Gemma Collins opens up about being attacked by ex

TV celebrity Gemma Collins felt "powerless" when she was "really badly beaten" by a former boyfriend who forced her to quit "I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!".

Collins, 36, has opened up about a 2014 incident between her and her former lover, who has remained unnamed. She has claimed that the incident saw her beaten to the floor, kicked "constantly" in the spine where she suffered a fractured coccyx and locked in her own flat, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Speaking to The Sun newspaper about it, the "Only Way Is Essex" star said: "I was really badly beaten. I was powerless.

"He started beating me up and kicking me constantly on the floor repeatedly in the bottom of my spine, which he knows I had a fractured coccyx.

"When he beat me enough to get me down on the floor then he didn't stop there. He locked me in my flat -- he then repeatedly kicked me, kicked me, kicked me -- then for some reason he got disrupted and he walked into the bedroom and started smashing up the place in there," she said.

Collins said she managed to flee her home by "crawling" down the stairs, but didn't take the matter further that time. Now she regrets it.

"I managed to find the last bit of strength in me and I flipped the bolt open on the door and crawled down the stairs, blood dripping down my face and if it wasn't for the neighbour at the bottom of the stairs -- he called the police.

"I should have pressed charges but I was in love with that person. I was in shock and had a taxi outside my house waiting to take me to the airport.

"I can't tell you what I said to them, it was just a blur. I dropped all the charges because I was too scared to see it through. I wish to this day that I saw it through," she said.

Collins has admitted being a victim of domestic violence "never leaves (a) person but even I wasn't strong enough to switch off to it".

--IANS

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