Paulini Curuenavuli rose to fame as a star in the first season of Australian Idol and went on to be a successful recording artist and actress, but while her professional life expanded the 35-year-old reveals her personal life has taken a few blows.
Last year saw Curuenavuli land herself in hot water with the law, which resulted in a suspended jail sentence for bribing a police officer to get a fake driver’s licence. As Nine News reports, the star is preparing to appeal the six-month suspended jail term.
Now, The Daily Telegraph has exclusively obtained and published a letter Curuenavuli wrote to the court prior to her sentencing, which details her recent breakup, experience with domestic violence and struggles with low self-esteem.
“I was at an all-time low in my career where my confidence and finances were equally bleak … I was at rock bottom and couldn’t see a way through it,” she wrote.
“I was completely overwhelmed and did not feel like a role model to my family or fans. The lack of a driver’s licence … was yet another layer to my lack of self-worth.”
Curuenavuli continued: “I went through a very traumatic breakup from a tumultuous relationship.
“I am embarrassed to say this was not the first relationship I had been in involving domestic violence and low self-esteem.
“In addition to the breakdown of my relationship, my failed album release had cost me my savings and the relationship with the record label.”
In the letter, Curuenavuli said things were so rough she was at one point left homeless and was forced to move in with her parents at their Mt Druitt home.
The former The Bodyguard actress revealed that while it is not an excuse, she was “at breaking point” when she decided to fork out $850 to a corrupt RMS employee for a fake licence – even if she was a learner driver.
“I was at an all-time low in my career where my confidence and finances were equally bleak … I was at rock bottom and couldn’t see a way through it,” she wrote.
“I was completely overwhelmed and did not feel like a role model to my family or fans. The lack of a driver’s licence … was yet another layer to my lack of self-worth.”
This article originally appeared on WHO.
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