“I felt trapped and hopeless every single day.”
Note: The following article contains discussion of themes including bullying.
Home and Away star Penny McNamee has revealed more on her upsetting bullying ordeal.
The actor, who played Tori Morgan on the Australian soap, recently opened up about her experiences with bullying in a heartfelt post on Instagram.
McNamee explained that she was “terribly bullied” by a group of girls at her school, which left her crying every day for six months and losing her “sense of joy”.
After receiving an “overwhelming” response from parents and children who shared similar experiences, McNamee has now written an article for Australian magazine Mamamia in which shares more details of her childhood struggles.
“When I was in Year 9 at a private girls’ school, I was relentlessly bullied by three girls. For the two years prior, they had been my closest friends. Then one day they decided to stop talking to me,” she wrote.
McNamee “vividly” recalled the girls walking past her and laughing, which she initially thought was a joke. Instead, it was the start of a “six-month campaign” to “isolate and humiliate” her.
She went on to describe being whispered and laughed at when she entered a classroom, as well as being frozen out of conversations and avoided for no reason – which left her feeling “trapped and hopeless every single day”.
“I was a naturally happy kid, always able to find joy and laughter in my day. So you can imagine my parents’ concern when their joy-filled, 14-year-old girl couldn’t smile anymore,” she said.
After months of turmoil, McNamee’s parents made the “difficult” decision to pull her out of the school. The soap star later joined a co-educational school, which she describes as “the greatest gift”.
“I found beautiful, inclusive, creative friends who are still my friends today,” McNamee added. “I landed the lead role in the school musical, which led me to pursue a career in acting. Changing schools gave me the opportunity to start afresh, in a new environment where no one knew me and I could be whoever I wanted to be.”
She concluded: “Looking back, I see a desperate child who didn’t have the power to change her situation. The school didn’t have the power to change the situation either.
“But yesterday, I cried as I thanked my mum and dad for advocating for 14-year-old me by pulling me out of my school. I’ll be forever grateful that they did.”
McNamee joined Home and Away as Tori Morgan in 2016, before leaving the show in 2021 after Tori got married to Christian Green. The actor returned to the soap as a writer last year, before making a surprise guest appearance in April.
Home and Away airs weekdays at 1.45pm on Channel 5, with repeat screenings at 6pm on 5STAR and first look screenings at 6.30pm on 5STAR. Selected classic episodes are available via Prime Video in the UK.
