Megan Barton Hanson reveals her rape and ‘stealthing’ trauma by the hands of abusive ex who attacked her after she had an abortion: ‘I feared he was going to kill me’

She’s one of the wealthiest influencers in the country, thought to be worth more than £2million.

But Megan Barton Hanson, the Love Island star who was catapulted to fame through her 2018 appearance on the ITV reality show, says it’s taken 11 years to realise she was once the victim of a truly hideous, and intimate, crime.

She says that she was smitten with a new boyfriend, and at just 19 years old relatively inexperienced when it came to making love when the incident occurred. During sex, her boyfriend removed his condom without her consent, she says.

It was only a fortnight ago that she learned the act – called stealthing – constitutes rape and is therefore punishable by a custodial sentence.

Her brutal discovery that she had been the victim of a serious sexual offence came while taking part in a podcastwith relationship expert Paul Carrick Brunson. As reality sank in, she said her whole body burned as she accepted that she had been raped without her knowledge.

In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, former Love Island star Megan, 30, said: ‘I literally learned of it on the podcast with Paul. We were going through my life journey, I touched on this topic which I had never talked about publicly before.

‘He said “You are aware that this is rape” and I was like, “No it’s not.”

‘I didn’t know if I was in denial to myself because I was fully consenting to have sex with my partner, my boyfriend of six months.

‘Paul then said, “Yes, but you were not consenting for him to remove the condom without your knowledge.”’

It was a stomach churning moment for Megan, whose fans know her for her openness in relationship matters.

She looks sad as she tells me: ‘It was a lot to process. I felt sad for my younger self. I was a baby, I was 19, he was just my second sexual partner. I was so naive. I wanted to give my younger self a hug.

‘My whole body was burning, the back of my neck was hot, I was like “no way”. 

Worse still, by removing his condom her boyfriend – whom she does not wish to name – made her pregnant.

‘It was only the morning sickness that made me realise,’ she tells me now. 

Megan and her then boyfriend opted to terminate the pregnancy but her ex fell into a violent rage on their way home from the procedure.

She recalled: ‘He was like, “You’re disgusting. You just killed our baby.”

Megan, who says she is a feminist, has decided to speak out now to educate young women about how this particular type of contraception can be misused – and the repercussions that can follow.

‘It’s also about sexually transmitted infections,’ she says. ‘When you have sex, you’re consenting with protection. It’s mind-blowing that any person would think to do it without your knowing when it’s one of the most intimate things.

‘Everyone is aware that it’s immoral but people don’t know it’s a crime.’

The incident happened in 2013, an exciting time in Megan’s life. She had just landed a job at a law firm and found a new boyfriend.

But a few months into their relationship, she felt he’d started to become controlling.

Bickering over what to watch on television one night, she says he hit her with the remote control.

‘I wasn’t frightened of him at first, but then he hit me with the control which was a red flag,’ she said.

On another occasion, during a trip to London, Megan says he shouted at her and he became physically aggressive.

‘He got handsy with me. Then he got me by the throat by a wall and tried to strangle me. I stuck up for myself and told him I would break up with him if he did that again.’

Shocked some months later to find she was pregnant – and still living with her parents – she decided to book a termination on the grounds that she was still so young herself. 

Her boyfriend said he would support her but before undergoing the procedure, she says, he would rub her belly in a bid, she believes, to ‘subconsciously talk me out of it.’

The day of the termination turned into what was by far the most terrifying of Megan’s life.

She took the first tablet, which helps prepare the body for the next dose of medicine, but ten minutes into their journey home, being driven by her boyfriend’s mother, he went into a rage.

‘It was as if a switch flicked. He said, “I can’t believe you did it.”

‘He then made me and his mum get out. I feared he was going to kill me. It was a lot, I had been through a termination, that was enough to deal with on its own. I just stood there and tried to calm him down.’

She then claims he carried out a vicious attack on her, punching her and wrapping a seatbelt around her neck.

She says he also bit her nose and began filming her on his phone ordering her to tell the camera that she had just got rid of their baby.

Megan eventually managed to get back to her parents’ house.

‘As soon as I got home I locked the doors,’ said Megan. ‘I was shaking, I was petrified, struggling to breathe.’

Next, she says, her boyfriend arrived with a crow bar and tried to smash through the front door. Megan took her mum’s car keys and she and her mother drove off and she called the police.

The man was later charged and convicted of two counts of battering, ABH and criminal damage. He was sentenced to a month-and-a-half in prison.

Megan admits that she has had ‘hours’ of therapy which has cost her ‘a lot of money.’

‘I have had all different types,’ she confesses. ‘I have tried cognitive behavioural therapy which has helped as it’s given me resources when [I’m] spiralling or having negative thoughts.

‘I still have it on and off. I haven’t had it for five or six months but I like to check in.’

Megan has decided to speak out to raise awareness of stealthing and is making a plea for the government to educate young people about it when they are at school.

She fears that women going to the police to say they have been a victim of stealthing won’t be believed either as there is no evidence. As well, Megan wants to encourage women to be ore vigilant by having the word in their mind.

Meanwhile, the star credits yoga and meditation as being important to regaining her equilibrium. 

Life has moved on and she is happy, so much so that she refuses to let the incident shape the rest of her life.

She said: ‘I try not to hold too much attachment to any labels. As humans we love to put people in boxes, especially women.

‘You’re either an academic woman, a sexy woman or a funny woman. And rape can be a label too.

‘But I have worked through my trauma. It is my experience and I have dealt with it.’

Rape Crisis England & Wales can be contacted on a 24/7 Support Line by calling 0808 500 2222 or visit https://rapecrisis.org.uk for more information

The National Domestic Abuse Helpline can be called, for free and in confidence, 24 hours a day on 0808 2000 247