The interior designer told The Telegraph that she made it to the final cut after months of auditioning only to be removed after revealing her father was Marcos. "The thing is that I've had to juggle my business and clients to make time for the show after I was asked to audition and then chosen from hundreds of people around Australia."
She added, "I was chosen on my own merits but then I was dropped due to aspects of my private life which I will not discuss... I was told there was a fear, too, attention would be paid to me and not the show and other contestants."
The Telegraph cited an insider at the production company Shine Australia who said the staff thought it was harsh and unfair to axe Hegyesi for the "the sins of her father." Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Channel 10, which will air The Renovators, said Hegyesi's removal was routine and that they have not finalized the cast.
Hegyesi was born to former Sydney swimwear and Playboy model Evelin Hegyesi, who was involved with Marcos in the 1970s, when the late strongman already had three children with wife Imelda. The model was 19 when she met Marcos, according to PEP.ph.
In 2004, Hegyesi and her mother were accused of having ties to Marcos' secret bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein that supposedly contained ill-gotten wealth, reports PEP.ph.
For more on this story, log on to PEP.ph and The Telegraph.
