CRUEL
Zara McDermott breaks down in tears in revenge porn doc after revealing Sam Thompson was sent her nude pics by a pal
ZARA McDermott broke down in tears in her revenge porn documentary after revealing Sam Thompson was sent her nude pics by a pal before they met.
The 24-year-old Love Island and Instagram star is now one of Britain's highest-profile campaigners against revenge porn.
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In her new BBC 3 documentary, she explained that her now-boyfriend Sam had been sent the nude pic by one of his friends on WhatsApp.
The beauty revealed that she was hurt to discover that her partner had seen her naked photos before they had met.
Zara said: “In the last two years, my life has changed completely. I have gone from a 9 to 5 in an office to my life on Instagram.
“And I’ve met my boyfriend Sam from Made In Chelsea. Reality shows and social media is about sharing our lives but how much can you share before you get burnt?"
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In the honest and open documentary, Zara admitted that she still panics when she walks into a room with new people, fearing that they may have seen her nude photo.
She continued: "I may seem comfortable in the public eye but every time I walk into a room and meet someone new, I wonder have they seen my images? This was on my mind when I first met Sam."
The star explained that she was hurt that friends of Sam's had shared the photo via messaging groups.
Speaking to him, she said: “When I went on our date and when we first started speaking I was quite reserved.”
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Sam replied: “Your arms crossed, you didn’t want to speak.”
Zara said: “Oh god, does he know? Does he think less of me?”
Sam revealed: “I’d already seen the photos without knowing it was Zara. It surfaced on a WhatsApp group that I was on.
“I didn’t know it was her until she mentioned it. I was like ‘oh god, I’ve seen that.’”
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Zara admitted: “It does bug me that his friends were forwarding the image of me to his group chat. I don’t know exactly who it was in his group chat and sometimes I do think about it.”
The star recently revealed that she had contemplated suicide after becoming the victim of revenge porn when she was just 14.
The Love Island star bravely opened up about her ordeal in the hope she may help other young women.
She said that she was pressured into a sending a naked photo to a classmate, who then shared it around her school.
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But she revealed she was sent into a shame cycle after girls hurled insults at her in the street and police accused her of creating child pornography.
The reality star was also suspended from school and said she became known as the "s**t" who sent the picture.
Zara said: “Me and my mum and dad have been so close, how were they ever going to look at me the same again?
"Am I going to be able to heal this relationship? It was so embarrassing and I just wanted to die.”
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She said she was being savagely bullied at school in Essex at the time and hoped sending the picture to the boy would help her fit in.
Zara recalled taking the picture of herself in the bath after the boy told her “it will make me like you more”.
Zara rebuilt her life and began working in the civil service when she turned 18.
But she became the victim of revenge porn for a second time in 2018 when she sent a picture to a then-boyfriend she believed she could trust.
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The photos emerged after they broke up and she entered the Love Island villa where she found fame.
Zara only discovered they had been shared when she was preparing to fly home after the show ended.
She said: "When naked images of me were travelling half way round the world, I knew who had shared them.
"Four months before I entered the villa, I met this guy. I thought he was really nice, he was a lawyer. If our relationship had of progressed I don't think I would have gone on Love Island to be with him.
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"He wanted me to show some intimate moments of myself and I don't think it's that uncommon.
"For months after my images got out I couldn't stop my anger, he just got away with it. I felt so hurt and angry, just accept what you did.
"I do feel angry but most of it is embarrassment and shame, that doesn't go away."
In 2015, it became an offence for jilted lovers to disclose private sexual images without consent.
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A Crown Prosecution Service report said 206 people were prosecuted for sharing private sexual images in the first year of revenge porn being made an offence.
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Anyone who breaks the law faces a maximum sentence of two years in jail.
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans for free on 116123.
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