to stop. Let's take a listen to some more
of what she said.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
I'm really tired, I'm really exhausted, I am completely broken,
and I just want to tell the media that you
have one so you can stop now you've won, Are
you happy? I don't know how much one person is
(16:51):
supposed to take of this, but in the past here
the media I've gotten particularly vicious and relentless towards me,
And of course they've always been this way, particularly trash
news outlets, but it's becoming increasingly clear that even previously
(17:11):
reputable sources are beginning to attempt to profit off the
cash cow that the trash media outlets have created.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
That is Abby Chatfield.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
And what I mean by that is that continuous what
I would call, in my opinion, unfair reporting and twisting
of facts, and exaggeration of facts, and use of photos
of me in articles that have nothing to do with me,
attaching my face and my image to controversies that don't
(17:55):
exist or don't involve me, or have been exaggerated that
gets them clicks. And then anything that I do from
then on, they've created this caricature of me, and then
that caricature gets clicks. Even if I'm walking down the street,
they can twist it.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
That was really difficult to listen to her. You can
see how broken she is in that clip, and when
she went on to address the article about aarn specifically,
she actually started tearing up, but then stopped herself, and
she explained that she had now begun policing her own
facial expressions because she doesn't want the media to use
(18:34):
photos of her crying to then use next to irrelevant
articles about her. I have noticed this. Every time I
go onto the Daily Mail, there is some freeze frame
shot of Abby Chatfield mid sentence screaming, looking angry. I
feel so sorry for her. I actually, like, when I
saw this video, I was deeply concerned for her, and
(18:55):
I just was like, Yeah, these fuckers just leave her alone.
Like I get it that she you know, she obviously
gets clicks, but it's going too far. I mean, she
has spoken about her mental state previously. It's clear she's struggling,
and people continue to be vile to her. I saw
one of those comedians who's been doing impressions of her,
pretty poor impressions, I must say. She recently shared a
(19:17):
video of her taking the piss out of this. I
was like, what is wrong with society? Like she has said, please,
can you just stop? I mean, Amy, as you pointed out,
it is all about clicks, and that's exactly what Abby said.
So she pointed out that the media was already trying
to create controversy out of nothing the second that she
got hired in this temporary role, because she showed a
(19:38):
screenshot of this article that first went out with the
headline that read Abby Chatfield's push to be the next
Jackie O. Now, that article was accompanied by this photo
of her sticking out her tongue, and it was posted
on social media. I remember seeing it and thinking, oh
my god, I feel so bad for her, because there
were already three thousand comments under it, and when I
clicked on, the comments were EXAs like I feared, they
(20:01):
were so awful about her. I feel like there's almost
a group of men, a particular type of man who
sees it as a bit of an Olympic sport to
troll her in the comment section, and anytime she comes up,
they just really enjoy laying into her. Yeah, and it's
very clear that the media are rage baiting and they're
getting exactly what they want. So after claiming Abby was
(20:22):
striving to be the next Jackie O, they then conveniently
ran with the narrative that she had no future as
a permanent replacement. And Abby put it perfectly and she said, Well,
there's the setup and there's the fall from grace, and
they know that that will get clicks, and they're implying
that she has had some failing and hasn't performed well enough.
Let's take a listen to more of what she said.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
This impacts my income, This impacts my mental health, this
impacts my social life, This impacts so much. The way
that they write about me relentlessly, and the way that
neutral behaviors such as taking a job for two weeks
and lasting two weeks, there's no story there. They dig
and dig and dig and try and find a way
(21:05):
to make it seem like I've done something wrong.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Yet again, it's definitely what the reporting implies. But anyone
who knows Abby Chatfield and has actually followed her career
trajectory knows that she had a radio gig not so
long ago that she actually chose to leave because she
didn't like the lifestyle of radio. So she has just
jumped into this role for two weeks, wanting to take
(21:30):
it on board as a not a long term thing.
I mean, she said countless times it was just a
fun thing for her to do. It's quite clear she
doesn't want to do it full time because she already
turned down a great gig she already had on radio.
But unfortunately, there are people that don't follow her career
closely that are just going to go, oh, sucked in.
Like you can already imagine all the comments that would
(21:50):
have been on social media because there were so many
people tearing her down originally when they said she wanted
to be the next Jackie. Oh, I mean, the pile
on this week has just been discussing Abby. She shared
a headline that The Daily Mail ran with this week,
which was do you Know who I Am? Ozzie Influences
branded entitled for Q Jumping at the Devil Wears Prata
to premiere in Sydney Now. A photo of Abby looking
(22:14):
irritated accompanied the article, and the kicker is it wasn't
Abby who jumped the queue at all. It was her friend,
male podcaster Mitch Churi. Funny how they don't plaster his
face online and use Abby's because they know that they're
going to get outrage and clicks from her, not from Mitch,
because if they use Mitch, no offense to Mitch. But
most people would be writing under the comment section who
(22:36):
is it? Because that's another one that the Daily Mail
liked to do. They like to be like very famous
individual and then people are like who is it? And
of course Abby Chatfield has a bigger profile and the
Daily Mail constantly writes negative things about her, so their
audience well and truly know who she is and they
know that they're going to write negative comments about her. Now.
Abby finished up her video by saying this.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
In my opinion is the reason why there are so
many people that hate me for no reason, and the
reason why comment sections of feel of hatred towards me.
That is nonsensical. If you don't like me for a
reason that is valid, or you disagree with a lot
of my opinions, that's fine. But I find that a
lot of people hate me just because they hate me,
(23:21):
and my name is almost used as an insult. Now
they're going to get such an abbag chat Field and
people don't even know what that means, but it seems
to translate to entitled route evil vicious and it's because
of reporting like this, And I guess I just want
to say, you guys have won, well done, You've broken
(23:41):
me and I just would love for you to stop
now please. I'm actually begging please just talk.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
I think this is a real reflection of what a
sorry state the mainstream media is currently in because it's
all about clicks and vying for ads revenue. As Abbi
touched on, there used to be media outlets that wouldn't
run with this type of trash, but now they all
do it. The rage baiting is just out of control
(24:13):
and it would be incredibly frustrating for Abby, who's now
been sued twice for defamation. She made a comment how
she can't sue the media because despite what they attempt
to imply, their stories are based on what's factually correct, Like,
they're very careful when it comes to what they actually
put in print. Yeah, and that's because mainstream media have
(24:33):
big legal teams, so they know what they can and
cannot write, and they're very clever about it. But it's
very clear to me, with Abby only pointing out these
couple of headlines, that there definitely is a smear campaign
going on about her, and it is to benefit themselves.
It is to generate more ads revenue through clicks. And
it's actually so disturbing because you can tell how much
(24:57):
this has impacted Abbi Chatfield's mental health. I mean are
we forgetting that it was only a couple of months
ago that her ex boyfriend, Conrad Bim Stevens took his
own life. I mean, what does it take for the
media to go, hang on, we need to stop this.
Does it mean that someone has to take their own
life before they take things seriously? I mean I only
just recently watched the Caroline flat Docker. I know it
(25:19):
came out a couple of years ago, and to me,
it's very similar in terms of the way they just
pursued her and harassed her non stop, and then as
soon as she took her own life, everything was buried.
What's even worse is that Abby Chatfield has been so
open about her mental health struggles. Caroline Flack wasn't she
(25:40):
was trying to conceal that information. It doesn't make it
any better, but it's even more disturbing that they continue
to go for her when she has been so open
and honest. The most successful women are good at money.
We are shamed away from being good at money because oh,
we should just be passionate. No sorry, I actually want
to be rich. Victoria has documented her return to botox.
(26:03):
The finance podcaster took her followers along for the ride
as she got botox for the first time since welcoming
her daughter in January. However, not everyone was happy with
Victoria's transparency. No, I mean Victoria's decision to share about
this has been quite a divisive one, which I initially
found a bit surprising because cosmetic treatments have become quite
(26:25):
mainstream nowadays. Now. Ahead of the treatment, Victoria shared a
video from inside her car, raising her eyebrows to show
the movement and lines on her forehead. She also shared
a disclaimer, saying, also, let's be really clear, no woman
needs botox. You don't need it to be beautiful, worthy, confident,
or successful. And I hate that we live in a
(26:47):
world that can make it feel like you do. But
I also think there's something powerful about being honest. This
is something I choose to do for myself, not for
anyone else, not because I feel like I have to.
And part of sharing this is showing the reality because
it's not instant. I share this because I think transparency matters.
Too many women are comparing themselves to natural results that
(27:09):
aren't actually natural. You're allowed to opt out, you're also
allowed to opt in. That's what choice actually looks like.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Now.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
The following day, Victoria posted an update to her Instagram
story showing that the treatment hadn't actually taken full effect yet,
but was slowly doing its thing. She then said one
of her favorite things about botox is how smooth it
makes her skin, and for her, it's not about getting
the wrinkles, it's also about tightening her skin. She then
went on to explain that she asked her injector to
(27:38):
keep some of her smile lines, as she doesn't want
to look like she's frozen now. Some of Victoria's followers
weren't happy with the transparency, dming the podcaster to tell
her they felt uncomfortable about the posts she was sharing.
Victoria chose to share one of these conversations on her
Instagram story. So the follower wrote, seeing generations choosing to
(28:00):
inject neurotoxins in themselves to look like everyone else, it's
getting pretty sad to see on the sidelines. Hope you
bring your child up to feel better about who they
are to not need to do that to their bodies,
especially while they are still young and attractive.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Now.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Victoria responded saying, I think it's interesting you keep describing
other women's choices as sad. I don't feel sad. I
feel confident in my decisions and how I live my life.
I'm also very comfortable with how I raise my child.
So I'm going to leave it there now. The follower responded, saying,
you feel so confident in yourself that you literally inject
(28:36):
neurotoxins into your face. Sounds like a funny type of confidence,
Let's be real. Victoria ended up hitting back, writing, at
this point, this feels more like judgment than concern, and
your tone tells me that you're trying to undermine me.
I'm confident in my choices, and I hope you're offering
the people in your life more grace than you have here.
(28:56):
And when Victoria shared this conversation with her community, she wrote,
it's always the ones with the lack of profile photos.
It's also why I share this stuff because I know
so many women worry so much about what other people
would think than just doing what they want to do. Now,
I really wanted to bring this story to the table
because I think it is such a layered one. I
(29:17):
really don't think that Victoria would be receiving the backlash
that she is if she wasn't a new mum, so
as you touched on Cake, she gave birth to a
baby girl called Campbell back in January, and her pregnancy
came as a surprise because she never revealed online that
she was pregnant. She just posted once she had had
her baby. But despite this secrecy, she has been open
(29:40):
about some of her postpartum experiences and I have really
appreciated the way that she has shared about her journey
with baby formulas. So she has spoken about how she
mix feeds her kids because she doesn't like to put
too much pressure on herself and her breastfeeding experience. And
I think as women, we put so much pressure in
ourselves to be this perfect mother who exclusively breastfeeds. So
(30:02):
I think it's really important to have people like Victoria
sharing about how mixed feeding can actually be really beneficial
in the feeding process for babies. And I think that's
a big part of the backlash that Victoria has been receiving,
because when it comes to getting botox, it's not a
vice for mothers who are breastfeeding. Now, while Victoria has
been transparent about mixed feeding, I'm not sure if she
(30:23):
is still continuing with her breastfeeding journey or if her
baby is now fully on formula. And that's the thing
with social media, people don't know the full picture. So
she's obviously deciding what is best for her and her situation,
and other people are jumping to conclusions, being like, oh,
how can you do that when you're still breastfeeding. I
also think that anytime a mum with a young baby
(30:45):
is perceived as doing anything for themselves too soon, particularly
when it comes to their appearance, their slam for being
too self involved and not focusing on their child enough.
And I feel like there's this real tone of mum
shaming here, particularly from the follower who's post Victoria highlighted.
I mean, the follower essentially said to Victoria, you're a
bad role model to your daughter because you're choosing to
(31:06):
have anti aging procedures. I mean, it's such an unfair
comment to make when you were reading out that DM
so when it got to the bit about Victoria's child,
I was like, that is just way too far. And
it infuriates me that people continually bring other people's children
into everything. I think another part of why her post
struck such a nerve, though, is because Victoria is a
(31:29):
finance influencer, not a beauty influencer. It's not content that
we would naturally expect from her. She is a retired
financial advisor who made a name for herself about teaching
women financial literacy, so people look to her for money
saving tips. So if you're a mum on maternity leave
who's living paycheck to paycheck on government funding, you probably
(31:51):
look at Victoria getting botox and get a little bit
envious because you're like, well, that's not a financially viable
option for me. I mean, Victoria has made it very
clear in her content that she is in a very
different tax bracket to most of us. But the reality
is whether she likes it or not. Because she provides
financial advice and money saving tips to her audience, people
(32:12):
want to see her practicing what she preaches. So when
she does this little documentation of how her botox works,
people like that is not relatable. I mean. Victoria has
said in these posts that she's choosing to share about
the treatments that she's gotten because she thinks there's a
power in being honest and that too many women are
comparing themselves to natural results that aren't natural. And I
(32:35):
think it's really interesting because around seven years ago, we
saw this movement of influences opening up about their cosmetic
procedures and really being applauded for being transparent. On the
other hand, there was this side of people who said, well,
this transparency is just normalizing these procedures to very young
and impressionable people. I completely agree that it's an individual
(32:57):
woman's choice what they do to their face, and that
really should come with no judgment. But I personally, if
I'm gonna be honest, I don't know how I feel
about people normalizing these treatments. Still, even as someone in
their thirties who I know my self worth isn't wrapped
up in my appearance, it is hard not to feel
like the odd one out because I'm not getting these
(33:18):
anti aging treatments done. And when you look online now
almost everyone in the public eye has the signature shiny
frozen forehead. It almost comes with this level of prestige,
and to me, it almost feels like people are cheating
the system. I mean, I truly do believe that expression
lines and smile lines make women look so beautiful and natural.
(33:39):
But you know, in the past year, having a baby
and having sleepless nights, I do have this little voice
in my head telling me, well, maybe you'd look better
if you've got a bit of botox. So if you
say cheating the system, I almost feel like we're getting
to a stage where everyone is looking so similar because
of the work that they're getting. And if anything, sometimes
when I see someone who has had a lot of
(34:00):
anti aging procedures, sometimes it can actually make them look older. Yeah,
that's what I didn't really get about victorious apparent reasoning
behind posting because for the last ten years, people have
been really transparent about getting botox and what that procedure is. Like,
It's not like it's this earth shattering, lifting the curtain moment.
Like her content is one of a lot of similar
(34:22):
content out there, and I personally think now it's pretty
easy to tell who's got botox and who doesn't. I've
been seeing a lot of tiktoks that are like, are
we getting botox? Or are we having more children? And
the whole thing is, I personally don't care what people
do to their own faces. I just don't like when
people glamorize it and they make it so the norm
that it's unusual. If you don't want to do that
(34:44):
to your face, that's what scares me. I think everyone
just thinks, oh, I've had a baby now, so I'm
just going to go and get all of these cosmetic
procedures done because that's what everyone else is doing online
and it might not suit your face. Yeah. But then
there is also the argument, which I think is a
valid one, that if women go and get these procedures
done in secret, it's really difficult for the women who
don't because they're comparing themselves to people unrealistic standard online. Yeah.
(35:07):
But in saying that, we've all just said that people
who don't get it seem to be in the minority
these days. So and we know so much about it
that we can tell the telltale signs of it. I
think there are influencers out there, though, that are putting
up content similar to this to rage bait their audience
in order to start some kind of online debate that
(35:29):
then turns into some morning show segment. I've seen it
a lot recently. So they're sort of phishing for followers
to write something nasty to them in the comments section
that they can then share, and then it turns into
a pr opportunity for them until here on a morning show.
I've seen it so much. I'm not saying that Victoria
Devine was specifically doing that, but there have been other
influencers who you can just tell abaiting their audience and
(35:52):
then when they finally get the reactions say on TikTok
that they want, they're like fantastic. Now we can talk
about it on our podcast. Now we can go on
the morning show and talk about it. It's this pr
strategy to get them more attention. I think influencers need
to be really careful because there are some that I
noticed that that is their mo that is their media strategy.
(36:12):
They have teams behind them. But then you get into
the abby chatfield territory that we were talking about, where
the media then turn you into a caricature and then
they are the ones that start painting your storylines rather
than you feeding them storylines. Well, that is where we're
going to leave things today. But if you want to
hear more from us, we drop a subscriber only episode
(36:33):
every Thursday for our Outspoken Plus subscribers. If you want
to sign up, it's just five ninety nine a month.
All the details to sign up in our show notes.
We also have a second podcast called The Mums Group.
So if you want to listen to that that drops
on a Wednesday, just search the mums group on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
or wherever you listen to podcasts. This podcast was recorded
(36:53):
on the traditional land of the Ghana people of the
Adelaide Planes. We pay respect to elders past and present
Speaker 2 (37:01):
Appon a domper many mon
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