Actress Jennifer Ellison says she spent six years in what she describes as a violent relationship with a gangster in Liverpool. In accounts published by the Daily Mail, she describes the impact of the relationship on her wellbeing and self-image, including periods when she says she could not look at herself in the mirror. Ellison also discusses weight gain during the time she was in the relationship, saying she ballooned to 14 stone. In the same reports, she links some of her distress to cruel treatment she received online, including attacks from internet trolls. She later describes working her way back to herself, presenting her recovery as a personal process after the relationship ended. Across the available sources, the reporting centers on Ellison’s own reflections on how the relationship affected her mentally and physically, and how she regained confidence and control over her life.