Clara Amfo reveals she was sexually abused by a family friend from age 5 – saying it caused a breakdown at 18

BBC broadcaster Clara Amfo has revealed she was sexually abused from the property of 5 years old.

The popular star, 40, said a household person “groomed” her successful a trauma which “changed maine forever.”

She said the maltreatment lone stopped erstwhile 1 of her brothers saw the antheral abusing her and raised the alarm.

Clara bravely spoke astir her ordeal during an interrogation connected the Changes with Annie MacManus podcast, which was released this morning.

She said: “I'm a survivor, I'm a unfortunate - nevertheless you privation to look astatine it - of puerility intersexual abuse.

“I was sexually abused by a person of our family. And it went connected for rather a portion betwixt the ages of like, I deliberation I was five, coming up to six years old.

“And it stopped due to the fact that 1 of my brothers recovered out.

“But it was, it was beingness changing. Anyone who has been done immoderate benignant of maltreatment successful their life, peculiarly intersexual abuse, it changes the mode you presumption the world.

“Because from 5 years old, I knew that the satellite wasn't a harmless place.

“Issues of trust, self-worth, you know, conscionable ruptured, really. And the innocence conscionable dies successful you. You tin ne'er get it back.

“And I mourn that for my puerility self, you know?”

Clara, who spent 10 years arsenic a DJ connected Radio 1 and present fronts a raft of civilization programming for the BBC, said it took her years to adjacent comprehend what had happened to her.

She continued: “Essentially, like, I was groomed, you know, and truthful arsenic a small kid, you think, ‘Well, this is normal’.”

“But I'll accidental this, like, my member recovered retired successful the astir literal mode helium could, which was unfortunate for some of us, enactment it that way.

“And that's however it ended, basically. And the alteration determination was that that's erstwhile I truly realised, ‘Oh, bent connected a minute, each this was wrong. I'm not harmless with this person’.

“Because the shame that comes from seeing idiosyncratic beryllium horrified astatine the show of something… I was like, ‘OK, this is truly bad’. And I internalised each of that.

“It's been a beingness trying to undo that and conscionable navigate that successful my life, successful my idiosyncratic life, successful my nonrecreational life.”

Clara said the intelligence accent reached a climax erstwhile she was a precocious teen and she sought concealed therapy to effort and header with it aft processing depression.

She explained: “I fundamentally had a tense breakdown erstwhile I was 18 oregon 19, due to the fact that the enormity of what had happened to maine truly deed astir that age.

“Around 18 oregon 19, I was like, ‘Oh f***. What I went done was truly bad’.”

“I'd person anxiousness attacks. Like five, six, seven, eight, up to similar 18 years old, similar erstwhile I was inactive surviving with my parents.

“I fundamentally had to enactment myself successful therapy successful concealed due to the fact that I was conscionable truthful depressed. I was truthful depressed and truthful anxious and truthful terribly bittersweet and conscionable horrified. I was conscionable horrified.”

Her member told her mum astir the abuse, but Clara said she denied it erstwhile confronted by her mother, due to the fact that she was “full of shame.”

She said: “My member had told her. And past 1 time, she asked maine and I denied it.

“She asked maine precise direct, like, ‘Did this happen?’ She benignant of said it similar that. And I was truthful afloat of shame.”

But successful a cruel twist, she has ne'er been capable to bring her abuser to justness aft cops urged her not to effort and instrumentality her lawsuit to court.

Clara explained: “With my situation, I was going to spell legal, and I'd gone to similar Operation Sapphire, who was benignant of similar the Met Police.

“And they were incredible. All similar my on-site attraction squad were amazing. But past essentially, I got this truly cold, precise objective telephone telephone from this antheral elder guy.

“He said, ‘Look, I've seen your statements, blah blah blah’. He said, ‘But enactment it this way, it's going to beryllium your connection against his’.

“I was going to spell aft my abuser, due to the fact that helium was inactive surviving successful the UK astatine the time.

“He was like, ‘It's going to beryllium your connection against his. They're going to transverse analyse you, they're going to bash this. Do you truly privation to bash this?’ And helium fundamentally benignant of talked maine retired of it.

“And if that has happened now, I'd beryllium like, ‘F**k off’. But astatine the time, I was 19 years old.

“But I still, I inactive springiness myself acknowledgment for who I was then, due to the fact that I'm like, f**king hell, Clara, that was really amazing.”

Clara said she decided to talk retired connected the maltreatment she faced due to the fact that she ever felt similar she had a “secret” that her fans didn’t know.

She added: “For maine to amusement up arsenic myself and bash my occupation properly, whether that is being an interviewer, I request to consciousness that I'm coming done arsenic similar my 100% self.

“And determination was ever that bit, and having this secret, for privation of a amended phrase, has ever troubled maine due to the fact that I've ever felt similar it hasn't allowed maine to crook up arsenic who I 100% am. And I americium a survivor.

“I consciousness very, I consciousness strong. I consciousness precise successful power of who I americium now. I deliberation it's a assurance happening arsenic well.”