Claire King was ‘groomed on holiday by an older man’ when she was just 14
FORMER Emmerdale star Claire King has revealed she was groomed by a man when holidaying with her family as a teen.
Appearing on today's Loose Women, the actress, 55, said she was attacked by an older man at the age of 14 after agreeing to let him take her for dinner.
The star admitted she kept her plans a secret from her parents as she was obsessed with the idea of her having a holiday romance with the man, who she said "looked like Heathcliff", the handsome anti-hero from Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights.
Recounting the ordeal, she explained: "I was 14, as well, when I had a similar thing.
"'I wasn't groomed' – but I was. I was on holiday with my parents and I got taken out.
"And my idea was all the romance and things because he looked like Heathcliff and I wanted to be Cathy."
But Claire admitted things took a horrifying turn when the man dropped her home.
She continued: "I wanted that romantic kiss and things and he took me out and when he dropped me back off, he went down a side road and then he started to attack me.
"I managed to get out of that situation. I wasn't thinking sex. I was 14 and it was the romance, so it was completely different."
The star made the revelation when speaking to Rotherham survivor Sammy Woodhouse, who was on the show to talk about her new book, Just A Child.
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The brave mum-of-two has told the story of how she met groomer Arshid Hussain when she was just 14-years-old, and was coerced into crime by the paedophile.
She is now trying to implement Sammy’s Law which would ensure children will not be charged for crimes they committed at the hands of abuse.
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