High-profile Australian TV star enjoys a rub-down at a backstreet massage parlour

We all need a little relaxation every now and then.

And this is especially true if you have legal problems or are going through a difficult period in your career.

Take, for example, a man who has spent years in and out of court and recently even spent time behind bars.

It’s enough to make anyone tense.

It came as no surprise when Andrew O’Keefe snuck into a backstreet massage parlor in Bondi for a quick massage earlier this month.

O’Keefe, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, was seen not long after 7pm on Thursday, November 7, discussing the various services available at Miss Massage in Gould Street.

And he very well could have scored a deal.

When we checked in at Miss Massage – located a 10-minute drive from the ex-TV star’s modest apartment in nearby Vaucluse – a receptionist said the salon was offering a half-hour deep tissue message for $50, while a full hour was only $30 more.

It’s a bargain for a man who once earned around $800,000 a year at Seven.

However, she warned that anyone expecting a happy ending would be sorely disappointed, saying: ‘No, we don’t do that here’ – and Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting otherwise.

Still, the next day O’Keefe looked relaxed and carefree – and smiled for the first time in months – as he ran errands in a black Mercedes sedan through the city’s eastern suburbs.

The 53-year-old’s life spiraled out of control this year, with repeated court appearances for a string of offenses amid a well-documented battle with drug addiction.

In October, O’Keefe was ordered to attend rehab after pleading guilty to trespassing, breaching an AVO and possession of a prohibited drug.

He had been out on bail for the first two offenses when he was rearrested on September 16 after police said they found crystal meth in his car during a search.

The visit comes as the fallen Seven star undergoes court-ordered rehab

The former lawyer then spent weeks in custody at the Metropolitan Remand and Reception Center in Sydney’s infamous Silverwater prison complex, awaiting his next court appearance.

During his time behind bars he was constantly taunted by his fellow inmates, who took every opportunity to mock the former Deal or No Deal presenter about his tragic downfall.

Prison sources said one group of accused criminals was particularly ruthless, crossing their arms over their faces every time they saw him in the prison yard and shouting “No Deal!” shouted. with him.

Despite the bullying, O’Keefe made no formal complaints about his treatment at the center. He preferred to keep a low profile and to himself as much as possible.

Prison officials did not consider the insults serious enough to separate the former Channel Seven star from the general population or offer him protective custody. He shared a two-bed cell with another inmate at the center.

O’Keefe earned $800,000 a year as presenter of Seven’s The Chase Australia and Weekend Sunrise before his tragic fall from grace

O’Keefe was seen running errands in Sydney’s eastern suburbs the day after the massage trip

During his sentencing in October, Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge warned O’Keefe that he faced almost certain jail time if he broke the law again.

“You’ve been given many opportunities to address your drug use,” she told O’Keefe.

“I can assure you that the next step is prison. I don’t just say that, I absolutely mean it.

“It’s become a state where the court would think you just can’t be rehabilitated.

“Personally, I am disappointed that you are where you are now and that you have not been able to get back on your feet.

“I just wish you could get back into a position where you can do something for the community again.”

O’Keefe told the court that although he now had a ‘strained’ relationship with his children, they still did “the dearest things in my life” and he wanted to overcome his debilitating drug addiction for them.

Television’s former golden boy spent weeks behind bars on remand in Silverwater

O’Keefe arrives at Rose Bay police station before his arrest in September

“They are amazing and I want to be there for them and I understand now that there is no medicine in the world that will make this happen if it is in my life,” he said.

Ms Milledge sentenced O’Keefe to a 30-month community corrections order on condition he undertakes drug rehabilitation.

He was also ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and banned from driving for three months on the drug charge, and was fined a further $500 for trespassing.

It came just weeks after O’Keefe was told by the same magistrate that he was “lucky to be alive” after emergency services had to rush him to hospital after he overdosed on heroin in his east-end flat suburb.