EXCLUSIVE
The latest love child to emerge in rock legend Jimmy Barnes’ growing family was working for a reformed armed robber turned TikTok star when he learned his father’s identity.
Katy Lee Carroll was CEO of Russell Manser’s troubled business, The Voice of Survivor, for nearly four years before reinventing herself as a real estate agent.
Manser, who had a long history of drug abuse and spent 23 years in prison, was just 56 when he was found dead in his Sydney waterfront apartment on King Street Wharf in March.
The cause of Manser’s death has not been made public but there were no suspicious circumstances.
Manser had been raped repeatedly in a juvenile detention center and again in an adult prison as a teenager, then, after his last release from prison, he dedicated himself to helping others.
She founded The Voice of a Survivor in 2017 to help victims of institutional child sexual abuse obtain compensation and amassed 134,000 followers on TikTok, where her posts included videos about life behind bars.
Barnes, who celebrated his 43rd wedding anniversary with his wife Jane in May, revealed on Monday that he was the biological father of Carroll, 37, making her his eighth child.
The Cold Chisel frontman has four children aged between 35 and 42 with Jane, and is father to Today Extra host David Campbell, 51, who was born when Barnes was a teenager.
Katy Lee Carroll, the latest love child to emerge in rock legend Jimmy Barnes’ growing family, was working for an armed robber turned TikTok star when she learned her father’s identity. Ms. Carroll is pictured with Barnes.
The eldest daughters, Amanda Bennett and Megan Torzyn, who like Campbell are from Barnes’ hometown of Adelaide and are now in their early 50s, met their father for the first time in 2010.
Carroll was born in 1987, six years after Barnes married Jane and the same year he released his first solo number one single, Too Much Ain’t Enough Love.
She was CEO of The Voice of a Survivor from May 2018 to January 2022, according to her LinkedIn account.
In that role, Ms Carroll oversaw the day-to-day running of the business, as well as assisting victims and working closely with the New South Wales and Queensland corrections departments.
When The Voice of a Survivor went into liquidation in July last year, Manser blamed a series of institutions seeking permanent suspensions in compensation cases in which the alleged perpetrator had died.
“The directors have decided to put it into voluntary liquidation because we do not have the same volume of customers due to the response to these claims,” Manser told Daily Mail Australia at the time.
“It’s just not viable for us to continue.”
The company also owed about $1 million to the tax office and a former client had filed a civil case against it, seeking more than $800,000.
Katy Lee Carroll was CEO of Russell Manser’s troubled business, The Voice of Survivor, for nearly four years before reinventing herself as a real estate agent. In the photo Manser, who spent 23 years in prison.
Barnes issued a statement on Instagram on Monday afternoon, just hours after Daily Mail contacted her management about her secret offspring. In the photo father and daughter
Manser, who owns the company with a partner, had previously denied allegations that his company pressured vulnerable survivors into launching compensation cases in exchange for kickbacks from law firms, and there is no suggestion otherwise.
“We don’t have to do that,” he told the ABC’s Australian Story programme. “But, you know, I wouldn’t for a second say that we haven’t made any mistakes.”
At the time of his death, Manser owned a multimillion-dollar property portfolio, a Mercedes valued at about $160,000 and a Jeep Cherokee valued at $80,000.
Carroll was not a director of The Voice of a Survivor and there is no suggestion that she did anything that contributed to the company’s demise.
After leaving the Manser business, Mrs. Carroll began She graduated in psychology from Southern Cross University and now works as a real estate agent in Coffs Harbor on the New South Wales north coast.
Daily Mail Australia contacted Carroll on Monday after being told Barnes, 68, had privately acknowledged her paternity and welcomed her into his ever-expanding clan.
Carroll asked for time to consider his position and directed his queries to Barnes management before saying he had been “waiting for this (call).”
Barnes’ agent, Rina Ferris, did not return calls or text messages, but several hours later the rocker issued a statement on Instagram revealing that he was Carroll’s father.
Manser, who had a long history of drug abuse and spent 23 years in prison, was just 56 when he was found dead in his Sydney waterfront apartment on King Street Wharf in March.
Carroll, who has children of his own, simultaneously provided his own statement for a story published on news.com.au.
That story said Barnes had gone public with his paternity after Carroll was subjected to hundreds of phone calls from an anonymous caller asking if he was her father.
Ferris told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday that he represented “the Barnes family, including Ms Carroll” and that none of them would respond to any requests for comment.
“The whole family is now on their Christmas holidays and they/we will not be making any further comments or responding to media requests,” he said.
Barnes, who is in Thailand, said in her Instagram post that Carroll had been in her life for the past five years.
“Katy is a wonderful woman and since we found out that I was her biological father, our family and extended family have loved getting to know her,” he wrote.
‘It has been heartwarming to see good relationships with his sisters and brothers growing.
“We have always respected her strong desire to keep her family life private and will continue to support her.”
Katy Lee Carroll (far left) appears in an image on Jimmy Barnes’ official Instagram account sitting next to Mahalia Barnes and across from Jimmy and Jane Barnes.
Carroll said the Barnes family hugged her and asked for privacy for her and her children.
“While the details of my relationship with Jimmy and the Barnes family are private, I feel compelled to share my gratitude for the love and care they have shown me,” she said.
‘It has been an extraordinary gift to be welcomed into such a kind and talented family and I am grateful every day for their support.
‘This discovery, although exciting, has been approached with great consideration, not only for me, but also for my children and our entire family.
“As we continue to foster these relationships, I remain committed to protecting our privacy, allowing each of us to grow and heal in our own time.”
Carroll has since closed her Instagram account, which featured photos of her with Barnes, his 65-year-old wife and other family members.
Barnes and Jane’s children are Mahalia, 42, Eliza-Jane, 40, Jackie, 38, and Elly-May, 35. Carroll, Bennett, Torzyn and Campbell have different mothers.
Having confirmed that Ms Bennett and Ms Torzyn were his daughters through DNA testing, Barnes happily talked about bringing them into the fold.
Carroll was born in 1987, six years after Barnes married Jane and the same year he released his first solo number one single, Too Much Ain’t Enough Love. She is pictured with her half-sister Elly-May Barnes.
“My children are so great that when I found out there were a couple more, I felt they would be good people and lovely girls,” she told New Idea in September 2010.
‘My only regret is not having met them when they were younger, but life is what it is, all things happen for a reason.
“At the time it was probably better for them that they didn’t know me because I was pretty wild.”
Jane, who was a 19-year-old university student when she met Barnes at a party in Canberra in 1979, told the same magazine that it was “really lovely” to discover that her husband had two other daughters.
“There is a correct procedure and then the rest was easy,” he said.
“Jimmy is the love of my life and if he has children who are like him and like my children, to me that is really lovely.”
All of Barnes’ children with Jane have children of their own and he is a great-grandfather to at least one.
Mahalia, Eliza-Jane, Jackie and Elly-May, 35, formed 1990s children’s pop group The Tin Lids and are successful musicians who have shared the stage with their father.
Barnes and Campbell were named Fathers of the Year in August by advocacy organization The Fathering Project.
Campbell, who is also a platinum-selling singer, was raised by her maternal grandmother Joan, believing her to be her mother.
He learned that Kim Campbell, the woman he thought was his older sister, was his real mother and that Barnes was his father when he was in elementary school.
“I discovered it when I was 10 years old,” Campbell said. ‘It was very overwhelming.
“I had anxiety and didn’t know who to talk to, but this was the easiest part because finding out that my sister was my mother (was difficult).”
Barnes and Campbell were named Fathers of the Year in August by advocacy organization The Fathering Project.
Cold Chisel, who formed in Adelaide in 1973 and have sold more than 7 million albums, toured for their 50th anniversary this year.
In addition to the band’s six number one albums in Australia, 15 of Glasgow-born Barnes’ solo albums have topped the charts.
His books include the award-winning memoirs Working Class Boy and Working Class Man, which have sold more than 500,000 copies.
Barnes’ latest collection of personal stories is Highways and Byways.