An anti-vaccine, anti-trans conspiracy theorist is set to appear on an already filmed season of an Australian reality television program.
Leila Melki was an active member of the anti-vaccine, anti-lockdown freedom movement and continues to post fringe and bizarre beliefs on social media — including claims that US Vice-President Kamala Harris isn’t human and that the LGBTQIA+ flag is a satanic sign.
Representing a suicide prevention charity on the coming show, Melki has repeatedly espoused transphobic views such as calling a trans woman celebrity a “mentally ill man dressed as a woman”.
Adventure All Stars is a “socially conscious travel television series” produced by Charity TV Global. The show’s three seasons have been broadcast on the Seven Network’s 7+ streaming service, including the third season that’s airing now.
The program follows a group of contestants who are taken to secret and exotic locations to take part in activities such as skydiving and jet boat riding. The show’s Facebook profile describes Adventure All Stars as “real-life cast members undertaking an unforgettable journey to a secret location for six days of fun”.
Contestants — who aren’t paid to appear — raise money for charities to earn a spot on the show. Charity TV Global claims the program has raised $9 million through its first three seasons.
Late last month, filming kicked off for the fourth season in the Whitsundays. Among the contestants is Melki, whose LinkedIn lists her as a Melbourne sales and business development manager. She posted on LinkedIn that she was on the show representing mental health charity Mindfull Aus.
“I’m up here this week to film for arvo show I’ll be casted on called Adventure All Stars … When my episode is released, I’ll let you know and you can watch the amazing adventures we have been so blessed to experience,” she wrote. Other posts on the Adventure All Stars Facebook page show her taking part in the filming.
In a video posted to her private Instagram page from the trip, Melki explains she was originally slated to appear on an earlier season but dropped out because of a vaccine requirement: “I was supposed to be on this show like a year and a half ago and because of the scamdemic bullshit I declined going on it because it required for me to give a jab certificate. I was nah, don’t have one of those.”
A 2021 Facebook post from Charity TV Global says that Melki raised $10,000 for anti-child sexual exploitation charity Project Karma. Melki has tweeted about fearing “child trafficking by elite corporations”, a common fear of QAnon believers. (Ironically, she posted a TikTok claiming that the arrest of Andrew Tate for rape and sex trafficking charges earlier this year was “taking the fall for other elites child trafficking”).
Melki was given a spot in the fourth season after another contestant gave up their spot for her and represents Mindfull Aus.
Despite the high rates of suicide attempts among the trans community, Melki has repeatedly posted anti-trans rhetoric. She encouraged her Facebook followers to protest about the Nike campaign featuring trans woman Dylan Mulvaney who she called a “mentally ill man dressed as a woman”. Another post called on people to “stop telling” her that Mulvaney is a woman and that famous trans man Logan Brown is male.
She posted a quote on Instagram saying: “In the Bible, demons refer to themselves as they/them/we/us.” Melki also shared an Instagram post from a conspiracy theorist that compared the Intersex flag to a Mason flag, a nod towards conspiracy theories about supposed Satan-worshipping Freemason secret societies.
In addition to her anti-vaccine views — calling for criminal charges against pharmaceutical company Pfizer for creating the COVID-19 vaccine — Melki has shared even more fringe beliefs. On TikTok, she reposted a video of Harris at the US state of the union address with the caption “KAMALA HARRIS IS NOT HUMAN!!!” Another video she posted lays out how the United Nations will institute a one-world government as part of its Agenda 21/2030 mission goals. She also recorded a video calling the children’s sex education book Welcome to Sex a “filthy disgusting pedo[phile] book” and accused the authors of being child groomers.
Mindfull Aus CEO Matt Runnalls confirmed that Melki had been given the spot by another participant. He said Mindfull Aus has never worked with Melki, that it was not aware of her beliefs before the show and it does not support them.
“As a charity in the mind and behavioural health space, our interest and focus, purely and wholeheartedly lies in supporting the well-being of all Australians,” he told Crikey.
When approached, Melki refused to answer questions about her beliefs. Instead she accused this reporter of unlawfully obtaining her email and phone number which were listed on her Facebook page, of trying to “defame her character” by repeating back her statements, and claimed that this constituted stalking.
Neither Charity TV Global nor Seven Network responded to a request for comment.
Let me stop you at “In the bible…”
It’s kinda like “this one time, at band camp”…. Innit?
Amazing how it’s always Ch7 that manages to platform antivaxxers, anti-trans and white supremacists – and always the fewest people of colour (unless are on Border Security). It’s almost like it’s intentional.
Of course it is, to normalise science denialism, analysis and hinder 21stC progress, by influencing rusted on legacy media audiences.
Of course it is, to normalise beliefs etc. and hinder 21stC progress over science etc., by influencing rusted on legacy media audiences.
I’m still trying to decide if these folk are cleverly manipulative or just plain stupid.
I’m just plain anti reality shows so I have no idea of who or what she is, don’t care and think this is all bunkum.
The sad part is that even the name is false as these shows are unbelievably contrived and irrelevant.
As a side issue my mobile phone battery approached near death recently so it was easier to buy a new one. (Don’t) It rings and then stops ringing. Has facial recognition so when it see one’s face the ring goes soft so with a hearing problem to me it is not ringing. Lots missed calls.
Why I mention this fantastic technology and ask why can’t they come up with some fancy technology that skips over the reality shows when one is channel surfing?
I’d go with option “b”…
Oh Cam you stalker. Well done to Channel 7 giving this QAnon idiot a platform. Bravo!
Entirely consistent with the 7 standards I would have thought.
Yet another pointless clone reality TV show (their only reason for existence is that it doesn’t require scriptwriters or actors, so providing fabulously cheap and quick garbage).
The genre will inevitably enter a downward spiral until it reaches the depths of The Hunger Games……………
………….a few dozen wannabes locked into Central Park – last one standing gets the prize (a bit like “Alone” but with no way out).
At least that might have the added attraction of ridding the world of donkeys, if only a few at a time.