The mother of late model Annalise Braakensiek has claimed her daughter got caught up in the Bondi Beach culture and was obsessed with perfecting her Instagram in the months leading up to her unexpected death.
Ms Braakensiek, 46, was found dead in her Sydney harbourside apartment by police at about 3.30pm on January 6. Officers treated the death as ‘non-suspicious’.
But friends and family of the high-profile elite believe the blonde haired beauty became stuck in a lifestyle she couldn’t maintain.
After a successful modelling career, a stint with television and securing herself as a bubbly Sydney personality, Ms Braakensiek turned to Instagram to share what appeared to be a picture perfect life with her fans.
Her mother, Vera Stevens, told Sunday Night she hated the 46-year-old’s social media presence because it was constructed and far from the reality.
The mother of late model Annalise Braakensiek (pictured) says her daughter got caught up in Bondi Beach culture and was obsessed with perfecting her Instagram
Ms Braakensiek (pictured), 46, was found dead in her Sydney harbourside apartment by police at about 3.30pm on January 6
‘I never looked at her Instagram, I never looked at her Facebook, because it upset me,’ Ms Stevens told the progam.
‘It wasn’t true. She’d put a post like that on Instagram, she’d ring me and say, ”I can’t breathe. I’m so depressed”,’ she said.
Ms Braakensiek lived in the celebrity fast-lane where drug-use was common practice, according to her loved ones.
Mrs Stevens said the 46-year-old often got distracted by the lifestyle and would lose touch.
‘I’d ring her every day and often she wouldn’t answer the phone and wouldn’t send a message for quite a while, and it’s the hardest thing in the world,’ she said.
Ms Braakensiek (pictured) lived life in the celebrity fast-lane where drug-use was common practice, according to her loved ones
‘She’d put a post like that on Instagram, she’d ring me and say, ”I can’t breathe. I’m so depressed”,’ Ms Stevens (pictured) said
Ms Stevens said she didn’t understand the environment her daughter became obsessed with.
Ayesha Rose, a friend of Ms Braakensiek’s, told Sunday Night Ms Braakensiek put a lot of physical stress on herself to look the part.
Ms Rose, who met the model during the height of her career, said the Bondi lifestyle of ‘instant gratification for a nice moment’ is ‘absolutely dangerous’.
‘I think in any scene, there are drugs involved. There’s a lot of alcohol and if that’s being done regularly, you’re not going to be thinking straight, you’re going to be depressed,’ she said.
Ms Rose admitted she had tried to ‘shake’ her friend out of the world she was stuck in.
Ms Stevens doesn’t think her daughter (pictured) was killed by her depression
Friends and family gather at south Bondi in tribute for Ms Braakensiek on Januar 16
Paul Fenech, the creator of Fat Pizza – which Ms Braakensiek starred in – said she was a sweet, loving person who was down-to-earth.
Mr Fenech referred to the old cliche of ‘be careful of what you wish for’ in discussing his former colleague’s downfall.
‘And you think it’s gonna be great, but it comes with, the pressure of kind of keeping your image just weighs on you all the time. You know, for some people, it’s very hard. Some people can’t deal with it.’
Ms Stevens and Ms Rose don’t think Ms Braakensiek was killed by her depression, but rather a fatal accident, caused by the Bondi culture of drug use.
‘I believe that she went out New Years Eve and she partied and partied and she made a fatal mistake with what she ingested,’ Ms Stevens said.
For confidential support call the Lifeline 24-hour crisis support on 13 11 14.
Anyone across Australia experiencing a personal crisis or thinking about suicide can contact Lifeline.