Rebekah Vardy: I was sexually abused as a teenager and accused of lying

Ms Vardy says she hopes her decision to come forward with her story will help other survivors of sexual abuse

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Rebekah Vardy has described how she was sexually abused as a teenager for years, leading her to attempt to take her own life.

The wife of England and Leicester City football star Jamie Vardy told the Sun on Sunday how the abuse led to her drinking and skipping school before moving out of the family home at 16.

She is speaking out now in the hope of helping other survivors of sexual abuse.

“Abuse makes you feel horrid, dirty and lonely," she said. "One caring voice may make all the difference.”

Ms Vardy said she confided to her mother three years after the abuse began but was accused of lying.

“I broke down. After three years of hell, I finally said, ‘What do you expect, mum, I have been abused’.

“I will never forget her response. She said, ‘Don’t be ridiculous, you are lying’. My own mum! She sat me down and I told her everything but still she wouldn’t believe me.”

Ms Vardy then told her father, who she said was “wonderful” and took her to the police. But her decision to report the abuse infuriated her mother’s side of the family and she was forced to let the matter drop, according to the 34-year-old.

“It was a terrible time. Mum was so angry I was thrown out of home and dad was angry with me for backing down.”

Ms Vardy told the paper how the man first assaulted her when she was 13-years-old and continued his near-weekly attacks for three years.

Three years later she took an overdose of her mother’s painkillers and was discovered by her stepfather.

“It was horrible, I became a scared mixed-up kid who struggled to cope living in my own skin,” she told the newspaper.

“I didn't want to live anymore, it was as simple as that. I felt as though I'd done something wrong.”

After suffering severe post-natal depression following the birth of her second child, Mrs Vardy confided in a therapist and began feeling as though a “black cloud” had been lifted from her shoulders.

Ms Vardy said she only recently revealed her experience to her husband, who she described as her “soulmate” and “someone I trust implicitly.”

Her mother and step-father did not attend her wedding to Vardy in May.