Benji Marshall recently shared a never before told story about his childhood while appearing on Australia's Celebrity Apprentice. The Whakatane-born NRL legend had to present a business idea to the judges. Marshall came up with a six-part docu-series about him finding his father - who he has never met.
"This is a story that I've never told," he started his pitch. "I've never ever talked about this because it's meant so much to me."
A highlight of Benji carving up a defence and scoring a try then plays on a TV next to him. "That's the Benji Marshall everyone else sees. The Benji Marshall that everyone else thinks they know. that's not the real me," he says to the judges. "I don't even know the real me," he continues.
He then goes on to explain that his mum had him when she was just 15, and at times growing up in 'small-town New Zealand' was really hard.
Marshall also revealed that kids at school bullied him for not knowing his own father, which led to him crying on the playground. One day he decided to ask his mum who his father was and said that her reaction has stuck with him his whole life. "I'll never forget the look on her face. It was the look of fear, worry, and it actually made me scared and I never asked her again. I still don't know to this day," he said. Not only would Marshall's vulnerability get him through to the next round, but our very own would go on to win the whole show.
Marshall seems poised for a hugely successful post-playing career, with his charisma, his own rugby league talk show, a celebrity apprentice win, and a willingness to open up and share his truth with a massive audience. Go on Benji!
