Loose Women’s Saira Khan inundated with support after shocking sex assault confession

LOOSE Women viewers have flooded the show with "hundreds" of emails and supportive messages after Saira Khan bravely revealed she was sexually abused on yesterday's show.

Host Kaye Adams revealed the programme had been flooded with Tweets after the Celebrity Big Brother star's shock confession, which saw her burst into tears live on air.

Anne Diamond and Linda Robson, who were on yesterday's show with Saira, told today's audience they "didn't have a clue" Saira had suffered the ordeal.

Nadia Sawalha added: "We were struck speechless, we had no idea."

Lead Loose Women host Kaye, who watched from home, said her outpouring had prompted a "huge response" and the panel would only be "scratching the surface" as they read out some words of empathy from fans.

The Scot said: "We got hundreds and hundreds of emails over the last 24 hours from people wanting to share their stories."

Meanwhile Saira, who was not on the ITV lunchtime show, released a statement which said: "The outpouring of personal stories from people who have been through it too has been overwhelming.

"Thank you for sharing and raising awareness and helping others.

"I don't feel brave I feel lucky and grateful I was able to deal with it.

"Something that I know many cannot."

Straight after the show, Twitter was flooded with a host of kind messages with one user writing: "Very powerful @loosewomen and very brave @iamsairakhan," while another posted: "Speaking out is the first brave step.

"It is tough, really it is, but now with the support, you can overcome this."

Another responded to Saira's own Tweet, in which she thanked the Loose Women panel with a red Emoji love heart, and wrote: "Can really sympathise it happened to me with a family members you hide it but it is always there and ruins any relationship I have had."

Another shared their story and uploaded: "When I was a kid I found out my uncle had abused as a child.

"He stayed in our house once and I'm relieved me and my sis wasn't."

Another posted: "Ppl have no idea how it affects people in adulthood.

"So many ppl go onto develop mental health problems."

Yesterday the brunette confessed she was inappropriately touched by a family member as a teenager.

Saira spoke out about Mukhtar Mai, a Pakistani woman she felt should have been included in the list, after she was gang raped in her village and forced to walk naked through the streets.

While the star said many women in that situation would have committed suicide from the shame, Mukhtar remained strong and her story inspired her to tell her own traumatic tale.

As the tears fell, Saira said: “It just brings tears to my eyes, in 2002 she was gang raped under orders of her local village because her brother had had an inappropriate relationship with somebody.

“She went on to set up a charity in Pakistan to help women like that, which is phenomenal.

“I’ve never talked about this, this woman inspired me, but I want any woman out there that is going through what I went through at 13-years-old, sitting in my bedroom, a male member of my family – he’s died now – came in and did things.

"I would never have talked about it but I felt like I had to after what is going on with this woman."

As she struggled to speak, Linda Robson and Nadia Sawalha got up and came round to give her a hug.

As Saira struggled to compose herself, the audience stood up and gave her a standing ovation for her bravery.

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