GIBNEY TELLS OF ATTACK
AUSTRALIAN TV darling Rebecca Gibney says her grandfather tried to sexually assault her as a child.
Gibney was able to fight her maternal grandfather off, but refused to see him after the terrifying event.
She said her grandfather, who is deceased, had sexually abused her mother from the age of two to 15.
“He tried to touch me once but I was a very strong 12year-old and I told him to get his hands off me,” said Gibney, 52, in an upcoming episode of Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery.
However, she does not believe her mother willingly put her or her six siblings in danger.
“She never thought for a moment that he would try it on any of us,” said Gibney.
The Gold Logie winner has spoken previously about growing up in a domestic violence household in which her mother was regularly beaten by her alcoholic father.
She is a patron of women’s charity Share the Dignity.
Gibney grew up in Wellington, New Zealand, before she migrated to Australia at 19, landing her breakout role in The Flying Doctors.
Despite a trailblazing career, the actor suffered from constant panic attacks until she had a “complete and utter breakdown” in her early 30s.
“I had an amazing job, incredible friends, I was making money, but inside I was this black hole,” said Gibney.
Like so many families with trauma, the Gibneys remained silent about the abuse, which made them feel alone, she said.