Talking to the BBC, the influencer mentioned she first despatched intimate photos on the age of 14 after feeling pressured by a boy in school and to “try to make myself extra common, nevertheless it had the whole adversarial impact”.
Ms McDermott mentioned the boy in query had begged her to ship the photographs which have been later shared amongst college students at neighbouring faculties and even made their approach again to her mom, who labored within the meals tech division of her faculty.
“It was such a darkish time, I’ve blocked out a lot,” she mentioned.
“A couple of days after the image started circulating I used to be simply so worn down. I believe I bear in mind not consuming correctly, I bear in mind not sleeping correctly, I bear in mind simply having this fixed low temper that you could possibly simply by no means elevate”.
She mentioned the incident left her feeling so remoted that she thought of suicide and it’s one thing that continues to have an effect on her.
“I obtained to a spot the place I used to be suicidal. That’s how unhealthy it was. Understanding that when [the images] got here out, I used to be really going to be bullied extra – that was one thing I couldn’t bear. I’d say it does nonetheless have an effect on me to at the present time,” she mentioned.
In her new BBC3 documentary, Ms McDermott explores the affect of revenge porn and has additionally opened up about going by way of the ordeal for a second time when she was 21.
She despatched intimate photographs to a person she was courting simply earlier than they broke up previous to her look in Love Island in 2018.
The pictures have been later shared on-line and circulated after her look on the ITV present.
She mentioned this time round, the expertise left her offended and he or she started to marketing campaign for victims of revenge porn and struggle again in opposition to sufferer shaming.
“The issue is when folks say, ‘Why did she try this?’ and switch their noses up.
“They’ve completely missed the purpose. I used to be fully violated and my belief was damaged, somebody broke the regulation,” she mentioned.
Ms McDermott added that she hopes her documentary will result in extra consciousness of revenge porn and its penalties.
“I would like folks to really feel empowered from this documentary and know they’re not alone, so many different folks have been by way of this”.
