Cyrell Paule says a staff member at Pelican Cafe allegedly called her a "black monkey" on Sunday afternoon, but police and the business owner are adamant it was another customer who was involved in the alleged incident.

Ms Paule, who recently appeared on 'Married At First Sight', was with her partner - former 'Love Island' contestant - Eden Dally when the alleged affray erupted.

The pair has taken to social media and commercial radio condemning the alleged abuse in the days since.

Cafe manager Deborah Wilson told the Newcastle Herald on Tuesday the third person involved was not a staff member, but a regular customer.

Ms Wilson said the customer was taking photos of Ms Paule and Mr Dally, who left the premises - she was not sure what was said outside the cafe, but says she did not hear any racially-fuelled comments.

She said the celebrity couple soon returned and the situation between the pair and the customer escalated.

"The incident did not last very long and I contacted the police as soon as I could," she said.

"We do not condone racist comments in any way, nor would we ever say anything racist ourselves, but there was no racist comment involved inside the shop.

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"Hearing this on the celebrity's Instagram has shocked us all and we are now getting continued name-calling and threats.

"Since the incident, we have had numerous threatening calls and messages from people we don't know and people who have never stepped foot into the shop. We have had to turn our shop phone off due to this."

Ms Paule said in a video posted to Instagram that police had asked her to remove footage depicting the alleged incident, which had been posted online.

"Just so you know, we're not going to keep quiet about something as serious as this, even if you're the police," she said.

In the same video, Mr Dally said the 25-year-old woman allegedly grabbed Ms Paule around the throat twice during the encounter.

Police released a statement on Monday afternoon saying they were investigating an alleged affray at a Shoal Bay cafe involving a 26-year-old man, a 30-year-old woman and a 25-year-old woman.

Police confirmed on Tuesday - for the second time in two days - the person accused of racial abuse was not a staff member at the cafe.

The investigation is ongoing and police are calling for witnesses or anyone with information that could assist with enquiries to come forward. No-one has been charged.