Former Celebrity Big Brother star Lauren Harries reveals horrific rape ordeal after she became a woman
FORMER Celebrity Big Brother star Lauren Harries has revealed the harrowing moment she was raped after undergoing gender reassignment surgery to become a woman.
The 38-year-old star, who was born James Harries, first shot to fame at the age of 12 as an antiques expert, appearing on the Antiques Roadshow.
However, following years of bullying and depression which pushed her to rock bottom, and ending in several suicide attempts, Lauren underwent surgery to become a woman.
The star described the 2002 procedure as "like being reborn".
But she was set for devastating heartache just "weeks" after her surgery, as she has revealed she was the victim of a horrific sexual assault which left her needing hospital treatment.
Lauren claims she befriended a couple in a pub in Chelsea, before being violently assaulted.
"It was very traumatic – straight after surgery," she told the Mail on Sunday. "I was lonely and I was in a bar and met a nice-looking man who paid me lots of compliments. He said he had heard me on the radio and that I was very brave. He introduced me to his wife. I thought they were just fans. I ended up drinking with them – I was lonely and vulnerable.
"At the end of the evening, the man took me back to my hotel and raped me.
"I never reported it to the police – I never thought it would do any good. I suppose I thought they might think I had asked for it."
Lauren returned home following the attack and sought support from her family.
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Just three years later however, her and her family were targeted in a vicious attack.
The star described how a gang of men targeted her, her brother and her father Mark in their Cardiff home, throwing bricks through the windows and making death threats.
Elsewhere, Lauren admitted feeling "trapped" when she lived as a boy, and now hopes to find love and be "seen as a woman".