Exclusive
ABUSE HORROR
Love Island’s Megan Barton-Hanson reveals secret pregnancy after being raped by abusive ex who she feared would kill her
He squared up to her parents with a crowbar
MEGAN Barton-Hanson has revealed she is a survivor of repeated cases of domestic abuse, including at the hands of an ex boyfriend who viciously assaulted her before threatening to kill her on the side of a motorway.
The Essex beauty, who found fame in 2018, fell pregnant years before Love Island by an older lover after he removed his condom without her consent, also known as stealthing.
4
4
4
Following a termination, on the journey home from the clinic, Megan, 30, says her partner suddenly “switched” and became violently abusive.
Opening up to relationship coach Paul Carrick Brunson on his podcast , Megan said: “He was like, ‘You're disgusting. You just killed our baby’.
“Then he's like, ‘You make me sick’, then he got the seat belt, wrapped it around my neck, bit my nose - this was post nose job - and said, ‘Think you're pretty with that new nose?', bit it, started filming me and goes, ‘Cry, b***h. Go and tell the camera what you've just done’.
“I was in so much shock, I couldn't even have tears. I couldn't breathe.”
READ MORE ON DOMESTIC ABUSE
Host Brunson, 50, pointed out that the terrifying ordeal had come after an episode of rape - because stealthing is considered rape under UK law.
Continuing her recollection, Megan revealed how her ex threatened to murder her before giving her “ten seconds to run” to safety.
She revealed: “We're on a motorway, cars are speeding past at 70mph.
"I thought, even if I try (to run) it’s just going to anger him more because he's definitely going to catch me, so I just stood there frozen."
Most read in News TV
The star then confessed she did her “best acting” to persuade the man to “calm down” before finally dropping her home.
But later, the “nightmare” continued when the boyfriend arrived at Megan’s parents’ home armed with a crowbar.
Ex-Love Island Megan Barton-Hanson on plastic surgery, her sexuality and trolls
He “squared up” to her marine biologist dad Kevin then “strangled” her mum Justine and, as the family fled in their car.
He then hurled the crowbar through the rear window, with Megan on the back seat.
She shared: “I thought he’d literally kill me, the way he was. He was acting literally psychotic."
Bravely, Megan later told the police of her ordeal and subsequently testified against her ex in a crown court trial where he was sentenced to a month and a half in prison.
Speaking about another horrifying experience of abuse on the podcast, Megan explained to Brunson how she found herself at knifepoint after calling off a relationship.
She said: “He put a knife to my throat and asked me to put his bank details into my online banking and transfer him ten grand a month because he was taxing me for not loving him.
“My hands were shaking. I was like, ‘Okay, okay’.
It doesn't matter what your profession is, whether people deem you as a slut or you brought it on yourself. It doesn't matter what circumstances have happened. If anyone's done anything like that, tell someone, report it
Megan Barton-Hansen
"He was smashing my whole house up, saying ‘ Yeah, I know you don't love me, you f***ing bitch’.”
The next day, admitting she didn’t want to “let down” her mum and wanting to prove she was in a “normal” relationship, Megan went on holiday with the perpetrator where within two days, the abuse continued in their hotel room.
Megan, who was making a living stripping and doing webcam work before Love Island, says: “He slapped me, I fell in the bed, then he was pacing the room for what felt like four hours, telling me what a piece of s*** I am, that I'm an escort slut, that no one's gonna respect me ever. I was just thinking, ‘Do I run?’”
Admitting she “burst out crying” earlier this year seeing American singer Cassie Ventura being kicked and punched in a Los Angeles hotel by music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, Megan continued: “I just know how she must have felt.
“What an animal of a man. I just think it’s the most cowardly thing, to make women feel like that.”
For years, Megan has kept her experiences of abuse a secret but is finally speaking out to “get it out of her system” and to help other women.
REPORT ABUSE
She explains: ”I'm not saying this like ‘woe is me, I'm a victim’.
“It was so long ago I've had copious amounts of therapy and I'm really in a good place, but I just want girls to know, it doesn't matter what your profession is, whether people deem you as a slut or you brought it on yourself.
“Or your friends have warned you for months and months, ‘Leave that man, he’s no good for you. He's shown weird tendencies’.
“It doesn't matter what circumstances have happened. If anyone's done anything like that, tell someone, report it.
“I don't like to speak about it because it drags up all that trauma, but I read just on the way in the car today, three women a week kill themselves because of domestic abuse because they can't escape it.
“So the more we report, the more is going to be done."
Megan became known on the ITV2 dating show for her cheeky and controversial antics as she found love with fellow islander Wes Nelson, 26.
After the couple split in 2019, Megan met ex-girlfriend Demi Sims, 28, on E4 reality series Celebs Go Dating - the show that Paul stars as a dating coach - and their stop-start romance ended four years later in 2023
Yet Megan reveals she is still smitten with the youngest sister of The Only Way Is Essex regular Chloe.
She said: “I respect her and love her so much, I don't even want to push it over that boundary of more than just kissing, because I am a lover girl and if we fully, do…. I don't want to ruin what we have.”
How you can get help
Women's Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
- Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – [email protected].
Women’s Aid provides a - available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
Megan, who identifies as pan sexual - attracted to people of any gender - and bi-sexual, also tells Brunson she now feels ready to get married and have children with either a woman or a man
She added: “When I was with my ex girlfriend, (those) conversations came up - if we did want kids, how would we do it?
“And obviously, there's a million ways you can have kids now, so I won't rule it out, but I look up to my parents and their heteronormative relationship and my grandparents and just think it’s beautiful.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
“For ages, I was like, ‘I'm never going to be a stay at home wife’ but there's part of me, I just want to do that now, which is weird.”
Paul C Brunson We Need To Talk drops weekly on Tuesdays at 8am wherever you get your podcasts.
4
Topics