Rebekah Vardy opens up on tough childhood and abuse in emotional letter to younger self

Rebekah Vardy has opened up on her difficult childhood in a heart-breaking open letter to her younger self. 

The Dancing On Ice star, who has just turned 39, says writing the letter to herself was ‘therapeutic’ after realising how much she had changed over the past year. 

She shared a photo of herself at the age of 15, which was taken ‘just a few weeks before I was thrown out of home with a few of my belongings in a bin bag,’ and had to sofa-surf and live alone in a B&B while working in a pub. 

Rebekah wrote: ‘Dear Bex, I’m sorry that I kept you hidden away for a very long time. It did it because I wanted to protect you. 

‘So much bad stuff happened that hurt you early on. I thought that keeping you away from the world was the only way to keep you safe. I didn’t want anyone else to hurt you, so I only allowed a few people meet you. I put up big walls.’

Revealed ‘something has changed’ within her in the past year, Becky admitted she was letting down her guard and letting people ‘see the real her’ and allowing herself to be vulnerable once more. 

She added a list of things that she would tell her past self, which included not withdrawing a statement from the police for fear of not being believed and ‘don’t take those pills, don’t drink that vodka. Don’t let them hide your overdose so no one at the hospital asks questions.’

Rebekah reminded her past self that having things thrown at her is ‘unacceptable’ and that ‘just because he isn’t hitting you doesn’t mean it isn’t abuse’. 

She added: ‘There will come a point in your life when you make a brave decision to walk away from the bad life choices that you made. 

;Every poor or destructive choice you made in your teens and twenties sprung from what that adult did to you. You were repeatedly hurt and then thrown out on the street at 15 like unwanted property. 

‘You were a child. You weren’t to blame. You unravelled but you can stop unravelling. Please stop punishing yourself and allow yourself to be happy.’

She added that meeting her husband Jamie Vardy was a blessing as he treats her with ‘respect and kindness’ and makes her feel ‘safe, happy and loved’. 

Rebekah also ended with a jokey ‘P.S.’ telling her former self to spend more time at the ice rink with her father because ‘you might have to skate in front of Torvill and Dean one day’. 

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