Brisbane radio host Robin Bailey responds to bullying claims amid tearful cooking challenge meltdown

Brisbane radio host Robin Bailey has responded to suggestions of bullying after her emotional on-air breakdown caused by looming cooking segment.

Brisbane radio host, Robin Bailey, hit back at allegations of workplace bullying following her emotional breakdown during an on-air conversation with celebrity chef Matt Preston on Friday.

The epic meltdown was triggered by the looming ‘Robin Can’t Cook’ kitchen segment, an upcoming cooking competition where Bailey, a self-professed bad cook, is set to prepare a three-course lunch this coming Thursday, June 8, at the Normanby Hotel.

Online fans rushed to Bailey’s defence after her emotional on-air confession that she perceived her colleagues to be expecting her to fail, sparked workplace bullying concerns among listeners.

“This kind of bullying would be called out if it were any other fear that people would deem ‘warranted’,” one fan argued.

“It doesn’t matter what you’re putting someone forward to do, however trivial or funny you think it is, it’s not trivial or funny for the person you’re forcing into action. This is bullying, end of story.”

But the veteran broadcaster quashed the rumours, explaining her tearful meltdown as a personal issue, not bullying, insisting that she was not bullied into participating in the cooking competition that left her in tears live on-air.

Robin Bailey breaks down on air. Picture: Instagram @kiis973bne

Talking with fellow hosts Terry Hansen and Kip Wightman, Bailey confessed that she has avoided cooking her entire adult life due to the vulnerability and fear it caused her.

“I’m afraid I’m a bad mother because I can’t cook,” Bailey confessed.

Friends of the radio host reassured her and tried to alleviate her fears by breaking down the cooking process for her.

“Mate you can do a lot of other sh*t,” Bailey’s friend Nessie said.

“You won’t kill people, no one’s going to die … Your kids have come to terms with the fact that you’re not an amazing cook. That doesn’t mean you don’t provide food, there’s food there, you facilitate someone else preparing it.

“We’re not crying over steak and chips.”
Fans of the show were then treated to some reassurances from Bailey on Monday, when she confirmed on-air that her cooking-related meltdowns were over.

She went on to explain that she will be participating in the cooking challenge under the condition that she can familiarise herself with the industrial kitchen at the Normanby Hotel beforehand, reiterating that she won’t back down from a challenge, despite the trepidation,

“The way that I want to move forward is that I don’t really understand what’s involved in an industrial kitchen, so I actually want to go and have a look,” she said.

“I’m going to do it and not because not because of any other reason that for me personally, I won’t ever shy away from a challenge and if something causes that big an emotional reaction, it’s something I’ve got to face” she said.