A support group for the families of murder victims has expressed shock at the “tacky” nature of new reality TV show Mob Wives, but star Roberta Williams insists it’s all good, clean fun.

Imported from the US, the show’s premise is similar to The Real Housewives model, but features women connected to gangland figures.

The line-up of the Australian version – which recently filmed a pilot – includes Williams, widow of murdered crime boss Carl Williams, and Raquael Villani, daughter of Melbourne underworld figure Pasquale Villani, with whom Ms Williams apparently clashes.

Janine Greening, co-founder of crime victim and human rights support network the Forget Me Not Foundation, said the premise of the show was “insulting”.

“The American version of the show is repulsive, a load of rubbish,” she said. “There’s no meaning to it, nothing educational. It’s not good for young people to to be watching this crap.”

But in a radio interview on Monday, Williams said the show did not aim to “glorify the underworld” and was merely a show about “girls hanging out”.

While Greening stressed she meant no personal offence to Williams, she argued the concept of the show was deeply upsetting to the families of the victims of her husband’s criminal rein.

In particular, Greening cited the slaying of Carl Williams’ rival Jason Moran, 35, and his associate, Pasquale Barbaro, witnessed by Moran’s twin six-year-olds outside their Auskick class.

“How does that feel for them?” Greening asked. “They would be traumatised by seeing that. Regardless of who their father was, no one deserves to be murdered, and then we have a show like this glorifying that world.

“These people are not celebrities, they are not role models. This program is showing our young people that it’s cool to be like that, that you don’t have to be good. Being bad can get you in the papers and on reality TV. It’s just tacky.”

Watch a clip from the US version of Mob Wives

Interviewed by Dave Hughes and Kate Langbroek on their KIIS Network drive show, Williams was keen to stress she is a hard-working single mother raising an autistic son and is involved in plenty of charity work, including securing bikes for her son’s school.

She was more evasive when Langbroek suggested her appearance on the show was confirmation she married a mobster.

“I guess so, but we’re not trying to glorify the underworld, Kate, here … I just want to clarify that,” Williams said.

But Hughes retorted her involvement meant “there’s got to be some connection to some seedy underbelly”.

“Yeah there is,” Williams responded. “But we’re kind of not on there… to promote gang life, the underworld, criminality, anything like that… we’re just girls hanging out together.”

While it is unlikely, under current laws, that Williams’ involvement in the show would run foul of proceeds-of-crime legislation, she said she wasn’t in it for the money.

“I’ve paid my debt to society, I’ve served my term of incarceration,” she explained.

“It’s not for the money, there’s not really a lot of that being thrown around. It’s more about if we can change the minds of young girls out there… rather than seeing this as a great fun life. There’s no rewards in this.”

The US version of the show (produced by network VH1) has previously screened in Australia on Foxtel’s Arena network, but it remains unclear which network will produce the Australian version.

Hollywood super-producer The Weinstein Company has reportedly thrown its support behind the Australian iteration.