TV chef Silvia Colloca tells men why they ‘can’t stop a woman on the street’

A popular television personality has shared the unsettling moment she felt unsafe when a man tried to “aggressively” chat her up during a walk.

Celebrity chef and opera singer Silvia Colloca has shared a disturbing encounter with a man who “aggressively” tried to chat her up on the street to illustrate how women fear for their safety.

The popular Italian chef was emotional and almost teary in the video as she recounted going for a walk near her hotel when she was approached by the stranger.

“So I was walking in the street, and this guy, quite aggressively tried to chat me up under the disguise of friendly banter, and I didn’t want it, so I brushed him off,” Colloca said in the video posted to Instagram.

Television personality Silvia Colloca has shared her safety fears after an encounter with an aggressive male. Picture: Tim Hunter.

When she returned to her hotel after her walk some time later – Colloca did not disclose her location in the video – the man was in the lobby and again approached her, demanding an explanation for her not wanting to engage with him.

“He’s in the lobby, and he has a go at me for dismissing him earlier, and he said to me, ‘What’s wrong with you? I just wanted to chat to you.’”

Colloca told him women do not feel safe when randomly bailed out by a stranger for a “chat”.

“I said, ‘Look, I don’t know you. You can’t stop a woman on the street and expect her to want it because we don’t, because we don’t feel safe’,” she said.

The actor, cook and singer said she was posting the video in an attempt to educate the “beautiful men in our lives’ how “distraught” women have become about their safety, even when taking a walk in “broad daylight.”

“To all the beautiful, sensitive men in our lives or that we may meet, please know we need to feel safe,” she wrote.

Among those who responded to Colloca, who is married to acclaimed actor Richard Roxburgh, was Sam Neill who commented, “We hear you!”

Colloca with husband Richard Roxburgh. Picture: Damian Shaw

Her PSA video comes after American-Irish actor Saoirse Ronan went viral with her response to male actors Paul Mescal and Eddie Redmayne who were discussing self-defence techniques on the Graham Norton show.

The men were joking about the advice of using a mobile phone as a weapon against an attacker when Ronan shut them down.

“That’s what girls have to think about all the time. Am I right, ladies?” Period.” she said in response.

Originally published as TV chef Silvia Colloca tells men why they ‘can’t stop a woman on the street’