‘My first thought was, ”How am I going to tell my dad?”’: Love Island star Georgia Harrison describes shame of telling her parents about her sex tape with Stephen Bear who leaked the video on racy site OnlyFans after revenge porn trial
- Georgia Harrison’s ex Stephen Bear shared their sex tape on an adult website
- He faces two years in jail after being found guilty of disclosing private material
- Ms Harrison says the leaked video ‘decimated my self-worth and ability to trust’
- She added the video made the lives of her family difficult including her parents
Georgia Harrison has described the shame of having to tell her parents that her ex-boyfriend Stephen Bear had leaked her sex tape, and that the ordeal ‘decimated my self-worth’.
The Love Island star said she was left mortified at having to tell her dad that the Celebrity Big Brother winner turned wannabe porn star had secretly filmed the pair having sex and shared the video online.
Ms Harrison said the release of the video ruined her life and the lives of her family, who had to deal with the fallout when it came into the public domain in 2020.
The 28-year-old, who was in Dubai during the pandemic when it was uploaded by Bear to OnlyFans, said she felt helpless and that rooms would ‘fall silent’ when she entered.
The TV personality added that it had hit her career as well, with brands dropping her after the video came out.
Bear and Georgia Harrison , 28, (pictured Monday, December 12, outside Chelmsford Crown Court) were captured having sex on CCTV cameras in Bear’s garden on August 2, 2020. He then shared the footage on subscription website OnlyFans
Bear (pictured on December 6) denied all charges, but on Tuesday a jury found him guilty by unanimous verdicts of two counts of disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress. He was found guilty by a majority verdict of 10 jurors to two of voyeurism
Bear (pictured here in his police mugshot) now faces up to two years in prison when he returns to court for sentencing in January
Ms Harrison told the trial she met Bear in 2012 and the two went on the reality show The Challenge in 2018, where they began a relationship. The pair are pictured together in 2019
Ms Harrison (left, at Chelmsford Crown Court earlier this month) says she never gave consent for the video to be shared and is seeking civil compensation alongside a criminal trial. She said she discovered the video was online in December 2020, and had to hire someone to remove it from porn sites
Bear (pictured at Chelmsford Crown Court on December 8), who won Celebrity Big Brother in 2016, claims he deleted the footage and did not send it to others
Georgia Harrison says so many brands dropped her following the leak of her sex tape that she had to move back in with her mum.
The TV personality told the Sun brands did not want to be associated with her after the video was released.
‘The impact the video had both professionally and personally was so damaging,’ she said.
‘I was dropped by so many brands who didn’t want to work with me because of this video.
‘My earnings dropped dramatically and I was forced to move back in with my mum. Financially it has been really tough.’
The 28-year-old added that she couldn’t face returning to her flat as it was opposite Bear’s house.
She said: ‘I haven’t been able to go to my own flat for two years. The place I worked my whole life to buy.
‘I will never feel comfortable living there again. One day I will sell it and try to move on.’
Bear was found guilty of two counts of disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress, and two counts of voyeurism, at Chelmsford Crown Court on Tuesday. He now faces up to two years in prison.
Speaking to the Sun after the verdict, Ms Harrison said she was ‘crippled by shame and embarrassment’ when the video was leaked, and it had ‘decimated my self-worth and my ability to trust’.
She said: ‘When I first realised the video was out there for everyone to see, my first thought was, ‘How am I going to tell my dad?’.
‘Imagine how embarrassing it is for my dad knowing that all of his friends are aware that there is this really explicit video of his daughter out there. A boy even accidentally sent it to my uncle without realising we were related.
‘I have little brothers and sisters who were all in school at the time.
‘They have had to deal with people bringing it up with them, calling me names. People were trying to forward it on social media to them. It has really affected their lives as well – it wasn’t just mine that was ruined.’
Ms Harrison said the video, which was secretly taken on Bear’s CCTV system in his back garden on August 2, 2020, was widely shared among her peers.
The former TOWIE star said the gym ‘fell silent’ when she walked in following its release.
‘I asked who had seen it and all of these people put up their hands,’ she told the paper.
‘By this time I realised it was out of my control and there was no way I could stop this video from spreading.’
She had previously told the court that when Bear showed her the footage she told him ‘never to send’ it to anyone and ‘made it plain how upset she would be if he did’.
The spread of the video prompted her to call the police, who got it removed and started an investigation into Bear.
While the investigation took place, Ms Harrison said she was left to rue the impact of the leak on her career.
She said: ‘The impact the video had both professionally and personally was so damaging. I was dropped by so many brands who didn’t want to work with me because of it.
‘My earnings dropped drastically and I was forced to move back in with my mum. Financially, it has been really tough.’
Speaking after the conclusion of the case on Tuesday, December 13, Ms Harrison said she was grateful for people’s support.
Ms Harrison took to social media to thank everyone and tell them how she was celebrating
Bear did not appear to be contrite about his conviction and instead joked about taking holiday
The judge bailed Bear (pictured yesterday with Jessica Smith) until January 31 to return to the same court for sentencing, after a report has been prepared about him
Stress from sex tape leak led to burst cyst, Georgia Harrison says
TV personality Georgia Harrison says she nearly died due to the stress caused by the leak of her sex tape.
The 28-year-old claims the furore surrounding the video played a part in a burst ovarian cyst, which led to sepsis.
Ms Harrison told the Sun: ‘I fell ill through the stress, I was locking myself away and barely sleeping
‘In the end a cyst on my ovary burst and it became infected. That infection spread to my bladder, liver and pelvis and my mum begged me to go to hospital.
‘When I arrived they told me that if I had waited for one more night to get help I would have died.’
The former TOWIE star told the paper she believes the stress is what caused the cyst to burst in the first place.
She added that doctors in Dubai, where she was staying when she fell ill, told her she was ‘lucky to be alive’.
In a post on Instagram she said: ‘I’m so grateful for everyone’s support and beautiful messages. Having a well needed night in the preset moment with my boyfriend to celebrate my birthday but can’t put into words the gratitude for you all and relief I’m feeling right now. Trust the universe.’
She added: ‘I hope me taking a stand gives other men and women who have fallen victim to revenge porn the courage to seek justice and most importantly show them that they have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.
‘I have felt ashamed, hurt, violated, even broken at times but now I stand here feeling empowered, grateful and a huge sense of unity with all of those who have reached out to support me throughout this ordeal.’
During the trial Bear was criticised for turning up dressed in over-the-top outfits and hiring a Rolls-Royce to drop him off at the court steps every day.
Ms Harrison told the Sun: ‘I feel he was making a complete mockery of the trial. I do not think he took any of it seriously and I do not think he even thinks what he did was a bad crime.’
After the guilty verdicts were returned, Bear said in court: ‘My barrister said not to…
‘In my opinion from the very beginning it was never a fair trial, what the press said against me.
‘I was fighting a losing battle and it is what it is.’
Judge Christopher Morgan told the defendant: ‘Thank you for that observation.’
He was bailed until January 31, where he will appear at the same court to be sentenced. He could be jailed for up to two years.
On Tuesday he shamelessly tweeted out his police mugshot and sneered: ‘This guy needs a holiday. Where should he take his model girlfriend?’
The prosecution said that the sex at Bear’s home was consensual but that Ms Harrison, who waived her right to anonymity, did not know that they were being recorded.
The complainant said she saw Bear send the footage to someone on WhatsApp later that day, and that later that year she was made aware that it was circulating online.
Prosecutor Jacqueline Carey KC said that Bear uploaded the footage ‘either himself or had it uploaded to OnlyFans and profited financially’.
Bear, who won Celebrity Big Brother in 2016, claims he deleted the footage and did not send it to others.
The defendant, wearing a black suit and pink shirt and tie, took several deep breaths as he walked from the dock to the witness stand to give his evidence on December 8
Jurors returned verdicts of guilty in the sex tape trial of reality TV star Stephen Bear at Chelmsford Crown Court. The former Ex on the Beach star is pictured yesterday with his girlfriend Jessica Smith outside Chelmsford Crown Court
He previously told the trial he ‘thought it was funny’ that the cameras had captured himself and Ms Harrison having sex.
‘We played it on the monitor screen,’ he said. ‘She asked for a copy of it.
‘I said ‘of course I will send you a copy’, it was 20 minutes long.’
Bear said that Ms Harrison ‘told me to delete the footage, which I did’.
Stephen Bear’s Twitter account advertised his adult website during sex tape trial
Reality TV star Stephen Bear’s Twitter account posted a ‘50% off’ deal for his adult entertainment website alongside a photo of him arriving at court while he was on trial.
The 32-year-old stood trial at Chelmsford Crown Court accused of sharing a video online of him and his ex-girlfriend Georgia Harrison having sex.
The footage was captured on CCTV cameras in Bear’s garden in Loughton in Essex in 2020.
The prosecution said that 28-year-old Ms Harrison, who has waived her right to anonymity, did not know they were being recorded and asked Bear not to send the film to anyone.
Bear denied voyeurism and two counts of disclosing private sexual photographs and films, but today was found guilty of all three counts.
During the trial, a photo of him walking from a hired chauffeur-driven white Rolls Royce to the court building was uploaded to his Twitter account.
The accompanying text with the post said, in block capitals: ‘50% off my adult site for the next 24 hours. ‘Come see why I’m trending.’
It included a smiling purple devil emoji, and a link to his website.
In the photo, taken on the first day of his trial, Bear wore a pink suit, black fur jacket and sunglasses.
Bear’s Twitter account describes him as an ‘international playboy’ and ‘self-made billionaire’.
It was not the first time that the Ex On The Beach star’s social media account had made reference to the court case taking place.
Before the trial, a poll on Bear’s Twitter account asked his followers ‘What colour suit should I wear to court on Tuesday (December 6)?’
Most of the votes were for ‘pink’, and the account later posted a short video of Bear, apparently inside a vehicle and wearing the pink suit that he wore on the first day of his trial.
In the clip he gave a thumbs up, and text over the video said that ‘pink won the vote’. The post was captioned ‘keeping it low key’, with a smiling tongue out emoji, and a paw prints emoji.
Later in the trial, Bear’s account posted a different video clip of him arriving at court with a caption over the footage reading ‘Never give up’.
The defendant, who wore different outfits to court, was pictured in another post carrying a cane as he waited for his girlfriend Jessica Smith to exit a Rolls Royce outside court, with the caption reading ‘Every king needs a queen’.
His account retweeted a post from Ms Smith’s account reading ‘I’ll always be by your side, even if the whole world is against you’.
It also shared a post from another account, reacting to footage of him arriving at court carrying a cane, which said ‘absolute legendary outfit, dressed like a king’.
Essex Police said that in February 2022, Bear was seen to be discussing the court case on social media, ‘clearly breaching his court bail conditions’, so he was further arrested and later charged.
‘Why would I want that on my phone?’
He said his ‘intention’ that day ‘was to catch up with a friend – sex was a bonus and the footage was quite funny to watch back’.
He described Ms Harrison’s allegation that she saw him send the footage to someone on WhatsApp that evening as a ‘complete lie’.
During his police interview, Bear claimed Ms Harrison laughed about the sex video when he showed it to her in the garden and said he ‘put in a good performance’.
He told officers she had shared it with her friends and told them: ‘I said ‘F****** hell, babe, look at that, I’ve got it on camera.’
‘It turned her on, she was horny, she just laughed about it, it’s funny.’
Bear made repeated claims that his Instagram had been hacked but answered only ‘No comment’ when police asked him specific questions.
Ms Harrison’s mother and manager, Nicola Harrison, gave evidence during the trial and said her daughter was ‘tearful’ and ‘crying’ when she phoned her the day after being filmed.
She said Ms Harrison told her not to worry as Bear had promised he would delete the video.
Nicola told jurors: ‘She said he sent the video to someone in front of her and she asked him to delete it. She thought it had reached the end of it – she said ‘Don’t worry, he has deleted it.’
‘She said people were contacting her and saying they had seen the video and some people contacted her from America. She said it must be online and it was not just people showing it.’
As her manager, Nicola had access to her daughter’s Instagram account and said that after a request for information her daughter posted in December 2020 she saw 20 replies, one of which sent her a screenshot of the video.
She said she went onto Bear’s OnlyFans page, paid $15 and saw the video but did not watch it, adding: ‘It is something I would never, ever want to see.’
When asked about footage being uploaded to OnlyFans, Bear told his trial: ‘I don’t know of any video being uploaded.
‘All I know is a 20-minute video I had at the time. I don’t know of any other video that’s been uploaded.’
He also said he had never changed his subscription price on his OnlyFans account, which was deactivated in December 2020.
During her closing speech to the jury, Jacqueline Carey KC said Bear bragged from the witness stand about sleeping with Lauren Goodger and other models.
She said: ‘He broadcast their private sexual lives in open court and gave no thought to their privacy at all.
‘If it gets him fame, money, notoriety or trending on Twitter he will say whatever he wants, he will do whatever he wants and distribute whatever he wants.
‘The prosecution are not asking you to convict Stephen Bear because he sleeps with women and doesn’t call them back.
‘As ungentlemanly as it is, that is not what he is charged with.
‘He is not charged with being a self-obsessed show-off. The prosecution are asking you to convict him because the evidence proves he is guilty.’
‘He was getting traction on social media, a lot of people were looking at him. That is why he put the price up, so he could make a quick buck.’
Gemma Rose, defending Bear, told the jury: ‘You may not agree with Mr Bear’s views or his work online but this is not a court of morals. You must judge the case on the evidence that is put before you.
‘He has tried to assist the best he can in the circumstances. You may think, what more can he do? Mr Bear cannot give you the magic answers.
‘He received around £40,000 from OnlyFans but in respect of that video OnlyFans state the payment was 2,000 dollars.
‘What motivation is there to upload that video when clearly he made money from other content? You cannot be sure that Mr Bear uploaded that video or instructed anyone to upload it.’
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