Gable Tostee's parents have defended his actions on the night Warriena Wright died.

Despite the high-profile nature of Gable Tostee‘s sensational case, his family remained tight-lipped throughout.

Tonight, that changed.

In a special segment of current affairs program 60 Minutes, the Queensland resident’s parents Helene and Gray Tostee broke their silence about his arrest, trial and what it’s like to have a son accused of murder.

“Totally unbelievable and surreal,” Gray told the programme of Gable being charged.

“Didn’t make any sense.”

Gray and Helene Tostee break their silence. Image: Channel 9. 

After four days of deliberation and a near-mistrial, a Supreme Court jury ultimately acquitted Tostee of any wrongdoing in the death of his Tinder date, Warriena Wright, who fell 14 storeys from the balcony of his Gold Coast apartment in the early hours of August 8, 2014.

It was his father he phoned after the tragic event, and his mother who was there when police placed him in handcuffs a week later.

"Yeah, it was hard to process," Helene said on tonight's episode.

"I didn’t know why it was happening, to be called an accused murderer. My son. Knowing the type of person that he is - caring and considerate and thoughtful of others. Never harmed anyone else."

Gray Tostee with Gable. Image: supplied.

The segment is also the first time we've heard from Tostee himself - he chose not to speak to police, or take the stand during his trial.

But on 60 Minutes he addressed many of the questions Australians had been asking about what happened that night, including why he chose to record audio of the final hours of the date, why he locked Wright on the balcony and why he didn't rush to her aid or call an ambulance when he realised she'd fallen while trying to escape to the balcony below.

(You can read his responses to these questions here.)

Those actions were central to the prosecution's case against him, and largely responsible for the global press attention the story earned.

But there was one particularly headline-baiting aspect of Tostee's behaviour: while Wright lay bleeding, he walked to a nearby food outlet and bought a slice of pizza.

Or, as 60 Minutes journalist Liam Barlett puts it to him: "You don’t even know if she’s still breathing, and you are happily munching away on a slice of super supreme."

Listen: The Mamamia Out Loud team discusses Gable Tostee's 60 Minutes interview. (Post continues after audio.)

"There was nothing happy or casual or indulgent about it," Tostee responded.

"That was - that night - that was the most scared I’ve ever been. It’s the most distraught I’ve ever been in my entire life."

He also addressed the moment in the recording from the night where he could be heard telling Wright, "You’re lucky I haven’t chucked you off my balcony, you goddamn psycho little b****", claiming it wasn't intended as a threat.

"Just a horribly, horribly unfortunate choice of words, without having any idea of what, you know, would happen next," Tostee said.

"I intended it as a figure of speech, to say, 'You’re lucky I’ve been so tolerant with you' ... It’s the worst choice of words one  could have used."

According to Tostee's parents, none of his actions that night are questionable, nor do they place any burden of responsibility on his shoulders.

"I don’t think so. I mean, maybe in hindsight, he would’ve asked her to leave in the first 10 minutes, but that’s in hindsight," Gray told the program.

Helene agrees.

"I don’t think so. I think that Gable behaved in a way that was appropriate."

Tostee was insistent that he didn't "do anything to make [Wright] fear for her life", and that there was "no threat to her" when she was on the balcony by herself.

"I was inside on my own. That’s one of the most perplexing things, to me. I can’t understand what would drive a person to climb off a 14-floor balcony, into nothingness," he added.

When asked by Bartlett what he wishes he could change if he could do the night over, he echoed his father's words.

"Taken her home earlier, in hindsight. But you don’t get hindsight when you’ve never experienced something like this in your entire life," Tostee told 60 Minutes.

"You don’t know what’s going to happen. You don’t expect these things. And you’re not trained to deal with them in a certain way, especially not when you’re on a first date with someone."