Cleo's mum Ellie Smith on 60 Minutes. Photo / Supplied
Cleo Smith's mother has revealed the four-year-old "loves" her new-found fame, three months after her kidnapping and miraculous rescue captured Australia's attention.
In a new promo released in the lead up to this Sunday's $2 million tell-all interview with 60 Minutes, Ellie Smith opens up about how her daughter is coping in the wake of her terrifying ordeal.
Smith said her daughter is coping extremely well with the attention.
"She loves it," told the programme.
"We were in Perth and someone went up to her and they're like: 'Hi Cleo', and she was like: 'Hi! Hello!'
But the youngster also doesn't quite understand the situation.
"We walked away, and she was like, 'Mum, how does she know my name?'" Smith continued.
The youngster was abducted from her family's tent on October 16, 2021, during a trip to the Blowholes campsite in Western Australia.
Her disappearance launched a massive manhunt and dominated headlines both across Australia and the world.
After 18 days, she was discovered by police in a home in Carnarvon, 900km north of Perth, on November 3.
Footage of police carrying the child out of the home in the night – and her first words, "my name is Cleo" – caused a global sensation, with millions around the world following the story overwhelmed with relief that the girl had been found safe and well.
A 36-year-old local man, Terence Darrell Kelly, was arrested on the same day Cleo was found after he was stopped in his car not far from his house.
He has since pleaded guilty to snatching Cleo, and faced Carnarvon Magistrates Court in late January via video link from the maximum-security Casuarina Prison in Perth where he entered his guilty plea to forcibly taking a child aged under 16.
Kelly is also facing other charges, including assaulting a public officer, which he is yet to enter a plea to and that matter was adjourned until February 28.
Cleo's mum Ellie Smith and stepfather Jake Gliddon's interview with 60 Minutes' Tara Brown – conducted via video call as a result of WA's strict Covid lockdowns – reportedly netted the family $2m, setting a new Australian TV record.
It is understood the deal includes a miniseries or documentary as well as stories across Channel 9's website and papers.
In a previously released promo for the upcoming tell-all, Smith spoke about the emotional moment she was reunited with her daughter.
"[She said] 'Hi mummy!'" Smith said, who matched her daughter's enthusiasm by responding, "Hi baby!"
In another clip, the mum-of-two tearfully told Brown, "Someone had my baby ... I had to hope she was close to me, but she wasn't."
"You had no control," Brown responded.
To which Smith admitted: "I felt powerless … It was just nightmare after nightmare."
Cleo herself is not believed to be involved in the interview, and detectives involved in the case have also declined to participate, according to the West Australian, which recently reported that police find the tell-all "highly inappropriate" given the court process is ongoing.
The staggering cost of the interview has also sparked backlash, with an insider quoted in The Australian in January as saying the price tag was "insane".
"This is insane. This is dinosaur chequebook journalism. It smacks of an inexperienced CEO who has got a rush of blood in his first bidding war."
My Name Is Cleo will air on Sunday, February 6, at 8.30pm on Channel 9 and 9 Now.
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