WWE star Paige opens up about ‘stress-induced anorexia’ following sex tape leak

‘Revenge porn’ was made an offence by Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015

WWE star Paige has opened up about the negative impact a sex tape leak had on her mental health, explaining that she underwent therapy and suffered from “stress-induced anorexia”.

In 2017, Paige, whose real name is Saraya-Jade Bevis, fell victim to a highly-publicised leak of private photographs and videos.

The leak, combined with a work-sustained injury, led to the Norwich-raised wrestling personality experiencing depression and taking time off work.

In a new interview with Fox News, the 27-year-old explained that she found it “hard to stay positive” after experiencing something that was “so publicly humiliating”.

“I did suffer a lot. I did. Just emotionally because at the time I was having my neck surgery too, and I had stress-induced anorexia,” Paige said.

“I lost all my hair. I had some really horrible thoughts. I had to go to therapy. It took me a while to get over because obviously, no woman wants to go through that.”

The retired wrestler told the news outlet that she wants to use the adversity she has faced “to help others”, adding that she recently had the opportunity to speak to a group of children about her experience while visiting a women’s hostel.

“I’m just like: ‘Hey, like never do something when it comes to your phones.’ Because like this is a different world nowadays,” Paige said.

“So now I get to use it and utilise it on a different platform and help others with it.”

Paige summarised by stating that while the sex tape leak was a “horrible thing” to have happened, she now views it as a “tool to help the next generation of people”.

The Criminal Justice and Courts Act of 2015 made it an offence for a person to commit revenge porn by sharing a private sexual image of an individual without their consent and with intent to cause them distress.

In 2016, a Crown Prosecution Service report outlined that 206 people had been prosecuted for revenge porn a year after it had been made an official offence.

In February, the former WWE Divas Championship winner spoke to The New York Post about an encounter she had with a young female fan in a supermarket which boosted her morale when she had hit “rock bottom”.

“Of course, she didn’t have the Internet and thought I was the most beautiful and most successful woman in the world,” Paige said.

“It opened my eyes to so many things. I was like, ‘I’m gonna let videos get in the way of things?’”

Earlier this year, a biographical film documenting Paige’s upbringing and her introduction into the world of professional wrestling was released.

Titled Fighting with my Family, the film was written and directed by Stephen Merchant and stars Florence Pugh as Paige, alongside actors Lena Headey, Nick Frost, Dwayne Johnson and Vince Vaughn.

If you are in need of mental health support, you can contact the free Samaritans helpline on 116 123.