Big Brother contestant Anita Bingham made a heartbreaking personal revelation during Friday night’s episode of the reality show: She is a survivor of one of Australia’s darkest days, the 1996 Port Arthur massacre.
Anita, who is sister to two-time Big Brother winner Reggie Sorensen, opened up about the traumatic memory in a to-camera confessional inside the show’s diary room.
She revealed one simple act from a fellow contestant had left her upset, and had caused memories of the massacre to come flooding back.
The contestants were nominating who should be up for eviction this week, and as their faces appeared on a screen, Anita noticed that contestant Ebony was making gunshot motions with her hands, as if picking them off one by one.
“She made a gun movement, and went pow, pow, pow, at each face. That triggered something inside me. Why that trigged something inside of me, is because back in 1996, April 28th, I went to work one morning. Beautiful sunny day, my dad drops me off. I go to the little cafe where I was working, little coffee shop thing and tea room,” she recalled. She was just 17 years old at the time.
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Anita said that around lunchtime, as she was serving customers, she heard several loud bangs. She explained to Big Brother why she at first didn’t find the noises unusual: “I thought it was a re-enactment … because where I worked was a place called Port Arthur Historic Sites.”
Anita said that when she went outside of the coffee shop to check what was going on, she could see people “running and ducking behind walls” and realised something was seriously wrong.
Realising an emergency situation was unfolding, her manager gave her instructions to get everyone inside and lock the doors.
Gunman Martin Byrant fatally shot 35 people and injured 23 others during the Port Arthur massacre, which remains the deadliest mass shooting on Australian soil.
Anita had previously told her story in more detail to That’s Life Magazine, revealing that she was working that day at the Frances Langford Tea Rooms, which were a five-minute walk from the Broad Arrow Cafe, the site of much bloodshed during the shooting.
Twenty people inside Broad Arrow Cafe and gift shop died that day, with 12 of them being killed within the first 15 seconds of the gunman entering the cafe.
Anita said she regularly worked shifts at both venues, and said it was “sheer luck” she hadn’t been posted to Broad Arrow that day.
“Bryant’s face haunted my dreams. Given counselling, I was diagnosed with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). Along with the other cafe staff, I received a bravery award. But I didn’t feel brave – it was what anyone would’ve done,” she told That’s Life, revealing she still struggles with PTSD to this day.
Speaking to Big Brother in Friday’s episode, Anita said the ordeal had left her with “terrible nightmares”: “It was just the worst day for so many people,” she said.
Anita’s discussion of her memories during last night’s episode was preceded by a trigger warning before it aired and was posted on social media, with Big Brother producers warning viewers: “Tonight’s episode contains discussions that some people may find confronting as Anita opens up about past trauma.”
Viewers applauded Anita for sharing her story.
“Absolutely heartbreaking. What a brave woman for resharing all of this in front of Australia,” wrote former Survivor Australia contestant Felicity Eggington on Instagram.
“Anita and Reggie. Im so sorry to hear you guys went through all that as a family,” one viewer wrote.
“You are an Aussie hero,” wrote another.