Shauna Rae is opening up about being in an abusive relationship during her late teenage years.
During an appearance on the Wednesday, Jan. 29 edition of The Unplanned Podcast, Rae, 25, got candid about an abusive ex whom she dated when she was “17, 18.” She did not disclose the identity of the former partner.
The topic of the conversation came up after Rae discussed that her dating boundaries include “cheating, physical violence, even if it’s just like you get mad and you shove me.”
After host Matt Howard asked if that’s happened before, the I Am Shauna Rae star, 25, claimed, “Oh yeah. I was in a very abusive relationship.”
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“It started with physically grabbing my wrist and then, getting mad at video games and going to punch the couch that I’m, like, right next to. And then next thing I know is it escalates into grabbing my wrist further and pulling me,” she alleged.
“And next thing they know, they’re not taking the anger out on the couch. They’re taking it out on you,” continued Rae, noting that her ex would allegedly punch her.
The former TLC star said that at the time, she felt “very used to being in abusive situations because I’ve been neglected a lot by the public” and ultimately “dated the wrong dude.”
She shared that her parents found out “he was a horrible person” the day they broke up after their romance. As for when she knew that it was time to leave the relationship, Rae said it occurred after he began sending her “threats on text.”
Rae expressed that she wishes she had gone to her family and friends first and warned others not to let themselves “get cut off” if they find themselves in a similar situation.
“Don’t let people get cut off from you. Don’t let them tell you you’re less than,” said Rae. “Once you start hearing anything that is somewhat not uplifting you because a relationship should make you a better version of yourself and if it’s not doing that, then you should really walk away.”
“But if it starts to get to the point where the other person is being emotionally, physically, in any way scaring you, you start talking to someone and you start learning to walk away,” she added.
The former reality star is now in a romance with a new partner, with whom she marked their second anniversary in November. His identity remains private.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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