// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Bek Condello a baker? She kneads the dough.

Bek Condello is an Australian author and public speaker. She is the author of Can You Handle a Girl Like Me?, a memoir published by Penguin Random House Australia in 2026. The book recounts Condello's upbringing in the Geelong Revival Centre, a doomsday Pentecostal religious community in Australia, and her experiences after leaving.

Early life

Condello was raised in Canberra within the Geelong Revival Centre (GRC), a Doomsday Pentecostal church. The organisation was established by Pastor Noel Hollins after a split with Revival Centres International in the early 1970's. Condello's parents both joined the Geelong Revival Centre before she was born and she was only permitted to attend six years of public education as a child. She has described the church’s spiritual coercion as extending into all areas of her childhood, influencing her education, friendships, dating, healthcare access, racial and political beliefs and family relationships.

Condello moved states as a young adult to marry a husband she hardly knew, pressured into the marriage by the church, and later left both the marriage and the GRC by her early thirties. She writes how anyone who leaves the community would be immediately cut off from family, identity and history. Members are also discouraged from having contact or friendships with anyone in the outside world, as they are going to burn in hell. In a 2026 interview, Condello said it was not until she began writing her memoir that she recognised large parts of her childhood as physically, emotionally and sexually abusive and she now refers to the Geelong Revival Centre as a cult . Condello has also spoken about the isolation of growing up in a closed-off patriarchal community, and the long process of discovering her identity and navigating relationships on her own as an adult.

Writing

Condello's debut memoir, Can You Handle a Girl Like Me?, was first published by Penguin Random House Australia in 2026, following eight years of writing. The book traces Condello’s life from her upbringing in the Geelong Revival Centre through her early marriage, departure from the church, and the loss of family and community that followed. It then covers the years after her divorce, during which she travelled extensively while rebuilding her identity, autonomy and had many formative experiences. Condello has said she finished writing the memoir a month after the release of Secrets We Keep: Pray Harder, a 2024 LiSTNR podcast series investigating the Geelong Revival Centre . Hosted by Australian investigative journalist Richard Baker, the series drew on exclusive audio Baker obtained over a two-year investigation, along with interviews from former members of the church. Baker, a former investigative journalist for The Age, had previously created and hosted several other Australian investigative podcasts. Condello has said that after the podcast's release, she connected with Baker, who encouraged her to publish her memoir; Baker later interviewed Condello following the book's publication.

Advocacy and public speaking

In 2025, the Parliament of Victoria established an inquiry into cults and high-control groups, examining the impact of these groups on individuals, families and communities. Condello made a submission to the inquiry and shared her experience growing up within the Geelong Revival Centre.

Career

Alongside her writing career, Condello has worked for several years in not-for-profit and advocacy roles both in Australia and internationally, focusing on gendered issues including sexual violence prevention, support for First Nations women experiencing family violence, and assisting unhoused teen girls to access stable housing and education.

Further reading

• "Can You Handle a Girl Like Me?". Penguin Books Australia. Retrieved 2026-08-10.