MORE DRAMA FOR BEN
A week after it was revealed that Masterchef star Ben Ungermann was arrested by the Victorian sexual crime squad detectives and charged with two counts of sexual assault, following an alleged incident with a 16-year-old girl – charges he vehemently denies – the TV star is facing a new series of challenges.
Speaking to Woman’s Day, the restaurant owner’s ex-girlfriend and former manager Alicia Miller says, “I’m sorry to hear this has allegedly happened to some poor innocent girl. [Ben and I] parted ways professionally last year in June and I haven’t had contact since then.”
Before his 2017 appearance on the franchise, Ben revealed it was Alicia who pushed him to go on the show. “She really applied the pressure on me and said, ‘You’re really good, you should really just do it,’ and the rest is history,” said at the time.
After his relationship with Alicia finished, Ben, 36, moved on with South African radio and TV star Leigh-anne Williams, with the pair believed to be secretly engaged. But last week, Leigh-anne was seen out and about without an engagement ring.
What’s more, Ben has been erased from the show that made him famous, with Ten removing the cook from the show’s opening credits.
On top of that, Ben has disappeared from his family’s Brisbane-based dessert parlour, the Ungermann Brothers. His identity has been removed from the lengthy “about us” section on the shop’s website, which previously hailed him “the Ice-cream King” and spoke of his and brother Danny’s journey making “an ice-cream experience like no other”. Photos of him have also been removed.