Stacey Solomon has opened up about being in an abusive relationship

stacey-solomon-opens-domestic-abusive-relationship-loose-women

by Emma Dodds |
Published on

Loose Women panellist Stacey Solomon has revealed she was once in an abusive relationship

It's something that happens to many women across the country, with one in four experiencing domestic violence in their lifetimes, according to domestic violence charity Refuge.

The subject of domestic abuse and violence is very rarely talked about, and is not often discussed in the media.

But that changed yesterday when TV personality Stacey Solomon bravely opened up on Loose Women about her experiences.

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Stacey opened up about her past abusive relationship (Credit: ITV) ©ITV

She's been in a happy and loving relationship with fellow presenter and actor Joe Swash since November 2015 and has two sons from previous relationships, but Stacey's love life hasn't always been happy.

One of yesterday's topics was: "Why is it so hard to leave an abusive partner?" causing Stacey to emotionally open up about her own experience.

The mum-of-two said: "I was in an abusive relationship and it makes you forget who you are.

"It made me feel like I'd never be the same person again. No matter what I do, I'll always be this weird version of myself.

"You can see what you used to be like, you sometimes act how you used to act. I used to be less worried about everything. Less worried about what people thought about me."

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Stacey struggled to hold back the tears on the emotional subject (Credit: ITV) ©ITV

Stacey, 27, held back the tears as she went on to discuss how she felt before she was abused in the relationship: "I thought I was just OK, quite confident. From my experience, you could say I was like a teenager - I was normal, I felt like nothing mattered and nothing would bother me. I miss it.

"A part of me does begrudge that person for taking that away from me. If someone says something over and over again, it can embed in you."

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The mum-of-two opened up about what it feels like to be a victim (Credit: ITV) ©ITV

The normally happy and cheery mum-of-two then described how it felt to be a victim of domestic abuse: "These people manipulate you in a way that becomes normality. When people are happy to wish you dead or tell you your career is nothing or your life is nothing, it can be anything.

"It might be lost of small things, it might be something that no-one else around you even notices. You don't even realise it’s happening to yourself until... you realise.

She added: "It's so sad, because when someone has changed the way how you approach life and how you talk to people, how do you ever get back to that person you were before?"

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Jane Moore said it put Stacey's personality into perspective for her (Credit: ITV) ©ITV

Fellow panellist Jane Moore added that it put how she saw Stacey into perspective, saying: "You're such an amazing woman and such an amazing mum, and you have such low self-confidence. You've talked about anxiety on the show, and I realise now that it probably stems from that."

We love you, Stace!

Have you or a loved one ever experienced domestic abuse? Let us know over on Facebook and Twitter.

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