PUSHING yourself to the limits in brutal conditions, all while soldiers scream at you, would be too much for most people – but not Georgia Harrison.
Having won much harder fights in her personal life, she’s sailed through to the final four of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.
“There were a couple of times I wanted to quit, I was just so broken. But I kept pushing through, because I know a lot of young women look up to me. I hope they see how strong you can be, both mentally and physically,” she says.
Georgia, 29, rose to fame on The Only Way Is Essex in 2014, before appearing on Love Island in 2017.
But for the last two years, she has been better known for battling for justice after her ex-boyfriend Stephen Bear secretly filmed them having sex in December 2020, then uploaded the footage to OnlyFans.
Georgia waived her anonymity to speak up for other revenge porn victims, while Bear was jailed in March 2023 and subsequently released in January after serving 10 and a half months.
“A lot of people say: ‘You were strong,’ but realistically, I had no other choice,” Georgia explains. “I had to do what I could to get through it. Whereas, with Celebrity SAS, I chose to do it to see how strong I really am.
“What I went through over that couple of years has built a layer of resilience. I’m built stronger for anything going forward.”
It wasn’t just the experience of pushing herself that Georgia gained from the show, she’s forged deep friendships with some other celebrity contestants, too.
“Bianca [Gascoigne] is like my big sister now. I ended up having a really weird friendship with Rachel Johnson, which wasn’t expected. We are from such different worlds, but we got along like a house on fire.”
Did Rachel spill the beans on her brother Boris? “Sometimes we dipped into the conversation,” she reveals.
“But you could tell she didn’t really want to speak about it in the environment we were in.”
Georgia is getting used to rubbing shoulders with politicians, having spoken at the Labour Party conference last month.
“I’ve met Keir Starmer twice now. He’s very passionate about [the issue of] violence against women and girls, and he wants to do his best to [bring about] change,” she says.
“I really like his character – he’s going to be a great leader. I’m confident that they are going to curb violence against women and girls.
“But last time I saw him, I spilled a whole glass of redwineover myself! He was probably thinking ‘Who dragged her backwards into Downing Street?!’”
Two years on from her ordeal, Georgia still finds it hard to believe it actually happened.
As if Bear’s betrayal and the idea of millions of strangers watching your most intimate moments wasn’t enough to contend with, Georgia also lost her best friend, Cenk Fahri, 26, to leukaemia, followed by her ex-boyfriend Jake McLean in a car crash in August 2022, aged 33.
Jake was the only person I properly loved in my life
“I don’t know how I managed to get through it,” she says.
“I feel really sorry for that version of me. My best friend had leukaemia on and off since he was about 17, and I stayed with him in the hospital for a lot of his treatment.
“And I was always in touch with my ex. We’d known each other since we were 15. They were both really big supports to me and gave me strength for the court case.
“I knew Cenk was ill, but I believed he would make it. Losing him crushed me for months. I went into a horrible state of grieving, where nothing mattered.
“I finally got to a point where I was feeling strong again, and then my ex died unexpectedly in a car crash. I was in touch with him a couple of days [earlier], talking about meeting up soon.
“He was the only person I really properly loved in my whole life, so to lose him six months before the court case. . . I didn’t think I was going to cope.
“I remember saying to my mum: ‘We could drop the court case. I don’t care about anything anymore.’
READ MORE CELEB INTERVIEWS
“I wouldn’t wash, my friend came over and bathed me. I couldn’t do anything, so the thought of being strong enough to put a suit on and give a witness statement seemed out of this world to me. But somehow, I managed to do it.
“Before I went into Celebrity SAS, I felt good and healthy as I’d been training.
“But the night before, I was overcome with emotion. Everything about my ex hit me. I was hysterically crying until 5am, then I realised it was exactly a year since he died.
“I’m in a much better place now, but for a long time I lived in fear that something bad was going to happen. I found it hard to be happy in case something knocked me off my feet.”
With Bear now out of prison, does Georgia worry about bumping into him?
“If I walked past him, my heart would drop, but I don’t ever feel like I’d have to worry about him approaching me. I have a [five-year] restraining order, but I want it lengthened.”
And despite the court ruling Bear had to pay Georgia £207,900 in damages (the highest amount ever awarded in an image abuse case), as well as an extra £27,000 for compensation and to pay back profits he’d made from the video, he’s yet to give her anything.
Although, he has paid the confiscation order of £22,305 to the Home Office.
“It blows my mind,” she says. “I never managed to recover a penny, because he got rid of most of his money.
“He sold his house from prison, which was worth £500,000. Apparently, there are debt collectors, but who knows what is actually left to collect?”
If you win a court case, like I did, your footage should become illegal
Georgia’s ordeal is still at the forefront of her mind as she films the follow-ups to her 2023 documentary Revenge Porn: Georgia vs Bear.
“I definitely didn’t expect it to become as big as it did. It was on every news channel,” she says.
“I’m currently working on two new projects with ITV, looking into different areas of image-based sexual abuse, who is making the money from it, and deepfakes.
“They are coming out in January. I’m investigating where my video ended up, how many people viewed it and why it’s so accessible.
“Even though I’ve healed from the emotion of the original experience, I’m still accepting that society allows it to be online. One thing that needs to change is if you win a court case, like I did, your footage should become illegal.
“To go through a court case and really expose yourself during the trial, face your perpetrator and get to the end of it, then the images still stay online, even if you win. . . And your footage is still technically owned by them.
What is the law around revenge porn?
According to gov.uk…
Revenge Porn is the sharing of private, sexual materials, either photos or videos, of another person, without their consent and with the purpose of causing embarrassment or distress.
The offence applies both online and offline, and to images which are shared electronically or in a more traditional way so it includes the uploading of images on the internet, sharing by text and e-mail, or showing someone a physical or electronic image.
The maximum penalty for revenge porn is two years in jail and a fine.
“I work alongside Revenge Porn Helpline – there’s one girl who works there who’s completely dedicated to my imagery.
“She does everything she can to try to get it taken down from all of these different places. They’re absolutely amazing for victims, but they need more government support.”
Knowing the footage of her and Bear is still online has affected Georgia’s love life, too, and she has been single since splitting with Anton Danyluk, who she met on Love Island: All Stars, in May.
“I’m just dating and seeing where things go,” she says. “But 100% [I worry they’ve seen the video].
“They almost always are aware of it. I feel like it’s an elephant in the room. I will talk about certain things, waiting for it to come up. It’s something I definitely struggle with.
“I just hope that whoever I do meet will be understanding about it. That’s why I’m trying so hard to change the law, because I’d like to think that one day, I could live in a world where I don’t have to worry about my husband seeing this.
“Hopefully one day I will have kids, and that’s my biggest fear – them finding it.”
‘Ronnie is single again – so you never know!’
Did the betrayal by Bear – who she met in 2019 – make it harder for her to trust men?
“I don’t think so. Although that horrible situation happened to me, I’ve also had some relationships that have been lovely. I have a lot of friends whose partners are amazing.
“I don’t doubt that there are good men out there. I feel quite optimistic about relationships.”
She has even enlisted her best friend, fellow Love Islander Olivia Attwood, and her footballer husband Bradley Dack, to help.
“I don’t know what I would do without Liv,” Georgia says.
“She’s my best friend. She will be by my side at my wedding, just like I was at hers. I feel like people can try to claw at each other in this industry, whereas Liv will always have my best interests at heart.
“She’s given it a good go trying to set me up. We’ve had a look at some of Brad’s friends.
“There are a few of them that are quite fit! Ronnie [Vint, 27, who appeared on this year’s Love Island] is hot and he’s single again. You never know!”
It’s no surprise that going through something so traumatic has changed Georgia. It was evident when she appeared on Love Island: All Stars in January.
“I was a lot more light-hearted before,” she says, sadly.
“It’s definitely made me more serious. Sometimes, my mates will send videos of me from before, and I think ‘Oh, I’d love to still be like that.’ I’m more hyper-vigilant now, and less carefree.
“I always worry if someone’s listening or there are cameras in certain places. I still want to be empowered but if I look at my life prior to it, I was more open to being sexy in public.
“I wasn’t willing to wear the underwear in The Hideaway or do sexy dances. The boys were really respectful – they knew I was concerned about putting myself in a situation where trolls can jump on me.
“The commentary would be ‘She was so upset about this video, but she’s happy to go on TV in her underwear.’ But [what I’ve gone through] has also made me more empathetic and understanding to other people. I’m proud of myself.”
Now, as she prepares to turn 30, Georgia is looking to the future. “I’m happy to leave my 20s behind,” she laughs.
“Thirty is a big one, but I’m in the strongest place I’ve ever been, so I’m going to embrace it. I’m happy with who I am and what I’m doing.”
- Watch the Celebrity SAS final, tomorrow, 9pm, Channel 4.
