Sam Thompson has revealed he saw Zara McDermott’s leaked nude images a year before they met.
The couple discussed Zara’s revenge porn experience in her new BBC Three documentary, which aired today.
The documentary sees the Made In Chelsea star open up about her two experiences with revenge porn, after intimate images of her were leaked when she 14 and again at 21.
The former Love Island star has been working on the documentary for over a year, while also campaigning to tighten UK laws surrounding image-based sexual abuse.
In the documentary, Zara recalled her first date with Sam, admitting she was very reserved.
“Every time I walk into a room and met someone new, I wondered have they seen the images? This happened when I first met Sam,” she explained.
“I was like does he know? Does he think less of me? It’s made you more guarded and fearful of rejection.”
Sam revealed: “I’d already seen photos without knowing it was Zara, it had surfaced on a WhatsApp group I was on. I didn’t know it was her until she mentioned it.”
Zara added: “It bugs me that his friends were forwarding images of me to his group chat. I don’t actually know who it was. I don’t want to think about it.”
Sam explained: “I saw the photo and no one actually thinks, wow I wonder what it’s like to be in that person’s shoes. I feel so bad, no one’s that empathetic.”
“She’s one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. She always thinks of me first. I don’t know what she carries inside but I know she’s insecure.”
Zara recently admitted she experienced suicidal thoughts after becoming a victim of revenge porn at 14, telling The Times: “I never want to go to that place again.”
In 2018, Zara became a victim of revenge porn for a second time, after explicit photos of her circulated on social media following her stint on Love Island.
“Notably, when I came out of Love Island, and came out to images of me, what felt like, circulating around the whole world,” she recalled.
“It was one of the hardest things I went through in my whole life.”
