Transformers - Taylor's Parents 'Shocked And Angry' Over Assault Claims

TRANSFORMERS star RACHAEL TAYLOR's parents are "bitter" and "angry" their daughter was allegedly attacked by her ex-boyfriend MATTHEW NEWTON.

The Australian actress took out an apprehended violence order against the Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities star last month (Aug10), alleging she was the victim of two "gravely serious" assaults by Newton while they were vacationing together in Rome, Italy.

Court papers showed Taylor suffered concussion, bruising and a sprained jaw during the alleged attacks, and claimed in the documents that Newton "threatened to end her life" on a number of occasions.

Now Taylor's father Nigel and mother Christine have told of their disgust at Newton's alleged behaviour - insisting they are "shocked" by the revelations.

Nigel Taylor tells the Sydney Daily Telegraph, "We're bitter, we're angry... but we can't say anything except that we love our daughter. We're tremendously proud of her and hope she's OK.

"We were shocked, totally shocked. We didn't know everything at first, and only heard the first part. Then more and more came out and it just got worse and worse.

"We're private people; not even our friends or neighbours know that she is a famous actress. We're not media savvy people so we are trying to stay out of it."

But the concerned father is convinced his daughter will pull through and insists she is already moving on: "She's a strong girl and a very high achiever. We love our daughter and we don't want to go saying anything that would harm our daughter or the legal matters. We just want to protect her. She's doing auditions because there's no point moping around. She's too strong for that."