I had a chair smashed over my head then used alcohol to numb the pain says Danielle Lloyd
DANIELLE Lloyd has bravely opened up about the horrific abuse she suffered at the hands of a violent ex.
The model and mum of five, 38, has revealed an abusive former partner would 'smash chairs over my head', leading to her turning to drink to escape the trauma.
The Only Fans favourite also said the ordeal was "always in the back of my mind" but she has had therapy to help her deal with the extreme anxiety the relationship caused her.
Danielle did not name the violent ex partner, but said she has learned to not let the ordeal define her life today and doesn't need booze to forget her painful past.
She explained: "My life is so different now and with lots of therapy and being a busy mum I’m able to deal with things that way and not go down that route."
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Danielle is now happily married to property developer husband Michael O’Neill, with whom she has son Ronnie, four, and daughter Autumn, four months.
The former reality star, who is also mum to sons Archie, 11, Harry, 10, and George, eight, from a previous marriage, credits Michael with keeping her anxiety at bay.
She said: "Michael is so supportive, too. I’ve never had that before in a relationship. If I’m having a down day Michael is like my therapist and we’re both really open with each other about our mental health.
"Michael knows when my anxiety is bad as I feel like I can’t breathe properly. I don’t know what triggers my anxiety attacks, but I know how to control it now."
Danielle's revelation about her abuse comes after she opened up about cruel trolls accusing her of faking her pregnancy.
The model revealed she had been targeted since the birth last November as she was accused of using a surrogate or having liposuction.
Danielle, 38, admitted she had been left totally distraught by the comments made by trolls who said she had faked the pregnancy.
While she welcomed baby girl Autumn into the world in November, after being induced at 38 weeks, the star is already back in her bikini.
"People have said things like, 'What impression are you giving to mums by being that thin after giving birth? Do you even eat? You look like a rake!'," she said of the cruel hate comments.
"Other comments have said that I’ve obviously had liposuction after having Autumn, and that I must have had a surrogate as you don’t lose baby weight that quickly.
"Believe me, having liposuction after having a baby is the last thing on my mind. Was I really going to get the fat sucked out of me three months after giving birth?"
Danielle admitted that it had been "upsetting and frustrating" to hear the comments after working so hard on her post baby body.
She added: "You don’t want to be getting trolled just after having a baby and it’s hard when your hormones are all over the place. It’s a lot to go through."
The TV personality slammed the trolling as "offensive and delusional", but admitted that she had a "thick skin" and so hadn't "cried over it".
"Whenever I pose in a bikini people say, 'You’ve got five kids, put it away'," she added. "It’s upsetting as I worked hard throughout my pregnancy and after to be healthy and look after myself."
LONGED FOR A DAUGHTER
It comes after Danielle revealed was so desperate for a baby girl she was set to undergo gender selection treatment.
Having already given birth to four boys, the former model was willing to undergo the controversial procedure to have a longed-for daughter.
Danielle said of the birth: “It doesn’t feel real. I have to pinch myself. Even after she was born . . . after all the boys, we could not believe it was really happening.”
Danielle, 38, was so fixated on having a girl that when a blood test six weeks into her pregnancy revealed she was expecting another boy, her heart sank.
She said: “I cried. I was devastated and didn’t know what to do with myself. My husband Michael was like, ‘I told you not to do that test’.
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“We’d said this baby would be our last, so I was thinking, ‘It isn’t going to be my last — we’re going to have to have gender selection after all’.”
Danielle has faced a backlash but refuses to shy away from the topic of preferred baby genders as she says she knows many women are scared to talk about it.