'Two of my exes beat me up': EastEnders star Kierston Wareing on real life heartache

'Two of my exes beat me up': EastEnders star Kierston Wareing on real life heartache

13 Jan 2013 00:00

The verbal abuse her on-screen character has to suffer is nothing compared to the real-life batterings she was forced to endure

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Kierston Wareing as Max Branning's wife in EastEnders

BBC

EastEnders star Kierston Wareing has revealed she was beaten to a pulp by two evil ex-boyfriends.

The actress stormed into Albert Square on Christmas Day as Max Branning’s feisty wife Kirsty â€" the dark secret he had hidden for a year.

But the verbal abuse her on-screen character had to suffer is nothing compared to the real-life batterings she says she was forced to endure, the Sunday People has reported.

An early boyfriend â€" she was 14, he was 16 â€" beat her black and blue. Another partner from her 20s even knocked one of her teeth out.

Kierston Wareing poses as Kirsty Branning

BBC

 

Speaking of her ordeals, Kierston said: “He was the worst. He was very ­charming and from a good background. I thought he was too good to be true â€" and he was.

“Two months into our relationship he started with his controlling behaviour and then I was getting hit every weekend. He’d smash me up and then say, ‘I’m not taking you out â€" look at you, you’re an embarrassment’.”

On other occasions in her painful time with him, which lasted for more than a year, he ­humiliated her in front of his pals and attacked her with a plank.

She said: “My whole eye was closed. I had great bumps like eggs on my head, bruises black and blue. You wouldn’t have recognised me. He once tried to hit me with a crowbar but missed.”

Brave Kierston, now 34, added: “I was a nervous wreck, down to 7st, and I’d shake when I did go out. You stay because you lose your confidence.

“If someone tells you often enough you’re ­worthless, y ou start to believe it.”

Kirsty Wareing in The Shadow Line

BBC

 

Eventually, though, she did leave â€" and her boyfriend was arrested for assaulting her. But, like so many in the same situation, she couldn’t face ­going through with a court case.

She told Radio Times: “Looking back, I was a bit stupid. But I see myself as a survivor.

“I don’t want to come across as a victim with a sob story. I’ve got a fantastic life. I’m not a victim. I thank the bullies out there for ­making me who I am. Some people ­become weaker but the bullies made me stronger.”

Kierston earned a Bafta nomination for her role in Ken Loach’s 2007 film It’s A Free World and has appeared in a string of gritty dramas such as The Shadow Line and hard-hitting movie Fishtank as well as BBC1 cop series Luther.

She joined EastEnders last month, turning up as Kirsty on the day Tanya Cross was to re-marry ex-husband Max â€" and scuppered the wedding by revealing she was his wife.

But Kierston is relishing her new role on th e BBC1 soap. “Kirsty has a lot of sides,” she said. “And we don’t know much about her â€" so there’s a lot to come out.”