My abusive dad strangled me and dragged me out of bed in the night to attack me - we'd scatter in terror when he walked through the door, reveals Victoria Derbyshire in tear-jerking Loose Women interview

Daily Mail​

01-05-2025

Victoria Derbyshire revealed that her dad strangled her and dragged her out of bed in the night as she opened up about her abusive childhood on Thursday's instalment of Loose Women.
The journalist, 56, appeared on the panel to talk to Christine Lampard, 46, Coleen Nolan, 60, and Olivia Attwood, 33, in aid of the show's domestic abuse campaign Facing It Together.
Victoria described her childhood as 'very tense' because her father Anthony, who died in 2020 following a stroke, was a 'bully and violent' towards her, her mum Pauline, and her siblings.
Recalling her younger days at home, Victoria said: 'He was vile, frankly.
'He'd put his key in the door when he was coming in from work, we'd all scatter, because we just didn't want to be around, we were walking on egg shells.
'We knew he'd probably start an argument or he'd be shouting or he'd find a reason to cause tension.'
The journalist, 56, appeared on the panel to talk to Christine Lampard, 46, Coleen Nolan, 60, and Olivia Attwood, 33, in aid of the show's domestic abuse campaign Facing It Together
She added: 'On occasion put my hands around my throat, he dragged me out of bed in the middle of the night to shout at me.'
'Obviously I knew that was not normal, because I had friends with fathers who were not like that.
'But it was relatively normal in our household.'
When asked if she spoke to her family about what they were going through, Victoria confessed that she did with her mum's side of the family.
'We did. I heard your conversation earlier, where you look for light in the dark times, there was a lot of dark humour.
'We'd go to my gran, my mum's sister, those places were of sanctuary, where we would talk, we would laugh,' Victoria said.
'I don't want people to think my childhood was super totally bleak. Because of my mum and her side of the family.'
And as she got older she realised that what was going on at home wasn't right.
Victoria told the panel: 'I think by a certain age, you know, it's wrong, my best friend's family, they didn't have an abusive parent.'
The broadcaster made headlines back in 2020 when she put the phone number of the national domestic abuse helpline on her arm during an appearance on live TV.
Speaking of her decision, she told the panel: 'When Boris Johnson said in lockdown, stay at home, one of the first things that occurred to me was "Oh my god if you are in a home with an abusive parent or abusive partner, you are literally trapped."
'We saw domestic abuse rates sore in that time.'
Luckily her mum Pauline found love again after she divorced Anthony when she was 16, and that man became her step dad.
She described Pauline's new husband as 'a proper father'.
Describing how she felt when that happened, she said: 'That was liberation day. I'm telling you. It was an incredible feeling.'
She added: 'She [her mum] fell in love with someone else and thank god she did.
'I think together we saved each other.'
Many felt touched by Victoria sharing her experience and took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their thoughts.
One said: 'Caught Victoria Derbyshires interview on #LooseWomen on my lunch break & it mirrored my mums story & the challenges she faced as a girl living with an abusive & violent dad. 'When he left it was liberation day' that bit made me smile.'
It is not the first time that Victoria has spoken about her abusive childhood.
Victoria said back in 2014: ''It was very much us four against him.
'He was aggressive and violent and not loving in any way. Not like a father should be.'
In 2020 she recalled the moment he poured hot soup over her when she was a teen.
Victoria told The Times: 'Once I was sitting eating my tea - tomato soup - in my school uniform. He was shouting at me across the kitchen table.
'I looked up and I didn't say anything. But I was thinking, ''I have complete contempt for you.'' And he could see it in my eyes.
'So he leant across the table and tipped the hot soup all over my school uniform. My way of dealing with that was not to react. Don't scream. Don't cry.'
The publication reported that the media personality and her family did not attend Anthony's funeral.
The Times reported in 2020 that when Anthony was asked about the allegations, he admitted to hitting his ex-wife, but denied hitting his kids.
The Facing It Together campaign launched in March 2024.
Last month the show marked it's first anniversary with a very powerful special episode.