Tracy Grimshaw Devastated by ACA colleague’s arrest

She’s ‘horrified’ her Current Affair co-star is being investigated for child porn offences

Tracy Grimshaw prides herself on protecting the vulnerable, so it’s little wonder she’s shaken to the core after the Sex Crimes Squad raided ACA’S headquarters and arrested her long-time colleague Ben Mccormack. “This has been the worst week of my life,” she told close friends, who say she’s so devastated at the betrayal of someone she felt she knew, she can’t even bear to say his name. “She won’t talk to anyone about it. This really is her worst nightmare. To have someone she worked with and trusted for years arrested for child porn… she’s been staying at home, only leaving to do the show.” Tracy, 56, was away on assignment when the reporter was arrested last week, but returned to hosting the next night, professional and stern-faced – without one mention of the scandal engulfing ACA.

“I honestly don’t think she can bring herself to even talk about it,” one friend says.

“She’s crusaded against paedophiles all her life, and Ben was the reporter who covered the child molestation case of [former Hey Dad..! star] Robert Hughes. It couldn’t get any worse.”

A former colleague says everyone at ACA feels betrayed that Ben’s private life has cast a shadow over the Nine show.

The veteran lifesaver trained young lifesavers at North Bondi, and directed a short film in 2000 about a young man who has a sexual encounter with his father in a bathhouse. He also boasted of dating “young-looking” men.

“It’s fair to say Tracy was more than relieved she was away and unable to host the show when Ben was arrested,” a Nine insider says. “He’s been reprimanded for some of his behaviour in the past, but this came as a massive shock.”

Last Wednesday, Ben, 42, was admitted to an institution for mental health treatment after failing to report to police as part of his strict bail conditions. He will appear at Downing Centre Local Court on May 1, charged with using a carriage service to send child pornography.

‘She won’t talk to anyone about it… it’s her worst nightmare’