‘Bachelorette’ alum Clare Crawley opens up about sexual abuse
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Warning: the following discusses sexual abuse and child sexual abuse.
Former Bachelorette star Clare Crawley is opening up about her past to fans, revealing deep emotional scars from her childhood in a new, heartfelt Instagram post.
On Wednesday the reality star posted a photo of herself, revealing that she was sexually abused as a kid and how it's impacted her relationships since.
“Self love is the act of giving a voice to your truth. So here is mine,” she began the candid post. “As a child of sexual abuse, my young adult years were spent in unhealthy relationships feeling unworthy of the good ones.”
The 40-year-old then dove deeper. “It was a vicious cycle, because the more I chose the wrong men who treated me poorly, the more I believed I wasn’t good enough. Enter the breast implants,” she continued. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to get them, but the truth is it was money that would have been better spent on therapy to heal my wounded heart.”
Crawley then revealed that she eventually did spend the money on therapy, and that’s what brought her to the present moment. Now, she says she is, “A woman who has learned to love herself deeply on the inside, knows her worth, and will fight for herself no matter what.”
According to the reality star, having now learned about the toxicity implants can cause in the body, she has chosen to remove hers. “I am stepping away from something that no longer serves me… not my heart, and certainly not my health,” she revealed. “Surgery is this week! We are taking it back to Clare 1.0, who is lovable and worthy just the way she is.”
Many of Crawley’s fellow Bachelor Nation alums immediately jumped into the comments to show their support for her health decision and for opening up about the trauma in her past. JoJo Fletcher posted heart emojis, Kaitlyn Bristowe wrote, “Proud of you friend,” and Trista Sutter added, “So proud of you for doing what YOU need and treating yourself with the most beautiful love.”
Crawley’s ex-fiancé Beanoit Beauséjour-Savard also added his support to the post, writing, “Such a powerful move Clare!! Beautiful inside and out you are.”
Crawley appeared as Bachelorette on the show's 16th season, where she fell in love with contestant Dale Moss. The pair left the show early (prompting Tayshia Adams to come in and replace her), but broke up earlier this year. They have since repaired things, are engaged again and just celebrated their one-year anniversary.
Before Bachelorette, Crawley appeared on Juan Pablo Galavis’ 2014 season of The Bachelor, where she was runner-up to season winner Nikki Ferrell. (Nikki and Juan Pablo split for good back in October 2014.)
Crawley first revealed she’s removing her breast implants earlier this month, telling her Instagram followers they have led to health concerns. "I've been going through things medically with my body that I have not had answers to," she said. "It's been hard, it's been frustrating and it's been scary for me to not have answers and to know something's not right, she continued.
“My body is fighting [my implants]. My body can't heal. My body is in fight mode constantly. It's all making sense… As much as I loved having these, this is so important to me that I love my health more. I love my well-being more. That's what matters.”
For a list of Canadian crisis and support lines/services, see the Ending Violence Canada website.
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