After falling in love with gangster ex-boyfriend Tony Richardson at the age of 16, Jennifer Ellison went through a “traumatic” period in her early years. Here’s how she turned things around.
Soap icon Jennifer Ellison rose to fame as Emily Shadwick in Channel 4’s Liverpool-based show Brookside. Having joined the show aged just 15, she was by her own admission, a “baby”, but she was forced to grow up quickly, after fame and her abusive relationship pushed her abruptly into adulthood.
Her character was killed off during a robbery when she left the show in 2002 when she fell from a window four years later. Her ex-partner’s gang activities were threatening her life, but her personal life had grown more serious than her on-screen saga.
With the actress was dragged into the criminal underworld, she managed to end the relationship when he was unfaithful to her. Since then, she’s turned things around, choosing to live a low-key life away from the world of showbusiness, starting a family, and ultimately achieving “happy ever after.”
Although she happily runs her own business in Liverpool, the star occasionally dabbles showbiz. Over the years, Jennifer had made appearances on reality TV show Hell’s Kitchen, ITV’s Dancing On Ice and most recently Celebrity SAS: Who Dares wins. Here we look at what lead to her peaceful life as a dance studio owner.
Double life
When Jennifer met gangster Tony Richardson in 1999, she was just 16 years old and within 12 months the pair were engaged. However, Jennifer’s older boyfriend, who had a controlling influence over her, also influenced her during her early years, and he abused and abused her. This is a far cry from her glamorous lifestyle, glamour modeling events, and glitzy parties.
Jennifer has since admitted that she was subject to numerous abuse, including a beer bottle smacked over her head and a broken collar bone. In 2013, Jennifer told Cosmopolitan, “The attacks started pretty early in our relationship. It began with mental rather than physical abuse. He would constantly question me about who I was with and where I was, criticize how I looked, and make up accusations that I had flirted with other men.
In front of all of my friends, he slammed me over the head with a beer bottle about six years ago. My face, eyes, hair and mini dress were covered in blood. Tony told me to leave the London club I was in and be chased away by bouncers.
Jennifer, who was willing to change due to his attacks, admitted that she would avoid seeing friends and family when she had bruises. She added:” I can’t tell you how many times I lied to protect him. I told doctors I had fallen because I believed it was my fault when he broke my collarbone in 2005.
Due to Tony’s criminal behavior, Jennifer was constantly looking over her shoulder when they weren’t together. She was embroiled in more violence, from fire-bombings to drive-by shootings. When her partner was discovered having an affair with Shalimar Wimble, the football player’s ex, the turbulent era came to an end.
Jennifer described his unfaithfulness as a “get out of jail free card,” giving that she finally had a reason to leave. Tony was later jailed for eight years after being convicted of a sword attack in Liverpool.
Body image and weight gain
Jennifer’s body image has suffered as a result of her lad’s mags days, which have been under scrutiny. She went up to a size 18 following the births of her children, before slimming down to a size 10 over three months in 2017.
But Jennifer rightfully hit back at her critics. Speaking to Lorraine previously, she explained her weight peaked in 2015 after the birth of her third son. Jennifer declared: “I don’t care about trolls. What I look like is not a priority.” She added: “My husband still looks at me the way he did when I was nine stone, after doing my fitness DVD. I’m happy and feel so loved. He thinks I’m the sexiest woman in the world.
“I’m not worried, because he loves my bum and boobs and finds me as attractive as he always did.” If he turned round and said I didn’t look too good, I would do more about it but he thinks I’m stunning. Love is illuminating.
But in a bid to kick her sugar addiction, she appeared on ITV reality show Sugar Free Farm in 2015 and shed the weight once again. In 2017, she proudly shared her achievement on Instagram: “Ok so today was measurements day! ! ! So proud to say I’ve lost a further massive 6.5 inches of body fat in a month! And today I felt brave enough to take a pic after training without a big baggy top over! ! ! I’ve gone from a size 18 to a 10 in just over 3 months.”
She continued, “I still have a long way to go before I can get back to where I was,” adding, “I feel SO much better now that I’ve lost 2 stone and 27 inches of body fat!” Thanks to the most amazing trainer ever Tony Swift for keeping our sessions amazing and challenging and to my training partner Rob Tickle who’s absolutely smashing the results too”.
Reality TV’s “therpay”
Although it appeared as though she had let her trauma-plagued past behind her, participating in 2022’s Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins exposed old wounds as she battled her demons. Jennifer opened up to former Commando Jason “Foxy” Fox in the show’s famous mirror room, admitting her life with Tony left her feeling worthless.
He was connected to this other world, this gangland world, she explained at the time, explaining that it was a volatile relationship. I believed that everything in the world I was in was normal, and bad things like that happened to everyone.
I was walking down the street because I had nails in my letterbox, went into hiding, and feared for my life. That is not typical. It’s just been one of those things that I kind of buried, just kind of got on with life and got on with everything.
“I remember how traumatizing it was. What I was going through was so horrifying. I was such a young girl, I was a baby. I want to look in the mirror room and confess that that is where I’ve lived. It was like having the best therapy ever.
Jennifer’s happy ever after
Jennifer’s life has changed since she split from Tony, and now she can concentrate on her dance school and family. In 2008, Jennifer and boxer Rob Tickle tied the knot in Mauritius.
They’ve been happily married ever since and Jen has become a mother to their three sons, Bobby, 12, Harry, seven, and Charlie, six. Sophie and Chloe, both 24 years old, are her stepmother to them.
Jennifer enjoys spending time with her family, participating in productions, and going to the movies. She regularly shares their trips on social media.
Recently, Jennifer shared her skiing trip with her boys, writing: “The most magical trip ever, with the bestest people you will ever meet! Never in a million years did I think I would enjoy something so much and even more so because I watched my boys have the time of their lives, skiing, making snow balls, sledging, playing darts, UNO, snap they did it all not a phone in sight and wow was it a dream! Memories that will last a lifetime time, a trip we will never forget”
And after 17 years of dating, she and Rob are flourishing. The couple recently spent some child-free time together in the Scottish Highlands, where they ate delicious-looking food and explored the outdoors.
Jennifer expressed her gratitude for the most beautiful time she and her partner had spent together in a series of photos. We had a wonderful time together, celebrating our 17th anniversary together, and enjoyed spending quality time with just us.
” So lucky to have you and can’t wait for the rest of our lives together. I’ll always and forever be with you @tickle. “rob. “
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Source: Mirror
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