Distressed relatives of the detained 60 Minutes crew want to travel to Lebanon to provide support in a move believed to be against the advice of Channel Nine bosses.

Colin Chapman confirmed on Monday he had been in contact with some family members who were thinking about the travel. He declined to say who contacted him or give any other details.

Chapman, who says he has carried out four child recoveries in Lebanon, has been publicly pushing for the families to head to Beirut to provide a humanising image of the crew.

He has done a number of interviews questioning why the families have not been flown over by Nine.

"The culture over there is very family-oriented and they need to know these people have families," he said.

"It demonstrates that Tara and the crew have families they are somebody else's children. She's somebody's mother."

Nine is understood to be keen for relatives to stay in Australia for fear of complicating efforts in Beirut.

60 Minutes reporter Tara Brown, producer Stephen Rice, cameraman Ben Williamson and soundman David Ballment remain detained in Beirut prisons over the failed child recovery on April 7.

Jailed with the four are Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner, whose children were the target of the snatch, and child recovery agent Adam Whittington and his companion Cyprus-based tattoo artist Craig Michael.

Fairfax understands that if Nine declines to pay for the travel to Lebanon, rival media organisations are considering stumping up the funds.

Exactly who has expressed the concerns and wants to go is not clear, but it was alleged that an angry meeting took place between Nine executives and relatives last week.

During the meeting it was reported one distressed relative said: "Since when is Channel Nine in the business of child stealing? Is that what we do now?"

Nine is reported to have denied those allegations.

However at least two relatives, not happy about the progress Nine has been making in Lebanon, contacted Chapman.

Going against Nine's advice could be awkward for some of the relatives as two of the partners of the detained crew work for Nine or have businesses contracted to Nine.

Ms Brown's husband John McAvoy is a former 60 Minutes producer and a former Executive Producer of A Current Affair.

He has since left the network and established a production company which produces content for Nine and other channels. The pair have two sons, aged seven and five.

Mr Ballment's partner, Laura Battistel has been reported as being a long-term editor at ACA.

A Nine spokeswoman would not confirm or deny whether relatives were asking to travel to Lebanon or who might have made the inquiries from the four families.

She would only say that: "We are in regular contact each and every day with the families of our team currently in detention and they are also totally aware of the legal and diplomatic advice we are all receiving on the matter before a judge in Lebanon."

"They (the families) have had written communication with those in detention on how they are coping and feeling which has been valuable for the well-being of those here in Australia."

The spokeswoman lashed out at Chapman saying the partners of the crew were concerned at his statements.

"His accusations and self-promotion have exacerbated the circumstances the crew are in and we reject these claims he is making absolutely," she said.

She said Nine had faith that the Lebanese justice system would deal with the matter appropriately and that the crew were being "well looked after" and treated with "compassion".

She referred Fairfax to a statement attributed to the partners of the four crew that was released over the weekend.

The statement canvassed the suffering of the families back in Australia, and also pointed out that "very few of the facts are clear at this stage".
 
Nine's head of news and current affairs Darren Wick is on the ground in Lebanon.

Chapman, who has worked for both Channel Seven and Nine as a private investigator especially for their current affairs programs, has been highly critical of Nine's handling of the incident.

He has confirmed he was approached initially by Ms Faulkner to do the recovery, but claimed Nine baulked at his price and went instead with one of his rivals, former Australian soldier Adam Whittington.

Queensland-based Chapman has been quoted saying Nine needs to "hand over or hand up the person who signed off on this".

"That's what Lebanon wants."