ITV star Ruth Dodsworth has revealed she is “looking over her shoulder” as her abusive ex-husband has been freed from prison.
The television presenter issued a brave statement as her ex-husband was freed from jail today (October 11th) following his conviction for coercive behaviour.
Jonathan Wignall was jailed last year and Ruth has admitted she is very “nervous” about his release but it trying to remain positive.
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In a recorded message, she showed a picture of herself around the time when Wignall was arrested. She only weighed six-and-a-half stone and her hair was falling out.
(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
It was around the moment her children told her not to come home because they feared what he might do to her.
She said: “Today, is the day we believe my ex husband comes out of prison. As victims it is standard not to tell us when or where.
“I understand why, but it doesn’t make it any easier, but it is pretty tough.
(Image: PA)
“It is back to a new normal for us now. A new chapter of locking doors and windows and looking over our shoulders.”
She went on to recall her desperate bid to “get out alive” from their “abusive relationship, adding: “
“I am nervous, and I am worried because I don’t know what the future holds for me and my family.
“So many people in this situation are in exactly this situation. For me, it wasn’t punishment or prison, it was about getting out an abusive relationship, and getting out alive. It hasn’t been an easy journey, and every day is different.”
(Image: ITV)
Acknowledging the dated photo of herself she said it was the face of what “20 years of an abusive marriage” had done to her.
She added that she hid the cuts and bruises with make-up, but her “hair was falling out. I was dead woman walking.”
Ruth, who has since remarried, then shared the picture that was taken today when she did a weather report.
She says: “What a different three years make. I am happy, I’m a stone and a half heavier. The hair will always be a disaster, but I am alive and I am here to tell the tale.”
She went on to encourage other to speak out about their abuse telling them that “if you are watching this thinking it is too hard to get out of an abusive relationship, or it is too difficult, I should stay, look at me. Look at the future I know have, and you do have a future, and you can be happy.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
