Love Island star says she fell pregnant after she was raped by abusive ex-boyfriend who threatened to kill her

The former Love Island star, who rose to fame on the ITV 2 dating show in 2018, has spoken candidly about her horrific experiences as a survivor of domestic abuse, including an ex who assaulted her and threatened to kill her at the side of the motorway.

Appearing on Married at First Sight UK and Celebs Go Dating relationship expert Paul Carrick Brunson's 'We Need To Talk' podcast, the 30-year-old star revealed she fell pregnant years before she appeared on the ITV reality show after the older man removed his condom without her consent, which is known as stealthing and is considered rape under UK law.

Barton-Hanson had an abortion, and on the way home from the clinic, she has said her partner "switched" and became violent. She recalled: "He was like ‘you're disgusting. You just killed our baby’.

"Then he's like, ‘You make me sick’, then he got the seat belt, wrapped it around my neck, bit my nose - this was post nose job - and said, ‘Think you're pretty with that new nose?', bit it, started filming me and goes, ‘Cry, b****. Go and tell the camera what you've just done.’ I was in so much shock, I couldn't even have tears. I couldn't breathe.”

The reality star, who has undergone therapy to deal with her experiences and wants other women to report domestic abuse to the authorities, claimed her ex threatened to murder her and gave her "10 seconds to run", and she tried to get him to "calm down".

She added: "We're on a motorway, cars are speeding past at 70mph. I thought, even if I try [to run ] it’s just going to anger him more because he's definitely going to catch me, so I just stood there frozen."

Later that night, he arrived at her parents' home, "squared up" to her father and "strangled" her mother before throwing a crowboy through the rear window of their car as they tried to escape. She said she feared he would "literally kill [her]", and he was later sentenced to a month and a half in jail after she testified against him in Crown Court.

She also recalled other instances of domestic abuse after ending a relationship. She said: "He put a knife to my throat and asked me to put his bank details into my online banking and transfer him ten grand a month because he was taxing me for not loving him."

She stayed with him at the time because she didn't want to "let down" her mother, but the abuse continued days into their holiday as he brought up her then-job as a stripper and webcam model.

She recalled: "He slapped me, I fell in the bed, then he was pacing the room for what felt like four hours, telling me what a piece of s*** I am."

• The Rape Crisis England and Wales helpline is available 24/7 and can be contacted on 0808 802 9999