Actress Madeleine West has been issued a warrant to protect her ex-partner’s father, celebrity chef Shannon Bennett, from whom she divorced in 2018.
The AVO on behalf of Benny Clifton Bennett, a retired engineer, was removed in Byron Bay Local Court and is due in early June.
The order comes days after Shannon Bennett revealed that the estranged couple’s six children live with him full-time at his multimillion-dollar beachfront home in Byron Bay.
The celebrity chef, who rose to fame on MasterChef Australia, raised the brood with West during a 13-year relationship that ended when Bennett, 46, broke up with the 41-year-old actress.
Bennet revealed two weeks ago that the separation process between them had become “love poisonous.”
“The kids live with me full time and they visit their mother every two weeks for a few days,” Bennet said, adding that while the former Neighbors star isn’t the primary caregiver for the kids, the couple are working together to give them as much normalcy as possible. to give
Family Arrangement: Shannon Bennett (left) has revealed that he takes care of his six children full-time. The celebrity chef, who rose to fame on MasterChef Australia, shares the brood with actress Madeleine West (right)
Bennett said West sees the kids fortnightly, while they spend the rest of the time with him.
“The kids live with me full time and they visit their mother every two weeks for a few days,” he told The Herald Sun in early May.
Bennett added that while the former Neighbors star isn’t the children’s primary caregiver, the couple are working together to give them as much normalcy as possible.
“In the end it’s about the kids. I feel that my children’s lives are private and I am the protector of that,” he said.
“I will do everything I can to make sure they can grow as normally as possible without distractions. I think I’m doing the right thing, it’s good that she is doing that too.’
Bennett went on to say that his children are ‘ordinary kids’ who lead ‘chilled’ lives in Byron Bay, where they cycle and play cricket nearby.
The former couple, who never married, share children, Phoenix, Hendrix, Xascha, Xanthe, Xahlia and Margaux, who are between eight and 16 years old.
The AVO filed against actress Madeleine West, 41, (above) was on behalf of Benny Bennet, the father of West’s estranged partner, celebrity chef Shannon Bennett
In happier times: Madeleine (left) with Shannon Bennett (center back), his father Benny (right), mother Bridie, front, second left and Shannon’s brother
The chef, known for running Melbourne’s famous Vue de monde restaurant, has previously said he moved from Victoria to Byron Bay, where West also lives, to care for their children.
“Since moving to Byron Bay with his six children after breaking up with their mother, his sole focus has been the care and education of his children,” his management team said earlier this year.
His team said the chef has also divested his shares in Vue de monde and scrapped plans to turn a historic mansion near Melbourne into a luxury hotel.
Family: Bennett says West sees the kids fortnightly, while they spend the rest of the time with their dad in Byron Bay. The former couple, who never married, share six children, Phoenix, Hendrix, Xascha, Xanthe, Xahlia and Margaux, between the ages of eight and 16.
“I will do everything I can to make sure they can grow as normally as possible without distractions. I think I’m doing a good job of that, it’s a good thing she does too,” Bennett said
Bennett took over the Burnham Beeches estate in the Dandenong Ranges – 25 miles east of the city – in 2010, but recently sold it to hotel giant Sorrento for $16.6 million.
Burnham Beeches became redundant for this focus [of looking after his children]’ the statement read to The Herald Sun.
Shannon has no ongoing hospitality projects in the pipeline. He wishes the new owners every success.’
Bennett struggled to complete the Heritage Victoria-mandated repair on the state-protected estate and it is believed he never completed all the required work.
In 2020, he said bureaucrats had ordered $250,000 worth of “crazy” repairs and he wouldn’t “stand for it again.”
Exes: West announced her divorce from Bennett in September 2018 after 13 years, during which they had six children together
Bennett’s plans for the redevelopment include a hotel with a microbrewery, retail store and new restaurant.
West, who helped clean up flooding in Lismore after the flooding of the northern NSW town earlier this year, plans to run as an independent in next year’s NSW state elections.
In February, she described the heartbreaking moment when she decided to leave the celebrity chef in 2018.
“I woke up one morning and didn’t recognize myself in the mirror anymore. I loved my life so much, but somehow I had lost myself in it. It just didn’t suit me anymore,” she recalled her decision to run away.
Claims: West said earlier this year that the divorce process ‘became toxic’
West described the divorce process as “painful” and confessed in an article for Mamamia, “It tore my world apart, damaged the things I held dear and made love poisonous.”
The former Neighbors star also listed the challenges she faced after she left her relationship – learning how to parent as a single mom and how to deal with being alone when her kids are staying with their dad.
West also said she was struggling to “restore” her identity as a single woman.
“I wish I had known that divorce is more than a division of property, it’s a division of houses, friends, hopes, dreams,” she lamented.
New love: The actress has gone through those difficult years and has found love with Byron Bay environmentalist Maximo Bottaro (right)
West has since gone through those difficult years and has found love with Byron Bay environmentalist Maximo Bottaro.
The couple were first photographed together in April 2020 when they were spotted kissing on a secluded beach in the coastal town of NSW.
The couple met while West was volunteering for Maximo’s environmental organization ReForest Now. †
Family man: Chef Shannon Bennett (above) moved from Victoria to the NSW tourist town of Byron Bay, where West also lives, to care for their children
A year after the split, the actress said it was unlikely she would ever get back together with Bennett.
“I’m a big believer that everything in life has a season. We change. We’re evolving,” she told The Kyle and Jackie O Show.
“At some point we go, ‘Well, I have certain needs that I want to meet and you have certain needs, and if those two don’t go together and intersect in the middle, why fight them and make me miserable?’
“In the end it’s about the kids. I feel that my children’s lives are private and I am the protector of that,” Bennett said
“I also don’t think it’s fair to the kids to see two parents who have different goals all the time.”
She brushed off questions about a possible “love interest” at the time and joked that she lived “like a monk.”
Plans: West, who helped clean up flooding in Lismore in northern NSW, plans to run in NSW’s state elections next year as an independent
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