Steve ‘Commando’ Willis ‘stalker’ story questioned in appeal against AVO

The lawyer for a woman accused of stalking the celebrity trainer has put his story under the microscope – but a court heard he just wants to be left alone.

The lawyer for an ex-client of The Biggest Loser star Steve ‘Commando’ Willis has suggested the personal trainer may have let their ugly dispute play out in court as a “media grab”.

June ‘Margate’ Yue is appealing an AVO granted against her on Mr Willis’s behalf last year, claiming they had a normal “mentor, mentee” relationship and alleging he lied to paint her as a stalker.

However, Crown prosecutor Amanda-Lee James told the NSW District Court the former TV hardman was genuinely concerned about Ms Yue’s behaviour and there was no hidden agenda behind reporting her to police.

Steve ‘Commando’ Willis has previously told a court he was concerned with Jun Yue’s behaviour and feared for his safety.

Mr Willis, 45, just wanted to run his business and be left alone, Ms James said.

“He is a person who has a profile in the media but he should still be able to enjoy his business and maintain personal boundaries,” she said.

The appeal hearing began unexpectedly with Ms Yue’s barrister Michael Fokkes telling the court his own relationship with the client had broken down.

He was thanked for doing a “wonderful job” by Ms Yue’s solicitor Elias Tabchouri who stepped in to argue her case.

Mr Tabchouri said the matter struck at the heart of a society where people posted intimate details of their life on social media for the world to see.

Jun Yue denies claims she was stalking her for trainer. Picture: Richard Dobson

The court heard Mr Willis told police he was concerned at how Ms Yue had at certain times known his location and activities by viewing his Instagram.

Mr Tabchouri argued it appeared the fitness guru, who has 113,000 Instagram followers, wanted to “have his cake and eat it too” and asked a rhetorical question through the court.

“Her and 60,000 people know you’re cooking dinner,” he said. “Are they stalking you as well?”

Mr Tabchouri said the Rosebery woman came to respect Mr Willis greatly during the 120 one-on-one personal training sessions she attended with him over a 14-month period to May 2020.

“It’s never been suggested by him that she in any way made an intimate advance … and that’s really important,” he said.

“His marketing plan is to make her feel special – and she did feel special. The fears have to be reasonable and they are not because she hasn’t persisted.”

Steve 'Commando' Willis and his girlfriend Harika Vancuylenberg arrive for a hearing at Parramatta Local Court in October. Picture: Richard Dobson

Mr Tabchouri claimed Mr Willis’s allegations – which centred on six events between November 2019 and May 2020 – were “trivial” and “petty”.

Among them was Ms Yue arriving at Sydney Airport to offer Mr Willis a lift home without his request after he returned from a training getaway to Tahiti.

She also turned up outside his home on Christmas Eve 2019 with presents for him, then-wife Michelle Bridges and their kids.

Mr Tabchouri claimed the relationship only soured when a financial dispute surfaced between the two and Mr Willis allegedly scratched Ms Yue on the arm.

He also pondered why the father-of-four did not attend a court ordered mediation meeting last year, which could have put the dispute to bed.

“Is this some kind of media grab on his behalf?”

Steve Willis with chats with police outside his Rouse Hill home last year. Picture: David Swift

Ms James said the scratch was “clearly an accident” and had amounted to nothing.

She said neither party had been able to produce text messages showing Mr Willis asking Ms Yue not to contact him, but argued they had other means of conversations.

“But in any event the (Mr Willis’s) evidence is he felt uncomfortable, enough was enough, and he did the appropriate thing and he went and saw police and an APVO was applied for on his behalf,” she said.

“If (Ms Yue) consented to the APVO we wouldn’t be here today and it wouldn’t be an issue.”

Earlier, Mr Tabchouri asked why Mr Willis would continue training Ms Yue for several months after the first allegedly concerning event in November 2019 if he was threatened by her.

“What we see in 14 months is not one message produced, not one, to indicate there’s an issue,” he said.

Judge James Bennett has reserved his decision on the appeal, which is to be handed down next week.