Danniella Westbrook won’t reveal the identity of the person who sexually abused her as a child.
The former ‘EastEnders’ star, who broke down in tears in her new documentary ‘Danniella Westbrook: In Therapy’ as she recalled the traumatic abuse she was subjected as a young girl, has made the decision to keep the name of her abuser a secret.
The actress appeared on ‘Loose Women’ as a guest today (28.06.16) to talk about her ordeal and admitted she was contacted by Operation Yewtree, the special Metropolitan Police unit that was set up in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal to investigate claims of sexual abuse by people in the public eye.
She said: "You don’t want to admit something because it looks like you’re blaming. I’m going to leave it where it is. I was contacted by Yewtree but I don’t want to go down that road."
In the documentary, Danniella revealed the abuse was carried out over seven years from the age of seven to 14 when she was a child actress.
She said: "I was sexually abused as a child. I was seven years old, [it was] within the workplace and that continued for a lot of my life. At seven I was like a 14 year old. There were certain things going on with me that shouldn’t have been… I was betrayed by lots of people.
"For me I’ve been the keeper of people’ secrets for a long time and I don’t want to do that anymore. I tried to talk to people about it then – I still had to go to work and do things."
The blonde beauty went on to reveal to the ‘Loose Women’ panel that the traumatic ordeal stopped when she went to work for the BBC and admitted the move to the broadcaster probably saved her life.
She said: "I worked in this industry a long time. It wasn’t the place it is today. Today we have rules and guidelines. Really what saved me was going to work for the BBC because they were proper."
Danniella – who has two children Jodie, 14, and Kai, 18, with her ex-husband Kevin Jenkins – explained she never opened up about the abuse because she feared people in the industry would shun her and she would never be hired again as an actress.
She also admitted the abuse had a lasting effect on her sex life and on the way she treats her children, but that she has now found love with her 24-year-old partner George Arnold.
She said: "It went back to my abuse as a child and that was my way of coping never wanted to go there. I thought if I scratched the surface I would never work in this industry again I was completely emotionally numb to all relationships. Even in my marriage I’ve never actually loved or felt anything. I was numb privately and publicly. It wasn’t until I met [boyfriend] George and I started this process.
"I feel love for my children but I’ve never felt love for a man that way. I was always paranoid about them staying at other people’s houses, other people bathing them as children…people always thought I was funny about it."
‘Danniella Westbrook: In Therapy’ will hit television screens across the nation tonight at 10pm on Channel 5.
Danniella Westbrook won’t reveal name of her abuser
