In a truly bonkers story mixed with nostalgia, one of the actors who played the banana in the Bananas in Pyjamas show has confirmed that the iconic costumes were stolen and held for ransom by the Russian mafia many yonks ago.
Honestly, if I spotted those snazzy potassium sticks out in the wild, I would’ve swiped them too (I am kidding, pls don’t get me).
In what feels reminiscent of the romance x mafia fanfics on Wattpad, B1 actor Kenneth Radley recently confirmed that the Banana in Pyjamas costumes were stolen and held for ransom at one point.
Speaking to Final Encore Podcast, B1 and B2’s run-in with the mafia reportedly happened during an ABC promotional trip to Russia.
“It was Grahame Grassby who took the suits to Russia, and it was just him and the suits, and the suits went missing in their road cases,” Radley began.
“We didn’t even know this until recently, and Grahame said, ‘They’d been stolen by the Russian mafia.’”
After the bananas went missing, Radley shared that Grassby received a ransom letter allegedly from the mafia, with clear instructions on how to win back the beloved B1 and B2 costumes.
“A ransom note given to Grahame Grassby, saying ‘We want 100,000 Australian dollars for you to get the suits back,’” the actor continued.
“Grassby is going, ‘What? I’m the marketing man here and now I’m dealing with the mafia?’”
According to Radley, neither B1 nor B2 have been recovered since the ransom letter came in, adding that the banana besties are probably hanging out in some Gulag.
Expanding the cooked mafia story, Radley told news.com.au that ABC allegedly refused to drop $100,000 on the rescue of this iconic Aussie duo.
“Grahame got in touch with ABC Sydney and said, ‘This has happened, they want $100,000, what will we do?’” Radey shared.
“And the head of the ABC said, ‘well, we’re not gonna give them $100,000. How much do they cost to replace?’ And Graham said, ‘They’re $20,000 to make.’”
The actor went on to claim that the ABC big dogs allegedly told Grassby to offer the mafia the $20K, and if they weren’t pleased with the sum, he was advised to leave the suits so new ones could be made,
“So they wired $20,000 Australian through and then he’s [Grassby] walking with a briefcase to meet the Russian mafia … and he stopped and thought, ‘what am I doing?’” Radley told the publication.
“He went straight to the airport and got on a plane with the $20,000.”
This isn’t the first time the beloved pair of bananas were stolen. Although it wasn’t the full-on costumes, in 2011, two people were arrested over the theft of two Bananas in Pyjamas plushies in the ABC building in Collinswood, South Australia.
Thankfully, those two were able to be retrieved, unlike the actual B1 and B2.
