Una Healy has opened up about being bullied and getting death threats as a teenager.
The Tipperary native admitted songwriting has helped her to process her emotions during difficult times in her life, including when she was bullied in school.
Speaking to The Irish Independent, the Saturdays star recalled: “They’d shout intimidating things and make me feel scared.”
“There was a couple of times when they said, ‘we’re going to beat you up after school’. Just threatening things like that. But they were empty threats in the end.”
“Nothing ever happened, but I would literally walk into school every morning worried and so scared that it might happen. I was really scared.”
“My dad was a doctor in the town, so they managed to get the private phone number at home and a couple of times they rang the house. They would say things like, ‘I hope your house burns down’.”
“My sister got that call one night. I was at my uncle Declan’s gig with my parents, and my sister was on her own at home. She said that they rang and said: ‘I hope the house burns down and I hope you die.’”
“To be honest, I feel it toughened me up as well. In a way, I am glad that those kind of things happened to me in life at a young age. I nearly left the school. But I didn’t give in to it.”
“I have no grudge whatsoever at all to any of the people now. It never affected me further in life… I gave a bit back as well. I wasn’t one to just take anything that anyone said to me. I would stand up for myself,” Una added.
The singer also opened up about her divorce from Ben Foden, who she was married to from 2012 until 2018.
She admitted: “I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. That’s the way I feel. It is not something I would ever have wanted to happen, but I had to go through it.”
“So, I wouldn’t want it to happen, but I wouldn’t take it back either because I wouldn’t have my children,” Una said, referring to her kids Aoife Belle and Tadhg.
“I am not alone in this situation I’ve been through. It happens all the time. In the UK, the divorce rate is 50%. So, I am not alone. I think it is hard for everyone. I don’t regret anything, but it is really tough.”
Following her split from Ben, Una dated former professional hurler David Breen for a year – but sadly their romance didn’t last.
Speaking about her current love life, Una said: “I don’t have one at the minute. It has been very hard for anyone that is single during Covid. It is just the worst time to be single because there are no opportunities to meet people.”
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