Shaynna Blaze reveals nightmare workplace encounter: ‘They trapped me’

Shaynna Blaze has revealed a terrifying nightclub incident with past colleagues that left her “hysterical” and “throwing things” to escape.

It was 1am on a weeknight and Shaynna Blaze was ready to head home after a fun night out at a Melbourne club.

Rather than be walked safely to her car, she would be blindsided by a group of men she thought were her friends who forced her into a scenario resembling every woman’s worst nightmare.

Blaze, who at the time was a student at RMIT University, had been out for a dance with male colleagues she worked with at a local restaurant, when they ran into their former boss, who was working at the club they were partying at.

Towards the end of the night, when she said she wanted to leave, Blaze’s colleagues “turned all the lights off”, “locked all the doors” and trapped her inside, before “offering” her up to the boss.

“The guy that I worked for had a crush on me, and I didn’t know this,” Blaze, now 61, began.

“So I was among people I knew at this club. And then all of a sudden the younger guys started laughing and turned all the lights off and basically said to the guy [boss], ‘here’s your gift.’

“These guys presented me … And I knew these people. That’s what was so frightening.”

Shaynna Blaze has recalled a nightmare situation involving past male colleagues.

Petrified and unable to see in the dark, Blaze began feeling for objects behind the bar that she might be able to use to protect herself.

“I went hysterical. I started grabbing things from the bar. I couldn’t see anything because we were all in the dark, and I was screaming, I was throwing things,” she remembered.

“And the guy started saying, ‘I won’t hurt you.’ This went on for probably five minutes, and then the doors opened and all the guys just laughed and went, ‘Oh, that was a bit of fun.’

“They were gifting me to the boss. That’s what they were doing. It wasn’t a proposition. And I think it was only because I was so hysterical and went crazy that they stopped it.”

Blaze ran to her car, drove home and opted not to report the incident to police because “nothing actually happened”.

But as gender-based violence boils over yet again, following a spate of attacks against women in Australia, Blaze feels a duty to add her voice to a chorus which, frustratingly, has played on loop in the background for too long.

Inequality is also the inspiration behind The Block star’s debut single, Warrior, a power anthem encouraging women in their fight to be heard and believed.

The song, which was officially released on Friday, was co-written by ARIA Award winning and multi-platinum selling recording artist Gary Pinto.

Blaze has released her debut single, Warrior. Picture: Catherine Black

“In my experience, nothing happened to me, so I didn’t report it. But it’s an attitude we’re trying to break down,” Blaze said.

“We talk about misogyny and we talk about the workplace, but I don’t think men really understand the vulnerability of women trying to do their job and being treated as though they’re an object.

“We need to work on perpetrators. We need to work on stopping them becoming perpetrators. We need to look at the cycle of violence.

“It is a very layered problem, but the fact that we’re starting and we’re getting the attention is a good spot to be in, but to me, it’s still a little bit too late.

“It is disheartening, heartbreaking, and I’m really angry. Why do we as women have to march to be heard? Why do we have to march to save our own lives?”

While Warrior was written as a universal feminist anthem – with iconic words from Julia Gillard, Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins sounding out the intro to the track – it’s also a deeply personal chapter in Blaze’s own story.

The lyrics were inspired by a situation she went through just before and during the Covid-19 pandemic, where she was left feeling “silenced”.

“I’d prefer not to go into it, it’s very personal, but there was a lot going on that I couldn’t speak up. I was actually suppressed on what I could say and what I couldn’t say,” she said.

“And the frustration of what was swirling around me … I was shoved down, and it was a case of me having to be silent for a long time and not knowing when you can use your voice, because we all need to speak up, and that’s really where it came from.”

It also heralds the beginning of a career pivot Blaze, who is most known among local viewers for her eye for interiors on shows like Selling Houses Australia and of course, The Block.

But after her unexpected cameo on last year’s The Masked Singer, in which she was the ‘bluebottle’, Blaze was ready to take the leap and pursue a passion that laid dormant for years.

Blaze on last year’s Masked Singer. Picture: Ten

The TV star is preparing to release her debut EP. Picture: Sam Tabone/Getty Images

“It is a risk. I could fall flat on my face,” she said.

“I’ve done little bits of singing that if people have seen it, they’re really looking for it. A little tune on The Block once, and on Selling Houses and Carols by Candlelight … But it wasn’t really something I thought I was going to fully get into.

“It was during this process of writing that was quite cathartic for me, and I went, I need to do something with this.

“Gary really gave me a big push in saying, ‘You have to release this. What’s the use of writing it if you’re not going to release it?’

“But there is that fear of releasing it and [people] going, ‘Who does she think she is?’ And I know people will say that no matter what, but for me, it feels right.

“I’m a big believer is if you are doing something that excites you, ignites you, makes you feel alive, and you’re not hurting anybody, you have every right to do it.”

While the mother-of-two will continue working in the interior design and TV spaces, she aspires to pave an equally burgeoning career in music, with her debut EP (extended play) coming out soon.

“We’ve recorded a whole heap of songs, and I would love to do a few shows,” she said.

“I see how my beautiful musician friends doing big tours, I don’t think I will do that, but I will look at live performances, and using my songs as storytelling.”

Warrior is available to stream on all music platforms now.

Originally published as Shaynna Blaze reveals nightmare workplace encounter: ‘They trapped me’