Talia Dean has spoken up about her painful past, revealing she’s suffered domestic abuse at the hands of an ex-partner.
The 32-year-old X Factor contestant – who was sadly let go during last night’s episode – was left for dead by her ex-boyfriend, who smashed her head against a concrete wall, knocking her unconscious.
Thankfully, police noticed the attack taking place through the use of CCTV surveillance and rushed to assist her.
When Talia regained consciousness, her violent boyfriend had already been placed in handcuffs.
Speaking candidly to the Daily Mail, the singer told of how the vile attack began:
It was in July 2014, a year after we’d been together, when I was performing at a festival in Richmond.
On the way home we began to bicker, he was carrying my guitar. All I remember was that hitting the floor.
Then, when I came to there were four police officers standing over me with my boyfriend in handcuffs.
Talia admitted she hadn’t wanted to press charges, but officers told her they would be pressing charges anyway, due to the assault being caught on CCTV footage.
Check out Talia on the ITV show below:
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Talia continued to detail the horrific nature of the assault:
He had grabbed me around the neck, threw me in the show windows and then to the ground by my hair.
With his hands around my neck he smashed the back of my skull on the concrete, strangling me. I was out like a light.
If it hadn’t been for the CCTV and the police watching them, I would be dead.
Talia ended the relationship after the incident, however, as is the case with many abusive relationships, she took him back within a few weeks.
This was not his only attack and in September of the same year, Talia’s unnamed former lover strangled her again, this time in her car – as with the former assault, this could have proved to be fatal.
She’d collected him from a gig, before stopping off for food when he apparently ‘flipped’ and whacked his fist on the car dashboard and Talia revealed:
I managed to swerve over and he grabbed my face and smashed it so hard into the driver’s window, it cracked.
He got hold of my hair and dragged me to the back seat, he got on top of me and was strangling me so hard.
I feared for my life, I could feel my soul leave my body, I started to drift in and out of consciousness – I ended up in hospital where, I was again told, I was lucky to be alive.
Talia admitted she had been ‘blinded by love’ and hopes her story will help others who are experiencing domestic abuse:
I am so sad that I have to talk about this but I want to help anyone else going through a similar situation, I was blinded by love.
I hope now I have spoken out, that something positive might come out of this situation.
Talia was eventually able to take an injunction out against her former partner.
If you’ve been affected by Talia’s story, help is available through the National Domestic Violence Helpline.
Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.