Stephen Bear released from prison after serving revenge porn sentence against ex-girlfriend Georgia Harrison

Reality TV personality Stephen Bear has been released from prison after serving 10-and-a-half months for sharing a sex tape of his former girlfriend Georgia Harrison. The 34-year-old, who won Celebrity Big Brother in 2016, was jailed on March 3, 2023 after filming and uploading footage of himself having sex with Ms Harrison in his garden to his OnlyFans account without her permission.

Harrison, who is currently in the Love Island: All Stars villa and has also appeared on The Only Way Is Essex, has waived her right to anonymity. During his sentencing, Bear was also given a restraining order and told not to contact Harrison for five years. Bear must also keep police informed of his whereabouts for a decade.

Following his sentencing last year, Bear was also ordered to pay Harrison the sum of £200,000 – the highest amount awarded in an image abuse case. Months after the trial, he was forced to sell his Essex home for £525,000.

A bearded Bear walked out of HMP Brixton on Wednesday, dressed in a grey and yellow T-shirt and shorts and trainers, despite the cold temperatures. He was also wearing a black beaded crucifix, and carried two black holdalls, which he loaded into the back of a waiting car.

During the trial, Prosecutor Jacqueline Carey KC told Chelmsford Crown Court that Harrison and Bear had consensual sex at his home in Loughton, Essex, but Harrison was unaware it was being recorded.

When Harrison saw the footage, she told Bear "never to send" it to anyone and "made it clear how upset she would be if he did," according to the prosecutor. The complainant said she saw Bear send the footage to someone on WhatsApp later that day, and she later learned that it was circulating online later that year.

Carey said Bear uploaded the footage “either himself or had it uploaded to OnlyFans and profited financially”. Bear, who denied all charges, claimed at trial that he deleted the footage that day and had shared it with no one other than Harrison. But he was found guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court of voyeurism and of two counts of disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress.

After Bear was found guilty, Harrison said: “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.”

London-born Bear first rose to fame on the MTV reality series, "Ex on the Beach" in 2015, before going on to appear on a number of other reality shows, including "Celebs Go Dating," "The Challenge," and "Just Tattoo of Us." His first TV appearance was in 2011 on Shipwrecked. 

Bear has been embroiled in a number of controversies throughout his career and in January 2021, was arrested and charged for the revenge porn incident. He was charged on May 14, 2021 with voyeurism, disclosing private, sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress, and harassment without violence and found guilty on December 13, 2022.