Georgia Harrison has opened up about the cruel parting words she received from an ex-boyfriend in the wake of her legal battle with Stephen Bear.
Earlier this year, reality TV star Bear was jailed after non-consensually filming and distributing a sexually explicit video of Georgia – who he was previously in a relationship with – on his OnlyFans.
Bear was found guilty of voyeurism and two counts of disclosing private sexual photos and films, with the intent to cause distress. As part of his judgement, Bear was forced to sign the sex offenders register and pay over £200,000 in damages to Georgia, setting a precedent for the highest-ever amount awarded in an intimate image abuse case.
During this turbulent time, Georgia announced that she had found love and was in the process of putting her life back together following the ordeal.
However, when the former Love Island star and her mystery man split in February of this year – just one month before Bear was jailed – his parting words have had a lasting effect on her.
Speaking to Elizabeth Day on her How To Fail podcast, Georgia said that she had found the split “really hard” and that the person she had built trust in could be so malicious.
“At the end of our relationship, one of the things he said to me when we were splitting up was, ‘Who would want to be with you anyway, you’ve been all over the internet,’” she said.
She explained how that last jibe struck a nerve, leaving her “crying in bed for two days straight” and developing “trust issues”.
“I think that was really, really hard for me to hear. Firstly from someone who’d made me rebuild my trust, but secondly that’s like my biggest fear – that men are now going to be concerned about being with me in the future,” she said. “Because this is something that could arise, especially if you go on to have a family with me. It’s something that come up in the future with our children. It does worry me that people don’t value me the same because of it.”
Rather than succumb to a downward spiral, Georgia has chosen to lift herself above it all. Her book, Taking Back My Power and her continued activism for a safer, more regulated internet have empowered her to keep going.
She has campaigned heavily for the Online Safety Bill, which has now been made into UK law, and is hoping to become an MP to help fight for women’s rights and inspire other young women.
Inexplicably, amidst all the chaos and harm, Georgia has found “compassion” for Bear, calling him a “really, really lost soul,” and sharing that “his family should have got him help a long, long time ago.”
Elizabeth Day’s How To Fail is available on podcast platforms now.