Exhaustion, rumours caused Jo Beth to quit television
"There was a rumour that I had done a porno, and that really hurt me," reveals Jo Beth Taylor.
- Published by David Knox
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Jo Beth Taylor was at the top of her game when she quit Television suddenly in 1997, but she attributes her exit to exhaustion and false rumours that she had appeared in a porno.
Taylor, who presented on Australia’s Funniest Home Videos for 4 years and Hey Hey it’s Saturday for 2 years, spoke about the troubled time in last night’s episode of I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!
“I was too busy in hindsight. Too much pressure,” she told fellow Celebrity contender Paul Harragon.
“Flying down to Melbourne every Saturday for 2 years was hard. It doesn’t sound hard but I was also doing the Video Show, plus all the other things too. We used to have a band, playing a couple of nights a week.
“I was really burnt out and couldn’t do it anymore. I woke up one day in a ball and couldn’t stop crying for two days. I was just exhausted.”
“I probably wasn’t thinking that rationally. But I just went, ‘I want out. I don’t want to do this anymore.'”
Taylor has previously spoken about her career exhaustion but she revealed more about false rumours which haunted her during her fame.
“There was a rumour that I had done a porno, and that really hurt me.”
She told Harragon that during a flight she overheard two men discussing her, without realising she was sitting nearby.
“They start talking about me as if they’d seen the porno. And I was sitting there and I could hear everything,” she said.
“It was really off. It made my stomach turn and I just thought, ‘What am I doing this for?’
“It was affecting everyone in my family. I felt condemned even though I’d never done anything wrong. But there was nothing I could do.”
Meanwhile ironwoman Courtney Hancock was the first eliminated from the TEN series, last night.
6 Responses
I worked with Jo Beth before and during the period of the rumours. She was a delight to work with and kept up a brave face despite the awful circumstances. It’s great to see her back on the box and seeming so well and happy.
I have to admit l am warming to her more
I had heard the rumours. What I heard was slightly different to what she said, but I guess the affect would have been the same.
I remember reading at the time about her exhaustion & she had a breakdown, but didn’t know about the rumours. What a terrible time that must have been for her.
Other than the porno I am sure she has said this publicly before: to Womans Day or someone. The meltdown from doing too much and curling up into a ball.
Hence the story noting she had commented on exhaustion before.