Talia and Ebony were physically abused by their mother. Then she was made into a TV star

Warning: This story contains details that some readers may find distressing.

Talia and Ebony endured childhood cruelty at the hands of their mother.

As adults, they finally found the courage to tell police, only to watch their mum, Claudean Uamaki-Mu, and stepfather, Anthony Mu, be celebritised on My Kitchen Rules, cooking in the very house the sisters suffered horrific violence.

Despite police laying serious charges, Channel Seven kept the cameras rolling.

“How would you describe your mother, Claudean?” A Current Affair asked the sisters.

"I think the most terrifying person I've ever met," Ebony replied.

"Yeah, I would say, horrifying," Talia added tearfully.

Claudean and Anthony were advertised on My Kitchen Rules as the "fiery Italian" and "super-chilled Samoan".

"I'm Anthony and this is my wife Claudean," Anthony can be heard saying in the promo.

"I think we're the best team because Anthony understands me. He can see beyond my behaviour," Claudean said.

‘The hardest and most gut-wrenching thing’

That behaviour completely destroyed the childhoods of Claudean’s daughters: Ebony, who is legally blind, and Talia.

“Watching the two hosts walk up the stairs that I’d been pushed down was the hardest and most gut-wrenching thing,” Talia told A Current Affair.

"And hearing her voice, terrifying," Ebony added.

"And to see it plastered on the internet and on the TV, it felt again like you can't escape," Talia said.

"What was it like to finally tell police what your mother had done to you both, only for you to then see Claudean and Anthony then appear on a Channel Seven reality TV show?" A Current Affair asked.

"Honestly, the hardest part was seeing the house," Talia said.

"That was a house that so much had happened in," Ebony said.

"So much, so to see it all over television is, yeah, it was really hard," Talia said, breaking down in tears.

"There was fear, you know, turning the TV on, and they'd be on, or, you know, scrolling on social media, and a reel would pop up, you've gone through all of these measures to protect yourself, detach yourself from those experiences," Ebony added.

The sisters are choosing to waive their right to anonymity for the first time on A Current Affair.

"You have spent the last three years watching your story unfold in the media but you have not been able to tell your story until now. How does it feel?" A Current Affair asked.

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"Not speaking and watching it unfold was really excruciating, it's not anything I ever anticipated having like the hardest experiences of my life being public knowledge," Talia replied.

"Do you have any happy memories with your mum or is it all clouded by cruelty?" A Current Affair asked.

"I don't, no," Talia said with a heavy heart.

"No," Ebony added after taking a deep breath.

As a child, Ebony needed mum more than most

Ebony and Talia grew up in a busy Brisbane home with a big family.

"What things were like day to day is constant chaos. It was survival. We were having to protect each other, keep each other safe," Ebony explained.

As a child, Ebony needed her mother more than most.

"At the age of two, I was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa," she said.

"It's a degenerative eye condition that progressively worsens over time. So I've always been legally blind. And it became a very conflicting position to be in, to be dependent on the very person you're absolutely terrified of.

"I was in my room and she came in and grabbed my cane, and it's metal, and she threw it at the back of me, and it hit my head and then she continued to beat me with my cane.

"The thing that is supposed to give me independence, was a such a humiliating thing as a person with a disability.

"I mean, it's hard enough having to live life with a barrier that I can't control, but to not have adequate support around me to be able to navigate that..."

Talia is Claudean's eldest daughter.

All she wanted was her love but said she was petrified of her mother.

"People at school saw bruises on me," she tearfully said.

"In 45 degree summer heat, I used to wear a jumper and stockings to school so I could hide bruises.

"She would always pull my hair, always pull it back from the back of my head until my knees would buckle out, she'd kick me in the stomach, she told me that she hated me, and she wishes I was never born, and she spat in my face."

Series aired after couple were charged

Talia and Ebony's biological father suddenly died when the girls were only aged five and six years old.

"I remember when he passed away. I remember seeing his body go on the gurney," Talia said.

"I think she used it as a tool to get away with bad behaviour," Ebony said.

Less than a year later, Claudean met Anthony.

"The name of our instant restaurant is Pappa and Mumma Mu. Mu is our last name, me: Mumma Mu, him: Pappa Mu," Claudean told viewers on My Kitchen Rules.

In 2023, before their season aired, both Claudean and Anthony were charged and fronted court facing serious child abuse offences relating to Talia and Ebony.

"Did police interview you before you appeared on the TV show? Why did you not pull out of that TV show?" A Current Affair asked Claudean after she was charged.

Channel Seven continued to feature the couple throughout the series despite the serious charges.

"The only time I saw them take anything down that that had to do with my parents was after she plead guilty," Talia explained.

Claudean has been very vocal on social media throughout the court proceedings.

"If anything happens to Anthony after everything he's done for me and my kids, I can never forgive myself for that," Claudean said on TikTok, in tears.

Anthony went to trial for several charges including assault and strangulation and was found not guilty on all counts.

"Yeah, it was devastating. A lot of those charges were pertaining to me," Talia said.

"What has it been like to see the support crowds for Claudean and Anthony outside court?" A Current Affair asked.

"I mean, I think the whole point of bringing that amount of people to court hearings is to make us feel insular," Ebony replied.

“It’s very hurtful.”

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‘Has justice been served?’

Claudean was initially facing dozens of serious charges including 12 counts of rape but police prosecutors offered her a plea deal.

All original charges were dropped and Claudean pleaded guilty in the District Court to two counts of cruelty to a child.

She also pleaded guilty to six counts of common assault in the Magistrates Court.

"It has been such a long, drawn out court process. How did you both feel when those charges were dropped?" A Current Affair asked.

"That has really affected me. We don't call the shots. When it's a criminal case, you don't hire your own lawyers, you're at the mercy of the crown. We both wanted to go to trial and continue," Talia replied in tears.

Claudean was sentenced to a 12-month good behaviour bond for the common assault charges and two years imprisonment on immediate parole for the child cruelty offences.

"I'm so relieved it's all over and those heinous charges are gone," Claudean told her TikTok followers.

"Has justice been served?" A Current Affair asked the sisters.

"No. No," they both responded.

"We were fighting so hard for like every version of ourselves that had to go through all of our horrific experiences," Talia tearfully told A Current Affair.

"Although there's so many things I wish I could have gone differently in the criminal justice system, I am incredibly proud of myself, I'm incredibly proud of my sister," Ebony added.

Claudean regularly shares her version of events on TikTok.

"I was maybe advised or under pressure or felt like I didn't know what to do," she told her followers.

"Yes, I did smack my children in the 90s with a wooden spoon, I'm not going to lie about that. I yelled, oh my god did I yell, I yelled like a bloody banshee."

"Smacking us with a wooden spoon in the 90s, it sounds like a welcomed break," Talia said.

"Wooden, we were lucky. Usually it was metal."

"She would punch me in the stomach and kick me in the stomach with boots on," Ebony recalled.

‘Discipline that has just gone to a different level’

A District Court judge described Claudean's behaviour as "appalling", and said "this is discipline that has just gone to a different level".

"Do you think she is trying to downplay what she's done here?" A Current Affair asked the women.

"Absolutely," Talia replied.

"She's constantly trying to downplay her behaviour. I don't think she even knows how to sit with her behaviour."

"What you think is violence and what I think is violence are two different things," Claudean can be heard saying in a social media video.

“Her defence lawyer told the court that her behaviour towards you both is how her mother treated her. How did it feel hearing that?” A Current Affair asked.

"When my twins were born, I had four children under three and a half. I know the pressures of parenting," Ebony said.

"I know the difficulties of not only parenting, but parenting with a disability.

"But I never let that decide on how I would treat my children.

"It is completely unnecessary and irresponsible to blame your upbringing on your behaviour. You need to take accountability."

Ebony and Talia want other survivors of childhood cruelty to know they're not alone and that it's important to speak up.

"Do you still consider Claudean your mother?" A Current Affair asked.

"No," Talia replied.

"She is just somebody that I come from," Ebony said.

"A mother is your foundation," Talia tearfully added.

"That is the person you go to when you go through anything hard or when you want to celebrate something, someone that supports you and loves you no matter that.

"I have never experienced that from her."

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).