The former golf professional Paige Spiranac spoke about the terrible experience of having a nude photo leaked. Now she managed to take back the control of her body by getting her “t*ts out” on her own terms.
The stunning 26-year-old sent a picture to a guy she was dating, but things went wrong when they broke up.
Her ex-boyfriend shared the photo among his friends and Paige messages from strangers that had seen it.
When she asked them how they got their hands on the picture, they refused to tell her.
She explained on her podcast: “It was horrible, just getting these random messages from people you don’t know, and they’ve seen you in such a vulnerable way. It was disgusting.
“When I finally confronted the guy and said, ‘I can’t believe you did this to me,’ he said – and I’ll never forget this – ‘You are the sl*t who sent it to me, you deserve this.”
Things began to spiral more out of control as time passed.
Source: Instagram
“I would wake up every single day, I would check my phone and be like, ‘Am I going to be on TMZ today?” she said, “Am I going to be here, am I going to be there?'”
“That was the worst part. I was constantly stressed out that someone was going to see it and someone was going to get it and that it was going to get out.
“Also, that was one picture. I don’t know what else he had or what he was going to release. If he did it once, he could do it again and again and again.”
As we all know how terrible the nature of social media is, Paige received abuse, which also included death threats. The trolls were telling her that the torment was all her fault.
Source: Instagram
And then things reached the breaking point when, just a few minutes prior to a press conference in Dubai, someone threatened to post the picture online unless she paid him.
The poor girl broke down in tears in front of the media, and without revealing the specifics, she talked about how hurtful internet users can be.
At one event in Lake Tahoe, a fan that was believed only to want an autograph pulled out a huge copy of the nude photo and displayed it in view of other attendees that also included children.
That incident again brought her to tears, and she felt like she will never be able to “escape” from the photo.
Source: Instagram
She then continued: “These little things kept happening where I was like, ‘OK, I think I’m over it.’ Maybe a month will pass, then it gets brought up again.
“And it gets brought up again, and brought up again, and it keeps also reminding me of this guy and what he did to me and all of this trauma.
“Every life event was also tied into that, which was super traumatic for me.”
Paige also felt the double standards of some men, since she was constantly “sl*t shamed” for the photo, while simultaneously being sent pictures of the men’s genitalia.
The model had always dreamed of being featured in the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated, and when she got that opportunity, it helped her with this situation.
Source: Instagram
“Winning in my mind was taking control of my body,” she said, and she did just that.
Among the glossy photoshoot for the popular magazine, one picture, in particular, stood out.
She said: “I was nude, I was completely naked. That was the best moment for me.
“I felt so empowered, and I was like, ‘OK if I’m going to do this, I’m doing it on my terms,’ and I took it back, I took my body back.
“That was the moment I won, right there, when I did Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, and I had my t**s out.”
Paige currently has over two million followers on Instagram.
In 2017, Spiranac became the ambassador for Cybersmile, which is a charity that provides support and educational programs in order to help beat cyberbullying and the effects of it.
Paige has now entered the next stage of the career as she launched her podcast.
Source: Instagram
