Sydney 2000 Olympics star Nikki Webster in domestic violence crisis
She was the darling of the Sydney Olympics and recently starred on The Masked Singer, but behind the spotlight Nikki Webster has been hiding her secret heartbreak — her estranged husband Matthew McMah has been convicted of assaulting her.
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She was the darling of the Sydney Olympics and recently starred on The Masked Singer, but behind the spotlight Nikki Webster has been hiding her secret heartbreak as a victim of domestic violence.
Her estranged Qantas flight attendant husband Matthew McMah was earlier this year convicted of assaulting her after he grabbed her and she fell to the ground, The Saturday Telegraph can reveal.
It comes as former Home And Away star Kate Ritchie moved out of her Randwick home after police took out an AVO against her former NRL player husband Stuart Webb.
And retired Rabbitohs icon Sam Burgess was this week charged with intimidating the father of his estranged wife Phoebe Hooke, after police took out an apprehended domestic violence order against Burgess on behalf of Mitchell Hooke.
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Ms Webster, 32, and Mr McMah, 39, both declined to comment yesterday, but court documents show that he was convicted of common assault domestic violence and fined $880 in July at Downing Centre Local Court.
Ms Webster, the former child star who topped the charts as a 14-year-old with her hit single Strawberry Kisses after her appearance at the opening of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, was assaulted outside her Sydney dance studio on June 8.
The couple, who have two children, got into a heated argument when Mr McMah pulled up outside the Leichardt studio about 2.30pm, according to the police fact sheet tendered to court. Ms Webster leaned into the back of Mr McMah’s car when he “began slowly rolling the car forward a short distance and stopped” before demanding she close the door.
He then got out of the driver’s seat, removed her hands from within the car and held her forearms, “causing immediate pain and causing her to fall to the ground”, the facts state.
After Mr McMah drove off, Ms Webster ran into the studio and called police. Mr McMah had also phoned police for advice.
Mr McMah was arrested, telling officers he “simply pulled the victim’s arm away from his car and that she fell over after he let her go”.
“He denied deliberately throwing the victim to the ground,” the fact sheet reads.
Mr McMah, who now lives with his parents at Hinchinbrook, was fined $880 for a charge of common assault domestic violence in the local court. He lost an appeal against his sentence in the District Court in August and was ordered to pay the fine.
Court records show he had been charged with the same offence of common assault domestic violence and placed on a three-month section 10 bond with no conviction recorded at Burwood Local Court in 2014.
It is believed that charge related to an incident involving Mr McMah and Ms Webster’s father.
The couple, who met on a blind date on Australia Day in 2010, had a fairytale wedding in Annandale in 2012.
The police facts said the couple had been “estranged” since 2014 but it is understood they separated last February.
After a successful career as a child star, Ms Webster opened three dance studios — in Leichhardt, Minchinbury and Erina on the Central Coast.
Recently she appeared on Channel 10’s The Masked Singer, performing behind a green alien costume, and indicated new music was on the way.
Her last single, Devilicious, was released in 2009.
Meanwhile, Phoebe Burgess is set to put her troubles aside and make an appearance at today’s Derby Day celebrations in the Lexus Marquee.
She has been lying low since her marriage breakdown with NRL player Sam, who is due to appear at Moss Vale Local Court on November 6 over the AVO matter.
Webb is due to appear at Waverley Local Court on November 7.