31 October 2023 , 19:30
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Australian-born television presenter Rolf Harris was deemed a national treasure before he was exposed as a paedophile and sex offender almost a decade ago, and now a two-part documentary portrays the 'extraordinary truth behind his rise and fall', six months after Harris died at the age of 93.
ITV's Rolf Harris: Hiding in Plain Sight continues tonight, telling the disturbing story of Harris' grooming of his daughter Bindi's childhood friend from the age of 13. Despite his convictions, Bindi Nicholls, now 59, has largely stood by her tarnished father and sensationally blamed his generation for his 'flirty' behaviour.
Bindi spoke out about her difficult relationship with her 'busy' father growing up (Popperfoto via Getty Images)The former entertainer was convicted of sexual assault of four underage girls in 2014 and released from prison in 2017. He kept an incredibly low profile in the years after until he reportedly fell 'gravely sick' with neck cancer and died in May 2023. Throughout his court appearances, Harris was supported by his family, including wife Alwen and their only daughter - even though one of his victims was Bindi's close friend.
Other victims included an eight-year-old child seeking an autograph and two girls in their early teens. The Harris family put on a show of solidarity throughout his trial, but there were clear indications that the father-daughter duo did not always get on. Bindi told the court that she contemplated suicide in the late '90s after discovering that her father had an affair with her friend.
Jurors read an email in which Bindi laid bare her money worries and begged her dad to either confirm or deny whether she would inherit his £11million fortune, or if he planned to give it to someone else. She also described how the performer's TV persona was in sharp contrast with the way he would behave at home behind-closed-doors, often being withdrawn and showing little interest in her.
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One of Harris' victims was Bindi's close friend, but Bindi still held his hand outside court (Getty)She told the court that Harris was "switched off" when he was away from television cameras and adoring fans. "Dad didn't really take much notice of me or anybody at home," she said. "I think when he is out in the world he wants to give everyone his time and everyone is new and he can tell new jokes. But when he is at home he is very much switched off, very quiet, quite often working, making something."
Harris previously admitted in an interview with Piers Morgan that he went away for work immediately after Bindi's birth, leaving Alwen alone. "I didn't know I could pull out of the contract. You don't at that age... it's an awful sadness," he told the former Daily Mirror editor.
Her resentment of her father's fame was made clear in an interview with the Guardian in 2003, when she said that she'd previously banned pictures of Harris from her home to stop guests asking about him. She kept photos of her dad off the walls to avoid "utterly tedious" conversations about her parentage.
Bindi told the newspaper: "As a child, I got fed-up with everyone going on and on about Dad because he was on telly and because they imagined he was painting paintings on my walls, being funny all the time. It simply wasn't true - he was always busy, rushing off, giving his all to everyone else in the world."
Alwen and Bindi stuck by Rolf after he was convicted of sexually abusing four young girls (WireImage)But Bindi's support of her father ultimately ended her relationship to long-term partner Malcolm Cox, who told the court they split because he was concerned their son wouldn't be safe around his famous grandfather. In a draft of Bindi's book in 2018, which had the working title Living With A Pervert, she tried to explain that her dad was from a different era and justify his vile actions.
An extra seen by the Daily Star Sunday read: "Dad is from the age of Benny Hill, Carry On films. He is Australian - which was pretty male chauvinist in those days - that is the era he is from, so sometimes he says non-PC jokes. He loves a flirt, which he does very openly, much to my embarrassment, but I have met many a man from my dad's generation like that."
In October 2023, it was reported that Bindi has changed her name to Ava Reeves, in an attempt to move away from her disgraced father and build her career as an artist. A source close to the family told The Sun: "Obviously, anything by a Harris is pretty much unsellable so Bindi is working under the pseudonym in a bid to be taken seriously in the art world. She's chuffed that galleries have begun to take on some of her pieces."
- Rolf Harris: Hiding in Plain Sight airs on ITV at 9pm tonight