Asher Keddie’s husband has opened up on the childhood abuse that he kept hidden for years – even from his wife.
Vincent Fantauzzo told the No Filter podcast this week that before sharing his traumatic background in his book new, Unveiled, which was released in March, he had not told anyone in his life what he had been through.
The artist says he was forced to lie to ‘hide his shame’ as the dark memories of suffering sexual abuse as a child were too much to bear.
‘I was talking to a friend yesterday and who had just read the book, and he said. “you know you could’ve talked to me, like we talk about everything always”. Like he was offended – but he wasn’t’ Vincent said.
‘He’s a very nice person, but he thought, “you could’ve spoken to me about this”. I didn’t speak to anyone at all at all’ he continued.
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Asher Keddie’s husband Vincent Fantauzzo has opened up on the childhood abuse that he kept hidden for years – even from his wife. Pictured together
‘I’m pretty good at lying when it comes to shame.’
Vincent said that Asher ‘picks up his lies a mile away’ but when it came to the abuse, he was able to hide it.
‘I couldn’t tell anyone at all. It’s funny thing about abuse, I can’t even talk about it in detail’ he added.
Vincent said that he has been ‘stuck with a reaction’ to what happened to him that affects him every day.
Speaking to The Age earlier this year, Vincent said that he didn’t want to hide anymore but admitted it was a challenge.
‘It was extremely difficult – like, really, difficult to actually not sweep the past under the rug any more, and face things that happened and things that I’d never spoken about to anyone, even Asher’ he said.
In the process of writing his book, he found a way to raise the topic with his wife – and it improved their marriage.
‘It helped her understand my reactions to things generally … [like if] there was something about children on the news, she’d wonder why that impacted me so much. Everything started to explain itself’ he said.
Vincent said that Asher ‘picks up his lies a mile away’ but when it came to the abuse, he was able to hide it. ‘I’m pretty good at lying when it comes to shame’ he said
Asher recently offered a rare insight into her 11 year marriage while discussing how the couple met.
The actress, 50, revealed in Marie Claire that met Vincent after her agent convinced her to let him paint a portrait of her.
She explained that while he was painting her, Vincent would look over the camera and they locked eyes.
‘He still does that eyes above the camera; he’s very charming,’ she said.
Asher continued to say the couple love parenting their children together as it gives them ‘the feeling of togetherness’.
‘What we enjoy most – and I know we both feel like this – is sharing the parenting. I love that feeling of togetherness we have in parenting them and being part of their lives,’ she added.
She also shared a glimpse into the couple’s home life with their son, Valentino, nine, and Vincent’s 14-year-old son Luca, from a previous marriage.
‘I take care of stuff when I come home… but we have different roles within the house and as long as the kids come first, everything falls into place,’ she added.
Vincent said that before sharing his traumatic background in his new book, Unveiled, he had not told anyone in his life what he had been through
Asher and Vincent tied the knot in the beachside ceremony on Fiji’s Turtle Island in April 2014.
The couple went on to welcome son Valentino in March 2015.
Vincent’s famous works include striking portraits of Julia Gillard, Baz Luhrmann and Heath Ledger, with his work highlighting the depth of Ledger’s mental struggle was revealed one month after his death in 2008.
The artist has a hotel in Brisbane named after him, which is filled with his paintings.
Vincent, a four-time Archibald People’s Choice prize winning artist, likes to spend time with his subjects before painting them, adding a personal relationship to his creative idea before putting his brush on the canvas.