Turkey slap trio hide from reality TV infamy

They were responsible for thrusting the phrase "turkey slap" into the consciousness of every Australian – but eight years after their infamous television antics, no one involved in the Big Brother controversy wants to talk about it.

Michael "Ashley" Cox and Michael "John" Bric were booted from the show after they held down fellow housemate Camilla Severi and one of the men slapped her in the face with his penis.

9 Stories reached out to the trio to ask how they had managed in the years following their taboo prank.

But none of the three agreed to speak on the record.

Can you help us close the loop on the turkey slap trio? You can reach us by emailing 9 Stories.

Cox, who courted some media attention in the year following his stint on reality TV, has gone underground and his whereabouts remain a mystery.

Severi is believed to have recently settled in Bali with her husband following a career in commercial radio.

Bric remains the only accessible face of the scandal. Now 29, he works as a freelance newsreader for Nova in Melbourne, after completing his media communication degree at Swinburne University.

However, the turkey slapping incident remains off-limits – even to his closest colleagues and friends.

When contacted by 9 Stories, he declined to comment.

"Sorry, I'm not really interested," he said.

"He does not indulge the subject at all," one co-worker told 9 Stories.

"I think it does follow him wherever he goes in media, but he's not going to talk," said another.

9 Stories: Closing the Loop

Bric and Cox received death threats and were called rapists on the street in the months following the scandal that saw the pair dishonourably booted from the 2006 reality TV series.

The incident was streamed live on the show's website but the full video was never broadcast by Network Ten.

Police investigated but no charges were laid.

"The slap" made headlines across the country. Then-Prime Minister John Howard called for the show to be taken off the air.

In one of their rare interviews on the subject, Bric and Cox complained that Big Brother producers had deliberately heightened the controversy for ratings with little regard for their lives.

"It ruined my life," Cox told Zoo Weekly magazine at the time.

"I was branded a rapist on national TV. The hardest part was having no support from anyone."

Author: Chloe Ross, Approving editor: Simon Black.