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Roberta Williams gets angry about Underbelly

THIS is the full transcript of the interview between Roberta Williams - wife of jailed drug lord and killer Carl Williams - and the 2Day FM hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O.

Kyle: We’ve been watching what the TV show says you’re about and we want to find out what’s true and not true. Have you seen any of it?

Roberta: Yes, all thirteen episodes.

Jackie: What do you think of it? I’ve heard you don’t like the girl who is playing you?

Roberta: No and we’re great fans of Kath and Kim in our household and look, she’s a bit of a flow off of old Kath from the show and I certainly don’t talk the way she does.

Kyle: You must’ve died when you saw how they portrayed you on the show with that accent?

Roberta: I sound like some real Aussie chick who comes from the slums of god knows where, I certainly don’t talk like that.

Jackie: Is it infuriating or do you just laugh?

Roberta: I was angry at first because I hated the way they spoke to the children because I certainly don’t speak to them like that. Sometimes, yes, I swear, yell and scream like the police would’ve heard on lots of listening devices in our home but I don’t conduct myself in the manner they’re portraying on the show.

Kyle: On the show it makes out you and Carl knew the police were bugging your home, did you?

Roberta: That’s true, yes, of course. Sometimes we’d hop in the car, Andrew and I, and we’d say, ‘Hi officers, how are you going? Hope you’re having a great day because we will be!’ It’s just sad in a way that my children in the end were stressing about the fact they couldn’t have a personal life because the police were listening all the time. It got to one point where my girls were stressing about having a shower because they were worried the police had cameras in there watching them, which is quite sad for three little girls.

Jackie: You have said you don’t like the girl playing your character and that it isn’t accurate. Is there anyone on the show you think is doing a fantastic job of portraying that person?

Roberta: Little Andrew, the guy who plays Andrew, and Andrew and I have never had a sexual relationship, let me confirm that and make that clear to the public.

Jackie: Is that Benji, the bald guy with the tattoos?

Roberta: Yes, he actually played him well. There were some parts in it where I had a little cry because he reminded me of him and we were really good friends and very, very close.

Kyle: But you guys never had a sexual relationship?

Roberta: No! No, Andrew and I were like brother and sister, we were like that. And, there’s another part where I give Carl a head job outside the court, that was quite funny because Carl actually rang and said, ‘God, do you give head jobs now? I wish you did when we were together!’ I certainly do not do it and found that quite funny.

Kyle: I saw that and thought where are the women like that today?

Roberta: Well, hey, Carl certainly didn’t have one in me because he used to go out and get dirty girls to do things like that.

Jackie: What do you think of the guy who plays Carl?

Roberta: Oh, he is a moron. Carl is certainly not like that. A dickhead. Carl’s great, he’s a really great, fun person and we had a really great friendship, Carl and I. And, Jackie, let me tell you too, when Carl rang me he said to ask you if you can send him a signed photograph because he loves you and thinks you’re gorgeous!

Jackie: That’s nice, I certainly will!

Kyle: Roberta, did Carl say anything about me?

Roberta: Carl said, ‘Roberta, don’t let Kyle get too cocky and go up there and slap him around a bit if he does!’

Jackie: How often do you see or talk to Carl?

Roberta: Carl has twenty five maximum calls a week, that’s all he’s allowed. He tries to call everyday to talk to Dakota and the girls. I do talk to him, he often calls in the morning when the children are at home.

Kyle: If he’s got twenty five calls, why can’t he call us one morning? Can he talk to the media?

Roberta: No, he’s not allowed because they’ll take his calls.

Kyle: God, don’t do that, I don’t want to be responsible for him losing his privileges!

Roberta: Then he’ll really slap you around, Kyle!

Kyle: You two are divorced now, aren’t you?

Roberta: We’re divorced but not because we hate each others guts like some people try to make out. Carl and I were really good friends and he said, ‘Roberta, you deserve a really nice life, go and meet somebody and have that.’

Kyle: What about all the drug making and drug selling we see on the show?

Roberta: I’ll confirm it, I’ve never been in a speed lab or a pill press room…

Kyle: So you guys never made love next to a pill press room?

Roberta: No! And if the police were aware of that, I’m sure I would’ve been charged with whatever. I’m not one of these chicks who spasmodically has sex wherever it’s desired like they portray me on the show, I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to things like that.

Jackie: They reckon you’re taking drugs but you say you’ve never taken ecstasy in your life?

Roberta: I’ve never taken an ecstasy ever in my life, I’m afraid of the effect it has on people, I can confirm that clearly that I have never taken an ecstasy pill. Yes and lots of us have tried many different things but ecstasy is not one of them.

Kyle: On the show you don’t seem in fear of your life at all, were in scared in reality?

Roberta: Not really because firstly, I’m not one to be afraid, I’m not that sort of people. I fear more that my children are going to be run over standing on the side of the road than being killed in the, as they call it, the Melbourne gang land war. There were a couple of times, I was a little afraid but I couldn’t say personally I was afraid. Sometimes when Carl went out, yes, of course like every wife in that situation I was fearful of his life but I can’t say that he or I were afraid at any time, no.

Jackie: When you first heard about the series, were you excited to see it?

Roberta: No, I was anxious and admittedly, I was throwing things at TV out of anger. Then when I got into it and thought this is a comedy, not reality, it’s humorous.

Kyle: Is it true you went to the set to confront Kat Stewart, who plays you on the show?

Roberta: No, what happened was one day we went to Moonee Ponds to go shopping and we drove back a certain way and we drove past people filming and we stopped and asked the girl what they were filming and she said, ‘Underbelly!’

Kyle: And you said, ‘Is that right, bitch?’

Roberta: No, I said, ‘Is there any scenes about Carl and I?’ I thought I was a bit cocky in that sense because I wanted to let her know it was me and she said, ‘Oh my god, are you Roberta? Oh no, we’re not filming any of those scenes, Kat’s not here.’

Kyle: Did you look down her leg and see any urine running down it?

Roberta: (Laughs) No, we said ‘No worries,’ and off we drove. I think that was a bit of John Sylvester being a little bit nasty because he doesn’t like Carl and I because we refused to do any interviews with him and he tries to bag us at any moment he gets.

Kyle: There’s one scene on the show when Benji gets killed and shows you turning up at the location he got killed?

Roberta: It was my birthday the day Andrew was killed and Carl and I had the babysitter with the children and gone up to our apartment to get ready and meet Andrew. I got a call from the media saying there was a shooting and I said to Carl, ‘Let’s go there’ because at first I thought maybe Andrew shot somebody and he needed some help down there to get a lawyer. We raced down there and I hopped out of the car and walked up to the police who had cordoned the scene off and he was screaming to all the detectives, ‘Roberta Williams is here! Roberta Williams is here!’ They all came running up and I asked what was going on and they said they couldn’t tell us anything then another detective came up and said, ‘Look Roberta, we live two separate lives but you’ve lost somebody and I’m really sorry.’ I asked what he meant and he said, ‘Andrew’s been killed.’ It was like my whole world crushed down on me, it was really crazy.

Kyle: Are you alright now, Roberta? What’s your life like now?

Roberta: Not really, I’ve been trying to find a rental property at the moment and I can’t find a rental property. I lost my sister in November.

Jackie: You can’t find one because you’re Roberta Williams?

Roberta: My name, I don’t know whether they think a house full of gangsters coming over or whatever it may be that narrow minded people think in their stupid little worlds. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t, I lost my sister in November to cancer which really threw me. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster, there aren’t days where I smile and laugh and I guess people don’t see me at night crying about what life was and what’s ahead of me.

Kyle: Do you have to start again?

Roberta: I do kind of, I have a great partner who has been my rock and if it weren’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be here now. He’s fantastic, Carl loves him and he’s a really great person. He’s a lot younger than me but he’s just great and loves my children like his own, he’s fantastic to me and like I said, he’s my backbone. I couldn’t deal with a lot of things I had to deal with if it weren’t for him.

Jackie: We really appreciate you talking to us this morning?

Roberta: Anytime! Thanks guys. Give me a call anytime you want to know what’s true and what isn’t.

Transcript courtesy of 2Day FM

April 09, 2008
The Daily Telegraph