Extraordinary Stories

Professional athlete and nutritionist, Teigan O'Shannassy is a cereal expert and ex-perfectionist with a very full plate - who also has a 90 year old housemate.  In this episode, host Liz Ellis, former netball champion turned busy mum, sits down with the NSW Swifts defender to talk about life at "game on" pace. Balancing elite sport with the mental load of her business, Tossed Together, Teiga...

In this episode, Liz Ellis sits down with author, athlete, coach and entrepreneur Turia Pitt. Known across Australia as a beacon of fierce resilience, Turia reveals a candid, hilariously unfiltered side of herself as she opens up about the chaotic reality of parenting two young boys while running a business.  She shares how she had to unlearn her hyper-competitive athlete mindset to survive t...

Comedian Lizzy Hoo has a very full plate.  Host Liz Ellis, former netball champion turned busy mum, sits down with comedy star Lizzy Hoo to talk about life at "game on" pace. Trading a corporate 9-to-5 for the unpredictable chaos of the stage, Lizzy discusses balancing a high-octane career with the everyday messiness of her 40s. They explore how she manages a "full plate" when she's mid-tour,...

All Samantha wants is to understand why her mother wasn’t there for her. All Marie wants is a chance to make things right with her daughter — and to be part of her granddaughter’s life. But after years of distance, hurt, and misunderstanding, can a fractured bond ever truly be repaired? In this session, a mother and daughter confront the truths left unspoken, ask the questions lo...

In 2015, Australian con woman Belle Gibson was living the dream. Her app  The Whole Pantry  was hugely popular and she was about to launch a book of the same name. With hundreds of thousands of followers online, Belle had become a celebrated wellness influencer who'd overcome terminal cancer and had cured herself with healthy eating and holistic therapies. But it was all a lie. The truth...

Belle Gibson fooled not only her hundreds of thousands of followers, but the most prestigious book publishers in Australia, the tech giants of silicon valley and even her family and friends into believing she was something she was not: sick. If today, her name is synonymous with the weighty infamy of a notorious scam, there was a time before that, when she was celebrated as an inspiration. On this...

[Part 3 of 3] A month before Amy Winehouse’s death, her performance at a music festival in Serbia was resoundly panned. She was intoxicated for the whole world to see, but the silver lining of what would be labelled 'the worst gig of her career' meant she didn’t have to go on tour. It meant Amy, and those who loved her, had their hopes pinned on a chance for Amy to get better again.  On this episo...

[Part 2 of 3] After a celebrated album with her debut, Frank, and with that distinct voice and sound, Amy Winehouse got very famous, very fast. Everyone wanted a second album, but Amy had entered a whole new world. On this episode, we’ll hear how Amy’s very private struggles with mental health and addiction became headlines for a relentless tabloid culture. And, in one of the most volatile love af...

[Part 1 of 3] You can recognise it in an instant, that iconic voice and a candid style of songwriting beyond her years. The sound of Amy Winehouse was a sound unheard of since the days of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. But the name ‘Amy Winehouse’ seems to be as synonymous with talent as it is tragedy. On this season we’ll dive deep into the life of Amy. From her rise to fame, her artistry, to he...

[Part 3 of 3] In the lead-up to the Beijing Winter Olympics, the world began to wonder how and if Peng Shuai would be used in the games, and whether the IOC was going to have anything to say to the Chinese Government about their silencing of the tennis star. So how did the Chinese propaganda juggernaut shift its attention to the global sporting stage? And what happens when the international commun...

[Part 2 of 3] For three long weeks in November 2021, the tennis community, news organisations, and human rights advocates the world over had one question; Where Is Peng Shuai? In the aftermath of a Weibo post detailing allegations of sexual assault against one of China’s top political figures, concerns for Peng Shuai's freedom were escalating swiftly. Then suddenly, proof of life. In this episode,...

[Part 1 of 3] It was after 10 pm, on November 2nd, 2021 when 35-year-old Peng Shuai - China’s beloved global tennis star - sat down and began typing. Truncated sentences of an open letter, detailing an affair and sexual assault involving one of China’s highest-ranking political figures. It took only a few minutes before the post had amassed thousands of shares, likes, and comments. But within half...

[Part 2 of 2] From 2013 until just a few weeks ago, Amanda’s Bynes life was controlled by a conservatorship, governed primarily by her mum, Lynn. In the wake of Britney Spears’ bombshell revelations about her own conservatorship, the #freebritney movement turned its attention to Amanda. Knowing what we now know about conservatorships and how they can be manipulated, why did it take more than eight...

[Part 1 of 2] She was the queen of Nickelodeon, beloved by teens of the noughties. But just as her movie career was taking off, something happened to Amanda Bynes. In this two-part series, we’re looking back on the life and career of Amanda Bynes before, during and after things got out of control. We’ll dive into the paparazzi culture that hounded and taunted young Hollywood starlets, and question...

[Part 3 of 3] Charlene Wittstock had made it through years of tabloid speculation about her marriage to the Prince of Monaco, but in 2020, just as she found some peace, a new, yet very familiar scandal involving her husband rattled the palace. Then, in a matter of weeks Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene left the country and wouldn’t return for almost a year. Had a serious illness kept her away...

[Part 2 of 3] To lock down the future of the Grimaldi dynasty, Prince Albert II needed to marry and produce a legitimate heir. So when he met South African olympian Charlene Wittstock, the palace breathed a sigh of relief. Beautiful and elegant, Charlene would make the perfect princess. But when Albert’s past life as “The Playboy Prince” caught up with him, the star-studded princely wedding in Mon...

[Part 1 of 3] Seven hundred years ago a woman betrayed by the ruler of Monaco cursed the future of his family: no descendant of the House of Grimaldi would ever find happiness in marriage. On this season of Extraordinary Stories our host Emma Gillespie dives into the modern-day impact of that curse. Did it play a part in the tragic demise of the Hollywood star turned princess Grace Kelly? CREDITS...

[Part 3 of 3] In trying to put an end to the legal quagmire they found themselves in, Pamela and Tommy Lee signed away the rights to their stolen sex tape, and to any future profits it would make. It was an insult to injury, after the viral home movie saw the couple become some of the first victims of a crime often misnamed as ‘revenge porn.’ A crime so pervasive it forces many of us to ask oursel...

[Part 2 of 3] Pamela and Tommy’s most personal possession, a home video taken on their honeymoon was stolen. Within six months, it was everywhere. And everyone wanted to watch it. But in 1996, before Youtube or PornHub were invented, how did this home movie go from a stolen piece of property to the most profitable piece of pornography in the world? CREDITS Host: Emma Gillespie Written and Produced...

[Part 1 of 3] When Tommy Lee licked Pam Anderson’s face from chin to temple at a New Year's Eve party in 1995, it was the beginning of one of Hollywood’s most intense and frenzied romances. Less than two months later the bad-boy Mötley Crüe drummer and sex-symbol Baywatch actor were married on a beach in Mexico. But wedded bliss for the 90s glam couple was short-lived, after a disgruntled electric...

[Part 4 of 4] Why Linda Evangelista disappeared from public life in 2016, while her peers were still ruling runways, gracing magazine covers and spearheading beauty campaigns was a mystery. Until an Instagram post in September 2021, where she revealed herself as the victim of a rare side effect from a cosmetic procedure. Instead of freezing fat cells, Linda claims she experienced the opposite. In...

[Part 3 of 4] Professionally, Linda Evangelista was unparalleled, achieving more success than almost anyone else in the fashion industry. But her personal life was not so straight-forward. From leaving a marriage plagued with allegations of abuse, to an ill-fated relationship with a curious film star; in this episode we delve into the supermodel's loves and losses, and a scandal followed by a secr...

[Part 2 of 4] At the very top of her game, Linda Evangelista met and married one of the most powerful men in the fashion industry. Gerald Marie represented all the top supermodels and held the careers of hundreds of up-and-comers in his hand. What she didn't know was that her husband was allegedly part of a dark underbelly in the fashion industry where powerful figures sexually exploited and abuse...

[Part 1 of 4] She was one of the most photographed women in the world, now even the paparazzi are struggling to snap a photo of Linda Evangelista. The original 90s supermodel has become a recluse, while her contemporaries continue with lucrative careers, claiming a cosmetic procedure left her permanently disfigured.  But before her greatest downfall, how did this Canadian-born beauty queen become...

Subscribe to MPlus for unlimited access to Extraordinary Stories Having reached national fame, the cast of Young Talent Time split off in countless directions when their time on the show ended. Some finished their schooling and led relatively normal lives, while other soared into international fame. But with the shock cancellation of the show in 1988, some team mates lost their stepping-stone into...