Australia’s ‘Bodyguard to the Stars,’ Wayne Mattei has watched the back of everyone who is anyone, from Hollywood actors to models, rock-stars and even royalty.
The 47-year-old puts them into two categories: those he would love to work with again and, well, the rest.
Headlining the first list is John Travolta, while bringing up the rear in the ‘Don’t call me, I’ll call you’ category is UK model and tabloid celebrity Katie Price, AKA Jordan.
Australia’s ‘Bodyguard to the Stars,’ Wayne Mattei has watched the back of everyone who is anyone. He puts them in two categories: those he would love to work with again and, well, the rest. Wayne pictured back left in a blue shirt and pants, keeping a watchful eye over David Beckham
‘People always ask me who’s the nicest client I’ve ever worked with, and it’s John Travolta, hands down,’ the Adelaide-based former pro wrestler and now sometime actor said.
‘The first time I met John he got off his private jet, looked me up and down and said, “You are very impressive”. How could I not like him after that start?
‘As a general rule I don’t talk much to the people I’m hired to protect. I just concentrate on doing my job, only speak if I’m spoken to and keep my answers short.
‘John was different. He wanted to chat and get to know everyone around him.
Headlining the first list is John Travolta, while bringing up the rear in the ‘Don’t call me, I’ll call you’ category is UK model and tabloid celebrity Katie Price, AKA Jordan
‘The only problem I had with John was that he could be too nice. Some celebrities want me to keep their fans away from them – with John, my biggest problem was keeping him away from his fans.
‘Even if we were sitting at the traffic lights and someone in the next car recognised him, he’d put down the window and say hi.
‘In 2019 after a personal appearance at the Palais Theatre in Melbourne, we were walking to his limo and there were about 400 fans behind a chain wire fence calling out to him.
‘He went straight over and starting chatting through the fence, which was fine, but then he spotted the gate, opened it, walked through and was swallowed up by the crowd. For someone in my line of work, that’s a nightmare.’
‘John was different. He wanted to chat and get to know everyone around him’: John became Wayne’s favourite client from the moment they first met: ‘He got off his private jet, looked me up and down and said, “You are very impressive”. How could I not like him after that start?’
Wayne could use the same word Wayne to describe his experience with Jordan – if not for his reverence for strict professional guidelines.
‘I sign a confidentiality agreement when I take on a job.’
‘Let’s just say that some clients make your job easy, and some make it hard. Jordan was in the second group.’
‘The only problem I had with John was that he could be too nice. Some celebrities want me to keep their fans away from them – with John, my biggest problem was keeping him away from his fans.
Mattei has seen plenty of both types since stumbling into the personal protection business 28 years ago.
‘I was 19 and working in a video arcade,’ he recalled. ‘A friend from the gym asked if I wanted to do a security job. It turned out to be for Elle Macpherson who was promoting her lingerie line at Myer. I came away thinking “this is a lot better than handing out change all day.”‘
Wayne recalled how he got into the business 28-years-ago. He was working at an arcade, when a friend from the gym asked him if he wanted to do a security gig: ‘It turned out to be for Elle Macpherson. I came away thinking “this is a lot better than handing out change all day.”‘
Since then, he’s worked for the likes of action stars Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme, football superstar David Beckham, rock bands AC-DC, KISS and Motley Crue, the Queen’s granddaughter Zara Phillips, and Married At First Sight personalities Jessika Power and Cyrell Paule.
For over 22 years he has handled security throughout Australia and Asia for WWE, protecting touring wrestling stars across Australia and in Singapore, Malaysia and Japan.
Wayne went on to build a career looking after everyone from MAFS C-listers Jessika Power (left) and Cyrell Paule, to the Queen’s glamorous granddaughter Zara Phillips (right)
If Travolta is his nicest client and Jordan very much at the other end of the spectrum, Steven Seagal takes the title of Most Intimidating.
‘Just looking at the guy, he’s six foot six (1.98m), is a martial arts expert, has this brooding presence, and you know what he’s capable of,’ he said.
‘I met him in the VIP room at Sydney Airport and he said, “So you’re my protection. What are you carrying?
‘I asked him what he meant and he said, “guns. What are you carrying?” I told him nothing, that we can’t carry firearms in Australia. He asked me, “well what will you do if someone shoots at me?” I said, “get in the way’. He just nodded and said, “good answer”. We got along fine after that.’
If Travolta is his nicest client and Jordan very much at the other end of the spectrum, Steven Seagal takes the title of Most Intimidating. The first time he met Seagal, Wayne was asked what guns he was carrying
Wayne said he has never had to take a bullet for a client, or even needed to get overly physical with excitable fans or media. At six foot three (1.9m) and 312lbs (141.5 kgs), a quick, subtle block from one of the former bodybuilder’s massive shoulders is usually enough to encourage social distancing.
An exception was when he was part of David Beckham’s security detail during the LA Galaxy tours of Australia in 2007 and 2011.
‘The paparazzi attention was unbelievable, and David doesn’t like paparazzi,’ he said. ‘He’s really a very quiet guy. He brought his own personal protection – two ex-US Army Rangers – and I was there for local backup.
‘I told him nothing, that we can’t carry firearms in Australia. He asked me, “well what will you do if someone shoots at me?” I said, “get in the way’. He just nodded and said, “good answer”
Wayne said he has never had to take a bullet for a client. At six foot three (1.9m) and 312lbs (141.5 kgs), a quick, subtle block from one of the bodybuilder’s massive shoulders is usually enough to encourage social distancing. Wayne is pictured right with Jean-Claude Van Damme
‘The only problem we had was this young bloke who was absolutely obsessed with David. He was everywhere. He didn’t look like trouble, but you just never know. When he tried to sneak onto the team bus I had to step in.’
Wayne describes dealing with rock bands as ‘hard work’, with Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee taking the cake.
‘KISS were good and AC-DC are great to deal with, but they’re old men these days. The biggest request Angus Young had was for a cup of tea to help him come down after a show.
‘Motley Crue were different. For his dressing room, Tommy Lee wanted a fridge full of Corona beer, an M-16 rifle, and a rattle snake in a cage. The beer was no problem but the best his people could do for the other requests was a plastic toy rifle and a carpet python.’
Wayne said dealing with rock bands was ‘hard work’, with Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee taking the cake. Tommy’s Australian tour rider demanded ‘a fridge full of Corona beer, an M-16 rifle, and a rattle snake in a cage’
In his latest venture Wayne has gone from protecting celebrities, to portraying one in the 11-part mini-series Young Rock, which is currently attracting big audiences in the US and will be shown in Australia through Foxtel from May 2.
A comedy series based on the early life of wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, filmed in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast last year.
Wayne plays wrestling icon Robert ‘Sgt Slaughter’ Remus, who competed against The Rock’s father Rocky Johnson in a huge Battle Royal promotion in Hawaii in 1982. Other renowned wrestlers of the era portrayed in the episode are Andre the Giant, The Iron Sheik, Macho Man Randy Savage, Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat and The Wild Samoans.
‘KISS were good and AC-DC (pictured) are great to deal with, but they’re old these days. The biggest request Angus Young had was for a cup of tea to help him come down after a show’
In his latest venture Wayne has gone from protecting celebrities, to portraying one in the 11-part mini-series Young Rock, which is currently attracting big audiences in the US and will be shown in Australia through Foxtel from May 2
‘It was a surreal experience for me,’ he said. ‘I grew up watching professional wrestling in the 80s, that was my time. I was introduced to the WWF by watching The Iron Sheik when I was five years old. When I was 10 my mother bought front row seats for me and my father to go see them when they came to Australia.
‘George ‘The Animal’ Steele got me to come into the ring and rip up the turnbuckle like he did. After that, I was always going to be a wrestler.
He played wrestling icon Sgt Slaughter in the show. A longtime WWF fan and ex-pro wrestler, he said he was worried about whether he did justice to the role, until he got an email from Slaughter’s daughter
‘When I got the part to play Sgt Slaughter and be in the ring with actors playing Andre the Giant and others, I was walking around the set like a big kid.’
And any doubts he had about doing justice to the iconic role were soon expelled via the greatest accolade imaginable.
‘After the episode aired in the US I got an email from Sgt Slaughter’s daughter, who told me she’d watched it with her daughter and when I came on the screen pointing and growling, the little girl had said, “Look Mummy, it’s grandpa!”‘
‘She told me she’d watched it with her daughter and when I came on the screen pointing and growling, the little girl had said, “Look Mummy, it’s grandpa!”‘ (Wayne is pictured centre)