‘I survived domestic abuse – now it's my turn to help others'

Dani Wallace, 36, a mum-of-three from Preston, tells new how she overcame domestic abuse in her twenties and now mentors other women, winning support from celebs including Natasha Hamilton

- LEBBY EYRES

'When lockdown started, my first thought was about all the abused women who wouldn’t be able to leave the house. It made me reflect on the violent relationship I was in during my mid-twenties. How would I have felt if I’d been in that volatile situation now?

When I first met Jason* in December 2008, I was vulnerable. Seven months earlier, I’d split up with Dean*, the father of my first child, Poppy, who I’d been with for four years, which had been earth-shattering.

I’d met Dean while I was working as a Bluecoat at Pontins in Southport. Before that I’d had a glorious time travelling the world as a singer, working in hotels and on cruise ships, but I’d come home when my grandmother Rene fell ill.

My life had been difficult growing up so I’d been determined to try and create the perfect family for myself that I hadn’t had, with a husband, a mortgage and 2.4 children. But Dean wasn’t ready for any of that and the pressure of the responsibility got too much. In May 2008, two weeks after we’d sent invitations out to our wedding, he left me.

I found myself left with a tiny baby to look after and a mortgage to pay. I desperately wanted to love somebody, and to be loved myself. I was easy prey.

I was working with Jason at a call centre and he was good-looking and charming. Initially, he love-bombed me. He’d run me a bath and put rose petals in it, or he’d let me sleep while he looked after Poppy in the night. Very soon, he felt like part of the family.