Roxy Jacenko has revealed she told her two young children their jailed father Oliver Curtis is working in China – and they believe he will be back in time for Christmas.
The PR maven said it was a ‘mistake’ letting her five-year-old daughter Pixie speak to the disgraced investment banker on the phone.
She said the Instagram star ‘cried for the whole day’ after talking to Curtis – who was jailed for two years in June.
‘She spent the day in tears’: Roxy Jacenko said she made the ‘rookie error’ of putting her daughter Pixie on the phone to her jailed father Oliver Curtis (left)
Roxy, who was diagnosed with breast cancer weeks after her husband’s incarceration, spoke about Pixie’s phone call on the Kyle and Jackie O show.
‘It was the worst thing. He phoned on a Saturday she cried for the whole day after. Her first words were: ‘When are you coming home?”
‘The older you are the worst separation is. I put her on the phone on her birthday and I regretted it.
Emotional: The mother-of-two said her Instagram star daughter ‘cried for the whole day’
Support: Roxy Jacenko has revealed she puts $100-a-week into her jailed husband Oliver Curtis’ prison buy-up, pictured is the couple during the investment banker’s trial
‘I’ve said I don’t want to speak when I’m around the children.’
The founder of Sweaty Betty PR, 36, said her children believed Curtis was in China because he used to spend a lot of time there for work.
‘It’s not unusual for them. When he was working he spent a lot of time there,’ she said.
‘So when they first asked. I said back he’s in China.’
But Roxy panicked and told the youngsters that their father would be back in time for Christmas.
Battle: Roxy, who was diagnosed with breast cancer weeks after Curtis’ sentencing, said she has visited him twice at the Sydney jail
Getting back to work: The disgraced investment banker is now working as a clerk at Parklea Correctional Centre – two months after being jailed for insider trading
‘I think I was asked on the spot when dad was coming home and I said Christmas. I will have to say he’s still in China,’ she said.
Roxy has visited Parklea Correctional Centre in Sydney twice, but she has not taken her children with her.
The PR maven believes her children are both too young to be exposed to the truth of why their father is not at home.
Heartbreaking: Both Pixie and her two-year-old brother Hunter Curtis believe their father is working in China and hope he will be coming home in time for Christmas
But she told the KIIS 106.5 show she is constantly worried that they might find out and get teased in the playground.
‘It’s a constant concern. But at the moment they’re five and two, I’m not going to expose them.
‘I don’t think it’s something I need to address now. I’m very very careful.
‘But when I think it’s appropriate they’ll have their lines for response when asked about their dad ‘the one who went to jail’.
‘Your husband is a criminal’: Roxy faced tough questions from reporter Allison Langdon in a 60 Minutes special on Sunday
Roxy, who had a tumour removed from her breast two weeks ago, revealed that her children were also in the dark about the explosive 60 Minutes special on Sunday.
During the interview, she faced tough questions from reporter Allison Langdon who stated bluntly: ‘Your husband is a criminal.’
Roxy, 36, did not seem happy with the journalist’s choice of words to describe Oliver’s conviction for conspiracy to commit insider trading.
‘He was accused of stealing 1.43 million dollars,’ she continued.
Looking quietly frustrated, Roxy responded: ‘I don’t know that we should use the word ‘steal”.
Tense relationship? The 36-year-old previously snapped at Allison in another preview clip after the reporter suggested there was ‘cynicism’ over the ‘timing’ of her cancer diagnosis
Battle: In another 60 Minutes promo, Roxy was seen being pushed through a hospital ward before going into surgery to remove a tumour on her breast
She also slammed the critics who have questioned why the announcement of her breast cancer diagnosis came weeks after Oliver Curtis’ incarceration.
‘I don’t really give a f**k what they think on my timing,’ she said.
And when Allison said that ‘normal’ people were cynical about the timing, Roxy snapped back, saying: ‘Well they’re not normal Alison, change your friends.
‘You’ve got too much time on your hands if you say that. They can say that, the reality is, it’s not something that I ever thought I would face.’
Treatment: Roxy revealed the news of her breast cancer diagnosis last month and has since confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that she will undergo radiation therapy