Zara McDermott has defiantly said she isn’t ‘ashamed’ of being a revenge porn victim.
The Love Island star, 21, who was excluded from school aged 14 after a boy leaked intimate photos of her, appeared on Channel 5 News on Monday night to discuss her ‘horrible and humiliating’ experiences.
Zara fell victim to revenge porn again this year after photos emerged while she was in the villa, with the reality star also talking about the moment she found out the pictures had become public on the show.
Body confidence: Zara McDermott has defiantly said she isn’t ‘ashamed’ of being a revenge porn victim
She said: ‘The producers broke the news to me just after I came out of the villa.
‘They told me that images had been released and I kind of had an instinct that would happen from a specific individual I was seeing just before I went in the villa.
Admitting the offence is being dealt with authorities, Zara added: ‘I think sending photos is something that everyone does, I’m not excusing it. I’m proud of my body and I’m not ashamed of sending the photos.
Honest: The Love Island star, 21, appeared on Channel 5 News on Monday night to discuss her ordeals, before posting a lengthy motivational statement on Instagram
‘I shared a very intimate part of myself with someone I cared about, but sometimes I kick myself thinking ‘why do I do it?’
Later Zara posted a lengthy statement on Instagram: ‘I’ve only recently started publicly discussing my revenge porn ordeals, one from when I was just 14 years old, and another that happened during my time in the Villa.
‘When I was 14, my school found out that there were pictures being circulated of me that I had sent to a boy in my year.
Brave: Zara was excluded from school aged 14 after a boy leaked nude photos of her before falling victim again this year after photos emerged while she was in the villa
‘I was suspended due to my ‘behaviour’, and the boy got off lightly. It was one of the most embarrassing, humiliating and horrible times of my life. I was completely alone.
‘No one wanted to be my friend, I had people shouting awful things at me around school, and this went on for years. I would be in class and people would get the picture up on their phone and hold it against the glass windows and humiliate me.
‘The picture was printed off and put in my locker. It was sent to my parents, and shown to my teachers by my peers in order to embarrass me. Why did I do it in the first place?
Frank discussion: Zara said: ‘I think sending photos is something that everyone does, I’m not excusing it. I’m proud of my body and I’m not ashamed of sending the photos’
‘Because I wanted to be liked by someone. I always blamed myself and my choices for years and saw myself as the perpetrator of my own bullying. It has stayed with me since then, and I buried it for a long time. I struggle to speak about that time in my life without getting emotional.
‘For it to have happened a second time, this time 7 years later by someone who I was seeing before I went into the villa was just another blow. However, I now have this voice, and I now have finally come to realise that I am a victim in all of this.
‘All I have ever wanted to do is help young people in any way that I can. That’s why I decided to work in Government, because of the gratification it brought me. I hope speaking out about my journey can help people too, but in a different way.
‘To anyone out there who is going through anything like what I went through (and am still going through); I want you to know that it DOES get better.
‘After going through that, I am now in an amazing place in my life, with beautiful best friends, a supportive, amazing boyfriend and the most wonderful family I could ever ask for. Please don’t do what I did and bottle your feelings up. Speak to your family, your friends. No one will judge you. I promise.’
Zara is currently loved-up with beau Adam Collard, 22, whom she met in the Love Island villa.
The couple appear to be going from strength-to-strength, with the pair moving in together after the series came to an end.
Smitten: Zara is currently loved-up with beau Adam Collard, 22, whom she met in the Love Island villa