Emily Atack reflects on her teen years

‘It’s not your fault’: Emily Atack breaks down as she hugs mum Kate after heartbreakingly admitting she blamed herself for barrage of unsolicited messages from men online

Emily Atack broke down in tears as she laid bare her feelings about receiving hundreds of unsolicited messages and pictures from men online.

The TV star, 33, was speaking in her documentary Emily Atack: Asking For It? as she admitted she felt to blame for the messages she is bombarded with on a daily basis by strangers via Instagram.

Emily wiped away tears as she told her mum Kate Robbins she finds it ‘difficult’ to talk about because of how it affects her and the people around her. 

Emotional: Emily Atack broke down in tears as she laid bare her feelings about receiving hundreds of unsolicited messages and pictures from men online

She told Kate: ”I see the pain in your face when we try and talk about things. We can’t talk about them because it’s too difficult.’

Kate said: ‘It’s very difficult – the overriding feeling of guilt is a difficult one to explain to people.

Beginning to cry, Emily said: ‘I don’t know why I’m getting upset I think I’m really tired. Sorry it’s just so uncomfortable.’

Tough: The TV star, 33, was speaking in her documentary Emily Atack: Asking For It? as she admitted she felt to blame for the messages she is bombarded with on a daily basis by strangers via Instagram

Coming over to hug her daughter, Kate said: ‘It’s not your fault, don’t blame yourself.’

Emily then reflected on her teen years, revealing that she got more drunk than others at parties and went off with boys.

She shared that she was scared of men and she adopted the behaviour as a coping mechanism, opening herself up to men and boys from an early age after having her first sexual experience with an 18-year-old when she was 12. 

Emily has been exploring the inappropriate unsolicited sexual messages she receives from men and the fact that she blames herself for them. 

Hugging it out: Emily wiped away tears as she told her mum Kate Robbins she finds it ‘difficult’ to talk about because of how it affects her and the people around her

Teens: Emily reflected on her teen years, revealing that she got more drunk than others at parties and went off with boys (pictured in her documentary Asking For It?

She said: ‘What I really want to get out there is that that girl at school, we all know one, the girl who gets more drunk than everyone at a party and she’s going off with all the boys, there’s another story there.

Emily continued: ‘She’s not doing that because she wants to, because she likes sex and getting her boobs out, she feels that there is no other way to be at the moment and she’s looking for something in all the wrong places.  

‘It’s too easy to go ‘slag’ but you shouldn’t have to search for those things when you’re 13 years old. If you are, there’s obviously some pain going on.

‘I am speaking from experience, I have never been in so much pain than when I was behaving that way.’

Coping: She adopted the behaviour as a coping mechanism, opening herself up to men and boys from an early age after having her first sexual experience with an 18-year-old when she was 12

The star then revealed that she was treated a certain way by men and women afterwards.

She said that is why she thinks the messages she receives are her fault, adding: ‘Men fire that at us “you asked for it”, it’s avoiding accountability.’

But Emily then said: ‘We’re not asking for it. It’s their behaviour that has to change.’

Earlier in the programme, Emily had a discussion with her mother Kate after she read the messages she receives and got upset.

She said: ‘I didn’t expect it to be so vile, I felt my daughter had been violated and I couldn’t protect you.’

Earlier in the programme, Emily had a discussion with her mother Kate Robbins (pictured in the show) after she read the messages she receives and got upset

Her daughter then revealed that she felt guilty because she blamed herself for showing the messages to her and making her sad. 

But her mother reassured her that she had left the room at the time because it was hard for her to see the screenshots.

Later, Emily cried as her mother hugged her, telling her not blame herself for the messages. 

Kate said: ‘I am just so sorry that you feel all your life that everything has been your fault, its not. I was just trying to do stuff to protect you as a mum.  You must never blame yourself.’

Sadness: Later, Emily (pictured on the show) cried as her mother hugged her, telling her not blame herself for the messages

It comes after Emily appeared on Tuesday’s episode of This Morning, saying she has become as ‘easy target’ for online predators because she’s single with an unwarranted reputation for ‘sleeping with lots of men. 

She said: ‘I am just trying to live my life as a free woman without being harassed… when you get messages like that you feel so alone and isolated, its this spiral of self doubt and shame and doubt.’ 

Atack said one of her regular online abusers is a married father who frequently creates fake accounts in order to send her sexually explicit messages. 

Emotional: Emily Atack broke down on Tuesday while admitting she feels sexually assaulted ‘100 times a day’ as a consequence of the crude messages she receives on social media

‘He says that he tucks his children into bed and then comes alone to abuse me,’ she told hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield. 

‘Then, well, sometimes he asks if I’ll get involved with him and his wife. Then he says: “I want to do it behind my wife’s back while my children are asleep.”

‘He calls himself “daddy Dave” to me and constantly says the word “daddy”, which is really psychologically horrible.’ 

While the actress is keen to track down the offenders, many of whom conceal their true identities, she remains cautious about the prospect of destroying someone’s family. 

She said: ‘I’m terrified of exposing someone and ruining their life… I feel like I’m on a crusade with it now, I won’t change the way I dress or delete my accounts. 

‘You can be a sex worker or a nun and it happens. I’ve learned this isn’t about you, it’s about them and their quest for power. For women and girls, our safety shouldn’t be up for debate. These problems aren’t being listened to enough.’ 

The actress says she has approached Instagram and TikTok for assistance in closing down some of the offending accounts, but has been met with a wall of silence. 

Blundering social media moderators also shut down her account on one occasion after she ‘violated’ house rules by reposting a vile message in an attempt to shame its sender. 

She recalled: ‘There was a message that was so upsetting to me, I put it up and my account was actually suspended for a couple of days because I reposted the photograph.’ 

Emily Atack: Asking For It? is available on BBC IPlayer

False impression: She claimed some male followers wrongly assume she is ‘up for it’ based on her Instagram content, despite having never met the actress

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