Footage has emerged of Don Burke, 70, saying he loved ‘nothing more than a good f***’ on live television in front of a shocked panel on Channel 10.
The footage reemerged after bombshell allegations published by the ABC and Fairfax that the TV legend sexually harassed numerous female colleagues and young women, including a teenage girl.
The TV personality’s accusers include former TV producers, crew members and TV hopefuls on his show Burke’s Backyard, which ran on Australian TV for 17 years until it was axed in 2004.
Creepy footage of Mr Burke on Can of Worms, which aired in 2011, shows the TV personality discussing his love of swearing and his belief it was ‘equality to cuss in front of women’.
Confronting footage of Mr Burke on Can of Worms, which aired in 2011, shows the TV personality discussing his love of swearing and his belief it was ‘equality to cuss in front of women’
‘I love swearing, I think it’s absolutely fantastic,’ Mr Burke said.
‘And I’ll be perfectly honest, I love nothing more than a good f***.’
Mr Burke appeared to shock fellow panellists who appeared on the show, including Jessica Rowe, Meshel Laurie, Tom Ballard and Ian Dickson.
Ms Rowe, now co-host of Studio 10, gasped as she listened to Mr Burke’s claims, saying: ‘I always thought he was such a nice man, looking after people’s gardens’.
Mr Burke, who was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for his service to conservation of the environment in 2010, went on to explain why he thought swearing in front of women was a sign of equality.
‘Once when men were up here and women and children were down there, you didn’t swear in front of them, maybe as equality comes, you relax those things,’ he said.
Ms Rowe, now co-host of Studio 10, gasped as she listened to Mr Burke’s claims, saying: ‘I always thought he was such a nice man, looking after people’s gardens’
Ms Rowe turned away in disgust as the gardening legend went on to say the word c*** was ‘the only good word left’
To make his point, Mr Burke turned to Jessica Rowe and said: ‘I think you’re f***ing great’.
Ms Rowe turned away in disgust as the gardening legend went on to say the word c*** was ‘the only good word left’.
Sensational claims surfaced on Sunday night alleging Mr Burke sexually harassed and bullied women during his time as the star of Burke’s Backyard.
Former researcher Louise Landon claimed Mr Burke made her watch a bestiality video featuring a woman in a sex act with a donkey.
Ms Landon, then 27, claimed Mr Burke gained pleasure from her shock reaction to the video, which left her ‘speechless’ and ‘overcome’.
The footage surfaces amid bombshell allegations Mr Burke sexually harassed female colleagues
Ms Langdon claimed Mr Burke later indecently assaulted her, the ABC reported.
‘It was things like pulling at my bra strap, flicking a bra strap… pulling up my shirt to see what colour underwear I was wearing,’ she said.
A former crew member on Burke’s Backyard claimed the personality bragged about groping a teenage girl.
They claimed Mr Burke approached a group of young girls and showed them how to correctly hold their puppy.
After the disturbing encounter, Mr Burke allegedly boasted he had stroked the teenage girl’s nipple three times while showing her how to hold the dog.
Former researcher Louise Landon claimed Mr Burke (pictured together) made her watch a bestiality video featuring a woman in a sex act with a donkey
‘It was things like pulling at my bra strap, flicking a bra strap… pulling up my shirt to see what colour underwear I was wearing,’ Ms Langdon (pictured) claimed
Two former TV researchers also claimed Mr Burke groped their breasts.
Former actress Wendy Dent revealed she encountered Mr Burke while working as a children’s entertainer in the mid-1990s.
Ms Dent said she was on the phone with the gardening guru discussing work opportunities, when the phone call allegedly took a sinister turn.
‘He was talking to me about being able to help make my TV career, but starting with having me on Burke’s Backyard as kind of a featured mermaid. And he suggested, ‘Well you’ll have to audition, but you’ll have to be topless’,’ she told the publication.
‘I went from feeling like this talent with a future to feeling like I was just a pair of boobs to him, to be honest.’
Two former TV researchers also claimed Mr Burke groped their breasts
Responding to the allegations, Mr Burke said he was ‘deeply hurt and outraged’.
‘It is evident that these baseless claims concern statements from a few ex-employees who bear grudges against me,’ he said.
Mr Burke said there was ‘bitter irony’ in the allegations because he ‘had life-long opposition to sexism and misogyny’.
Mr Burke called the allegations ‘false and defamatory’.
‘My staff and I regarded the CTC productions workplace as being a very safe workplace and I am very happy to provide female and male witnesses to affirm this,’ he said in a statement.
Daily Mail Australia earlier revealed Mr Burke called in top defamation lawyer Patrick George, a senior partner at the law firm Kennedys Australia.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr George for further comment.
‘My staff and I regarded the CTC productions workplace as being a very safe workplace and I am very happy to provide female and male witnesses to affirm this,’ Mr Burke (pictured) said in a statement