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Teuila Blakely opens up on social media scandal involving rugby league player Konrad Hurrell

The actress isn’t afraid to take an empowering stance on being a sexual woman.
Kiwi actress Teuila Blakely opens up on social media scandal.Getty Images

Kiwi actress Teuila Blakely has spoken out about her sex tape scandal with former Warriors player Konrad Hurrell.

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But, rather than simper her way through an apology almost three years after the incident, the New Zealand-born Samoan star wants to make one thing perfectly clear: being sexual isn’t something she’s ashamed of.

In a revealing interview with Canvas, Blakely, 42, who is set to make an appearance in the upcoming season of Filthy Rich, says she’s well and truly put the fall-out of the 2014 social media scandal behind her.

When the tape was leaked, Blakely recounted that at the time it had been incredibly difficult and challenging for her to have to deal with an outpouring of abusive and misogynistic comments from online trolls.

“I have been subjected to an unbelievable amount of online abuse and media speculation,” she said in an earlier interview with Mai FM.

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Blakely played Vasa Levi in Shortland Street for four years. She left the popular show in 2017.

While the ex-Shortland Street actor may have been reeling in the wake of the tape’s release three years ago – posting on social media at the time she was “heartbroken” and “humiliated” – she now takes a much broader view.

“As a woman, at some point, you have to fall in love with who the f— you are and how the f— you are. In every single way,” she told Canvas.

Konrad Hurrell was fined $5000 by the Warriors and made a public apology for his “bad decision” over the sex tape. Photo: Getty Images

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Although Blakely admits she had knowledge the then 22-year-old rugby player had shared the video with his friends, she says she wasn’t happy the video had gone online for others to cast aspersions.

“Part of being an empowered sexual woman, which we all have the right to be, is I can send a topless video or selfie to my man. I’m allowed to. And if someone puts that online, I’m allowed to not be ashamed of that, because I did that.

“I’m allowed to make a f—— video of me in my car,” she continued. “I was actually okay with the whole thing . . . with him making a video of it, I was even okay with him sending it to his mates. I was not okay with it going online to everyone for them to have their judgment about what I feel okay with in my life.”

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