Scandals, drugs, murder: Full list of crime-accused Australian celebrities
Alleged Beauty and the Geek murderer Tamika Sueann-Rose Chesser isn’t the first Aussie star to be accused of a serious felony. From Paulini to Shannon Noll, here’s the full list of famed crime crises.
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Life in the spotlight isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes fame turns out to be a curse.
Horrifying details continue to emerge after former Beauty and the Geek contestant Tamika Sueann-Rose Chesser was hit with murder charges. The story sparked international headlines, with police still searching for her partner’s decapitated head.
The grim findings are certainly not the first time a civilian turned reality TV personality has made front page news for the wrong reasons.
There are plenty of instances of Australian reality personalities who have faced public scandals, legal threats and courted controversy, finding themselves facing serious charges or on the wrong side of the law.
KATE DeARAUGO, AUSTRALIAN IDOL
The third winner of Australian Idol in 2005, the singer later found herself courting controversy.
After finding fame overnight at the age of 18, she later fell into a dark time, spiralling into an ice addiction.
In 2017, the performer was convicted of drug possession, drug driving and possessing a knife and a tomahawk and fronting a Bendigo Magistrates Court.
Seven years sober from the highly addictive drug she recently spoke out about how winning the reality singing competition helped fuel her drug addiction.
SUZI TAYLOR, THE BLOCK
Rising to prominence on the 2015 season of The Block, the former Penthouse pet has made headlines for all the wrong reasons over the journey, including a bizarre alleged “honey trap” kidnapping.
The renovation star turned sex worker narrowly missed jailtime, facing court following a raft of drug-related charges, including allegations she trafficked the drug ice, cannabis, MDMA and heroin over five months and possessed multiple weapons.
She was ultimately found not guilty.
ALTIYAN CHILDS, X FACTOR
The winner of the second series of X Factor Australia in 2010 found fame soon hit hard. After taking home the crown, the singer disappeared from his scheduled press appearances and was later found dwelling in a cave.
In January 2012, Childs was found guilty in Taree Local Court of having methamphetamine and marijuana in his system after being pulled over while driving in November 2011.
His driver’s licence was suspended for six months and he was fined $600. More than a decade later Childs has revealed he is ready to step back on the stage.
JULIE GOODWIN, MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA
Hailed as the ultimate home cook, the inaugural winner of MasterChef Australia in 2009 later found herself in hot water.
In 2019 after a battle with the bottle, Goodwin was caught fleeing from a police breath test while more than double the legal limit.
A stint in a mental health stay saw Goodwin return to the spotlight saying she was devastated by her actions after pleading guilty to drink driving.
PAULINI CURUENAVULI, AUSTRALIAN IDOL
In December 2017 former Australian Idol contestant Paulini Curuenavuli avoided jail and instead was handed a six-month suspended sentence for bribing a NSW government employee to obtain an unrestricted driver’s licence.
The then 35-year-old had pleaded guilty in September 2017 to paying a NSW Roads and Maritime Services official $850 in exchange for the fake licence and three months later appeared in court to find out her penalty.
Curuenavuli placed fourth in the first season of Australian Idol in 2003.
SHANNON NOLL, AUSTRALIAN IDOL
Former Australian Idol star Shannon Noll pleaded guilty to drug possession in Sydney in October 2018 and was placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond while avoiding conviction. The Sutherland Local Court heard police had caught Noll with 0.53 grams of cocaine at Sydney’s Caringbah Hotel in September that year.
He was charged with one count of possessing a prohibited drug.
INES BASIC, MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT
Married At First Sight contestant Ines Basic had a forgettable Christmas Day in 2018.
After having a few drinks at her sister’s home in Redland Bay, Queensland, she allegedly rammed her sister’s car. Police were called.
Fast forward to March 2019 where Basic pleaded guilty in the Cleveland Magistrates Court to mid-range drink driving, driving with undue care and attention, commit public nuisance and contravene a police direction.
She was sentenced to 70 hours of community service, disqualified from driving for three months and told by a magistrate to “get some perspective on life”.
She avoided having a conviction recorded against her.
JORDAN DOWSETT, LOVE ISLAND AUSTRALIA
In early November 2022, Love Island Australia contestant Jordan Dowsett was busted by police drunk behind the wheel of a golf buggy at a major Gold Coast intersection on his way back from a food run to a servo.
Later that month, Dowsett, 25 at the time, pleaded guilty to mid-range drink driving in Southport Magistrate’s Court on November 28.
His licence was disqualified for six months and he was fined $750. Dowsett appeared on Love Island Australia in 2022.
TIM SMITH, MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT
Married At First Sight star Tim Smith was hiding a dark secret, that he had done time in a US jail after being busted in a drug smuggling sting in the early 2000s when he appeared on the smash hit show in 2024.
After the wildly successful 2024 MAFS season wrapped, Smith revealed he had been jailed in America for a year in 2006/2007 for flying marijuana via helicopter into the US from Canada as part of a wider illegal dope smuggling scheme.
Smith said he flew more than 20 trips carrying marijuana from Canada to the US in 2006 over a three-month period, being paid $100,000 for each delivery. He was arrested in June 2006. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to import marijuana into the US and was jailed for a year and a day. He returned to Australia on release.
In April last year Smith said he was relieved to no longer be hiding his past and hoped his experience would be a lesson to others that dumb choices can come at a high cost.
“It only takes one time to f--k your whole life up,” he said.
BEN UNGERMANN, MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA
In 2021 the former MasterChef contestant avoided conviction after admitting to assault of a teenage girl.
The chef, who appeared on the reality cooking show in 2017, admitted to assaulting a 16-year-old girl in a Docklands hotel room in Melbourne after giving her alcohol.
After being cleared of sexual assaults and avoiding criminal conviction, the former body builder and chef relocated to South Africa.
He has since moved to the Maldives where he is currently working in a restaurant and speaking out about bettering himself and mental health.
GEORGIA TRIPOS, THE BACHELOR
In November 2020, former Bachelor star Georgia Tripos was placed on a community corrections order after advertising party drugs online and selling cocaine to an undercover police officer.
Tripos, 29 at the time, was sentenced to a three-year community corrections order and ordered to complete 150 hours of community service after she pleaded guilty in the Victorian County Court to one charge of trafficking in a drug of dependence and one charge of knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime.
An investigation was launched after police noticed a suspicious online ad for “white VIP” which led to Tripos and a friend being arrested in 2017.
Tripos appeared on The Bachelor in 2016 where she vied for the attention of ‘Bachelor’ Richie Strahan.
DERYCK JAMES WARD, BIGGEST LOSER
A contestant on The Biggest Loser, he made headlines after being edited out of the show before it hit screens after being arrested for possessing child pornography. Jailed for the has offence after fronting a Brisbane court, he was arrested after police found objectionable material at his Queensland home.
CLAUDEAN BERNADETTE UAMAKI-MU and ANTHONY MICHAEL MU, MKR
Appearing on Channel 7’s reality cooking competition in 2023, the Queensland couple had suppression orders lifted earlier this year naming them. Anthony Michael Mu is awaiting trial scheduled next month following child assault charges. In May Claudean Uamaki-Mu spoke out after pleading guilty to charges of common assault related to a child, claiming she had “nothing to hide”.
Authorities alleged the offences took place over two decades between 2005 and 2020.
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