Marshall makes passionate plea
Reality TV winner keen to document a personal search
When NRL great Benji Marshall was crowned the winner on Australia’s The Celebrity Apprentice on Tuesday night, he couldn’t believe it.
“Who would’ve thought, just a washed-up footy player winning Celebrity Apprentice,” he said at the time.
But days ahead of the footy legend’s win, he shared an emotional story with the judges. To secure his place in the grand final, Marshall had to pitch his business idea to the judges: a six-part docuseries focused on finding his father.
It’s something he’s “never, ever talked about publicly”, he shared on the show.
As a montage from his iconic rugby league career played on screen, Marshall told the judges: “That’s the Benji Marshall that everyone else sees. The Benji Marshall that everyone else thinks they know.
“Three hundred games for the NRL, runs round the footy field, all these big moves . . . that’s not the real me.
“You know how I know that? ‘Cause I don’t even know the real me. There’s a half of me missing that I haven’t found out about.”
Marshall went on to reveal that growing up in Whakata¯ ne, he never knew his real father. He was born when his mum was just 15 years old.
There’s a half of me missing that I haven’t found out about. I don’t know my culture, I don’t know my nationality. Who am I? Benji Marshall
“I don’t know my culture, I don’t know my nationality. Who am I?
“I have this vivid memory of a seven-year-old little Ma¯ ori boy in his lounge room holding a butter knife, scared, sitting back in the dark in the corner so no one could come from behind and get me.
“All I wanted was someone to save me, someone to tuck me in, someone to love me. All I wanted was a dad.
“In the playground at school when I was a kid, the kids would tease me: ‘ha, you don’t know your dad, you don’t know your dad’.
“And I would sit there in the playground crying because I felt different to everyone else.”
One moment that stayed with him for years was when he asked his mum who his dad was, he said.
“I’ll never forget the look on her face. It was the look of fear, worry, and it actually made me scared and I never asked her again. I still don’t know to this day,” Marshall shared.
He then told the judges that in the docuseries, he wants to take viewers on a journey to find out who his real father is — and who he is himself.
Marshall appeared alongside radio stars, models, singers and other sports stars on The Celebrity Apprentice Australia, a spin on the US Apprentice format which sees celebrities compete to raise money for their chosen charity.
The four-time NRL All Star announced his retirement in October last year after 19 seasons in a career that saw him suit up for the Wests Tigers, St George Illawarra Dragons, Brisbane Broncos and South Sydney Rabbitohs, as well as a short stint for the Blues in Super Rugby.
Marshall, also the longest-serving Kiwis captain, was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to rugby league.