My Mum, Your Dad introduced Natalie Russell to a fan base who were shocked to learn recently about her childhood trauma and the incredibly hard life she lived prior to her appearance on the show.
The 44 year old from Bournemouth has battled substance abuse, followed by time in rehab facilities, a brief spell in a psychiatric hospital and has been to prison five times.
Now she's opened up to OK! on her time inside in an exclusive chat, saying "there are so many complexities to being in prison", but that missing her family wasn't one of them.
She said: "I disengaged a lot from family at that point anyway, just because of how my life was.
"It was terrifying in there. I cried in the dark because I’m a sensitive soul and ending up in that world was just terrifying. I don’t think anyone is made for that world."
Discussing what life was like behind bars, Natalie revealed news that will surprise fans – she made a special friend for life inside.
"One of my closest, longest and best friends is one that I met in prison the very last time that I went in, and she has come out to do incredible things.
"She's right at the top of a huge organisation that runs help and support for people in prisons," she said. "She actually met the King and the Queen recently and took them around the inside of a prison."
"She's done incredible things. We've held on to our friendship the whole way through everything. That's been a really beautiful thing for both of us – to come out and really turn it around and want to have a big impact on the world. What a truly beautiful thing."
The single mum, who was put forward for the show – hosted by Davina McCall – by her 20 year old son Kaliel so she could 'find someone and be happy', is now a successful self-esteem and relationship coach. However she told us that "painful, painful things" she'd experienced in life led her down the wrong path, along with perceived abandonment, "daddy issues" and exposure to the "wrong crowd."
Admitting that at the time she just "found everything so hard to interpret and navigate," Natalie revealed that time behind bars made her "desensitised" to the whole experience.
"It's a really sad thing but it just becomes normalised to you when you've done them or experienced them a couple of times. It was a really tough experience."
Natalie added that prison leaves a person wide open to explore who they really are – and this helped her on the road to recovery at long last.
"When you go in, you're left with just your emotions, right? And that is really hard. There's nowhere to run but that was massive for me."
Natalie believes it's not a coincidence that certain people end up in prison though and thinks teaching staff in prisons about trauma would help.
"What gets people into those places and spaces? If you look back at most people's past there is either neurodiversity or trauma and the two go very hand in hand anyway. It's definitely something that needs taught more in those places because that stuff is painful on your own, without having any help, never mind then being released into the world without support.”
The brunette, who left My Mum, Your Dad in a couple with fellow contestant Paul Edwards, 47 and had been single for six years before the show, is now single again after splitting from Paul shortly after the show ended.
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