Reality TV star Amber Barnett has opened up about being sexually assaulted as a child and the death of a family member in an emotional Instagram post.
The 32-year-old, who rose to fame while taking part in the original series of Netflix dating show Love Is Blind, took to her Instagram page, @atypicalamber, to share the distressing news with her fans.
She revealed that earlier this month she saw a man who sexually assaulted her a few years ago, and then later in the same day she received a phone call where she was told that a family member had passed away.
Writing a lengthy post, the reality TV personality, said: “So, my summer has not been off to a great start. One thing after another has just kept going wrong they have gotten progressively worse as I steer my struggle bus through the chaos. I have most definitely been all in my feels lately and I suppose I am writing this to get a few things out as a sort of therapy for myself.”
She explained: “I had a run-in with the man that sexually assaulted me nine years ago, leading to me having a full-on panic attack that took hours to get under control in my car before I made my way two and a half hours back to Atlanta, to the comfort and security of my amazing husband.”
Then, her day got even worse. She went on: “Then I got a phone call. It was the 7th call I’ve gotten like this in the last two years. I lost another family member, another person that I love, another person that was a fundamental influence for me growing up that had a huge impact on the person I’ve become today.”
Her heartbreaking post continued: “I never got to tell her how important she was to me, or how much I appreciated and loved her, because I haven’t actually seen her in years. So, here I am, coping with my loss and my regrets.”
Finishing her post with a poignant warning to her followers, she said: “As you get older time seems to slip away from you, and as that time passes by it sneakily takes away relationships with it. Time steals your relationships not through effort but through neglect. . . Human beings need love; we need to feel valued, we need to feel connected . . . none of these things spontaneously happen on their own, they require deliberate effort and intention.
She went on: “Don’t get caught up with regrets like I have. If you think of someone, let them know. If you don’t have time to visit, just call. If you don’t have time for a call, just send a text. Just let them know they’re thought of and cared about.”
Amber Barnett (nee Pike) and Matt Barnett are a success story from Love Is Blind season one. They have now been married for six years, after meeting on the show and marrying just weeks later in 2018. They also now share a dog.
