Southport teen sobs as she 'blames herself' for not being able to save stabbing victims
Channel 4's One Day in Southport aired tonight, leaving viewers shaken by its unflinching portrayal of the tragic events of July 29, 2024. The documentary revisits the devastating day a Taylor Swift-themed dance class at Hart Space in Southport was turned into a crime scene when 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana launched a brutal knife attack.
The film follows the story of one young survivor and her family, using raw testimony from victims, witnesses, and community members to discuss how violence, disinformation, and extremism collided.
Rudakubana fatally stabbed three young girls called Bebe King (6), Elsie Dot Stancombe (7), and Alice da Silva Aguiar (9), and injured ten others, most of them being children.
He was arrested at the scene, later pleaded guilty, and received a life sentence with a minimum of 52 years.
False claims that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker spread rapidly online, fuelling a wave of riots across the UK. One of the most violent incidents occurred in Middlesbrough on August 4, when a planned protest spiralled into destruction.
More than 1,000 people gathered as shopfronts were smashed, homes vandalised, and cars torched.
The documentary struck a chord with viewers, with many taking to social media to describe it as 'devastating,' 'urgent,' and 'impossible to forget.'
One particularly heartbreaking scene saw the focus survivor of the attack break down in tears after she blamed herself for not being able to save the three little girls - one of whom was her little sister's best friend. The teenage survivor, only identified by her eyes, told the story from her memory as she detailed how she was stabbed both in the arm and in the back.
"I felt like I was dying," the survivor shared in the heartbreaking admission. She then broke down after confessing that she blames herself for not being able to save the girls - despite having been stabbed herself.
'I regret it every day that I wasn't able to save her. That I wasn't able to get her out," she sobbed.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, after watching the chilling stories of the victims unfold, viewers shared their heartbreak. "This poor girl has to live with this trauma for the rest of her life. It's so sad that she blames herself even in the slightest. Absolutely devastating."
"I am truly sick to my stomach watching this. How did this happen to such innocent little babies? Bawling my eyes out and thinking of their poor families," another viewer shared. Another echoed: "God, this is such a hard watch, but so important too."
Another Channel 4 viewer typed: "Those poor little girls must have been terrified. To think they had their whole lives ahead of them. Such a powerful documentary. Fair play to Channel 4."
"So heartbroken watching this. Tears streaming down to the ground omg," someone else shared. While another viewer voiced: "It just shows how unsafe the UK has become. Nobody is safe. Not even innocent little girls."
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Daily Mirror
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Dark lonely life of Bonnie Blue from acid attack fears and seclusion to divorce
A new Channel 4 documentary is set to give viewers the first ever glimpse of Bonnie Blue's life behind the scenes, and the true cost of being one of the most controversial figures on the internet A new documentary delving into the real life of Bonnie Blue has exposed the sad reality of earning millions of pounds through extreme sex challenges, all while being one of the most hated figures on the internet. Channel 4's new show, titled "1,000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story" follows the 26-year-old for six months, giving viewers a startling glimpse into how an OnlyFans empire is made - and the true toll that comes with such a controversial lifestyle. Before finding fame as one of the biggest adult stars in the world, Bonnie, real name Tia Billinger, worked a normal job as a NHS recruitment worker. The star, from Derbyshire, was married, had her own home and from the outside, lived the perfect life. But she says she was desperately unfulfilled. "It was just the same day in day out, repetitive calls", she says of her old career. "I was like: Is this what I'm going to do for the rest of my life? People would look at me and oh wow she must be so happy in life, she's got a house, a fancy job. It's boring. Surely there's more to life than this." She then began selling x-rated tapes online, but it's her troubling genre on the platform, and the way she promotes her content, that's sparked widespread fury and fear as many question the ethics and potential dangers of her work. Indeed, Bonnie prides herself in specialising in sleeping with "barely legal" teenagers. Claiming in the new documentary that it "gives her purpose" - and even jokingly calling herself a "community worker" for sleeping with "normal people" - the star's most viral "challenge" came when she slept with 1,057 men in 12 hours. Through harnessing the lucrative model of "rage-bait" - where social media users post contentious, outrageous clips, opinions or statements purely to spark anger online - Bonnie has made millions. A year and a half into her work, she was making £500,000 a month. That soon skyrocketed to £2m a month, she claims. "I was the most searched woman in the world this year. I've had headlines in just about every country. I get to travel to amazing places, I've got an amazing team behind me. My bank account has millions in," Bonnie brags. "I think people think I'm going to regret this or she must be unhappy. No, I feel sorry for you, the ones who are sat there giving me hate, I'm sorry you're so basic." But she admits that her fame has come at a dark cost. As the film's director Victoria Silve notes: "Bonnie's commitment to work that very few people seem to be able to handle has left her quite alone. She may have a full bank account, but life looks pretty isolating when the world hates you." Indeed, away from the sex stunts, where hundreds of condoms litter the floor and men in balaclavas wait their turn to sleep with the notorious star, Bonnie's home life also seems far from normal. Her home is vast but simplistic in its decor, with crushed velvet furniture, white walls and - like most 20-somethings - delivery boxes scattered everywhere. Pepsi max cans are left across the apartment, along with piles of clothes dotted across different rooms, designer handbags and a bathroom sink full to the brim with Velcro rollers. At the screening that was attended by The Mirror, Bonnie insisted she was "very happy" with her life, and she is shown petting her fluffy white Pomeranian, completing puzzles or doing crafts. Yet a different story soon emerges as Bonnie's mask slips as Tia's real-life fears bubble to the surface. As her career took off, Bonnie split from her husband and childhood sweetheart Oliver Davidson and her closest friends now seem to be Josh, her live-in videographer, and a stylist named Hermes. She says: "My sort of circles got smaller, but my team are also my best friends." Admitting she never gets to go out alone - both in the UK and on the trips she takes abroad for work - she says: "The last time I went out by myself was probably about six months ago. Now it is not that safe. I get 100s of death threats a day, so it is not that safe when I walk around." The star confesses that she's worried about being attacked with acid on the street. "I say, 'It is going to happen at some point, someone will come and give me stick' and fair play to her, at least they are getting up off their sofa. My worst one is acid, if someone did acid, and I could see some spiteful girl doing that," she tells the camera. It was actually Oliver, or Ollie as he's known to Tia, who encouraged her to move into sex work. "I met Ollie when I was like 14, 15," she explains in the show. "We got married really young. Pretty, quite intimate wedding, nothing crazy, nothing over the top. Then we relocated to Australia shortly afterwards. "Ollie was beyond supportive, he gave me the confidence to do OnlyFans. And it wasn't because he wanted to pimp me out, he just wanted me to be happy and have control of my life. And obviously the money was good as well." Her now ex, who appears fleetingly in the film, explains why she's so successful and insists he's proud of her. "She really connects with the fans. Most people, if they do porn, they seem out of reach. You're never going to meet them. You're never going to be able to film with them. "Whereas Bonnie puts a location online, and then obviously her fans can actually film with her. It's like a defining moment in porn, where she's completely changed the game." Away from the vulnerable admission about her personal safety, Bonnie is quick to brush away any notion that her work has any impact on her physical or mental health. After one of her gruelling sex stunts, where she sleeps with more than 1,000 men in one day, Bonnie reflects: "I'm just not emotional. I can very much control my emotions. If I don't want to be upset, I won't be upset. "But no, I don't think I'm gonna need therapy, or I've got PTSD, or that there's any trauma. There's no hidden reason of why I do what I do." But some psychologists think otherwise. When her 1,057 man 'challenge' went viral, many critics questioned whether the stunt, which saw men wearing nothing but boxers and balaclavas lining up to take it in turns to sleep with the star, was even physically possible. There are 720 minutes in 12 hours, which means each man would have had less than 60 seconds with Bonnie. And that's before factoring in breaks. Bonnie insists in the show that she simply loves to have sex and that the extreme events don't phase her. But Natasha Silverman, a psychosexual therapist, told The Mirror it's "unusual" for women to "naturally remain in a state of pleasurable sexual arousal for a 12 hour period." She explained: "Having sex when no longer 'turned on' can be psychologically and physically painful and distressing, and increase the chances of sexual interactions becoming traumatic." The expert said that if Bonnie did sleep with 1,057 men in 12 hours, she may have used dissociation to cope. She explained that dissociation is a "coping mechanism" where the person may "disconnect" from their body or emotions as a way to protect themselves from discomfort, distress, anxiety, or emotional overload. Natasha said when sex lasts for an extended period, or involves multiple partners, it can lead to feelings of being "out of control" or "detached" from the experience. And while some people might find out-of-body experiences "pleasurable" or even "transformative" others may find them "distressing". It comes as other experts have warned that the current online landscape is encouraging sex workers to go to great lengths to succeed in reaching mass audiences, as it favours viral and shocking content. Health psychologist Jo Rodriguez, from Straightforward Psychology, told The Mirror that younger "brains are not adaptive enough to recognise that actually that's not the real world". She warned: "It's a version of reality that is given to you in the context of the situation. These young people, they see this, they expect this to be what relationships are like. How women are or what men are like, and then believe that they need to fit these roles. [...] It can create all sorts of problems for both men and women, because it is not an accurate reflection of reality.." When asked how she feels about young teenagers coming across her content, Bonnie admits in the documentary that she "forgets" to think of it from that point of view. She then says bluntly: "There's also a parent's responsibility to say, hey, there's people in the world that do mass murders. [It] doesn't mean you do that." Despite widespread fears about her work, Bonnie's family seem supportive of her career, despite facing backlash of their own. One scene in the documentary shows Bonnie at home with mum Sarah, who speaks with pride about how her daughter was a great dancer as a child. She says: "Would it be something that I chose for her to do, no. I was really, really shocked, but now would I want her to do anything else? No, not at all. It's her choice. "People I know always liked us both, but think it's OK to make nasty comments. Most of the time I just laugh. I'm like, 'If you could earn a million pounds in a month, your morals would soon change, and you'd get your bits out'. I don't care what people say." Sarah and other family members have given up their jobs to be on Bonnie's payroll. Bonnie adds: "My family started to put up with hate, I get that, but I also get the life I live and the money. So it's like I also want them to receive some of the rewards.' The star admits she uses the widespread hate she gets as fuel for engagement, and often puts women down as part of her brand. At one stage, while answering questions at a Q&A after the screening, she even labels them "the fat women that stay at home and make TikToks." She says in the show: "A lot of the times when I'll push into the hate, I know the more women that chat about me, the more husbands are going to search my name. "The more they're talking to me in their household, the more their sons are going to go to their bedroom and search for me. So I'm happy to p*** off the women because they're not my target audience." Channel 4 defended the multiple sex scenes in the documentary, telling the Mirror: "The explicit content is editorially justified and provides essential context.' And at the screening, commissioning editor Tim Hancock said: "We are very proud to do films like this." * 1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story, Channel 4, Tuesday, 10pm.
Daily Mirror
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Loose Women erupts into blazing row over Bonnie Blue as viewers hit out
The Loose Women panel began to interrupt each other when discussing the controversy surrounding millionaire porn star Bonnie Blue The Loose Women panel erupted into a massive row on Monday when discussing controversial porn star Bonnie Blue. ITV's lunchtime chat show returned at the start of the week with Ruth Langsford as anchor, and she was joined by Mariella Frostrup, Frankie Bridge and Brenda Edwards on the panel. The ladies began to discuss pornographic film actress Bonnie, 26, who infamously had had sex with 1,057 men in 12 hours earlier this year, and the mass stunt became the inspiration for the title of a new Channel 4 documentary, 1,000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story. The move has made the former NHS recruitment officer into a millionaire. A day before the tell-all documentary on Bonnie airs, the Loose Women discussed her motives. Brenda said that she never 'get her bits out' for any amount of money, "I just I'm just a can't use the word morals," but Ruth cut in to remind her that everyone has a different moral compass. " Brenda shot back: "Her mother wouldn't have changed her mind [about the situation] if she wasn't being paid by her daughter. Tell her to go into the room where it's all happening, and I bet you she wouldn't!" This Morning host Ruth reasoned that Bonnie's mother was likely trying to 'support' her daughter. Mariella then chimed in calling the whole thing a 'very tragic story' and that she 'feels sorry' for the family because money does not bring happiness. She added: "Isn't it about what you care about? We live in a world now where everything seems to be okay if you become famous or make loads of money for it. She's getting a documentary on a public-funded platform, which is Channel 4." Ruth tried to bring the topic back to what Bonnie has been saying about the situation, and Mariella snapped: "I don't care about her. I'm talking about us. I'm not saying she can't be happy, she says she's scared to go out, doesn't lead a normal life, but more importantly I think it's awful that we're even talking about it because I just think it's inflating something that's really distasteful and is really just a sad, sad story. We have all lost our moral compass." Former Saturdays singer Frankie tried to argue that parents are more likely to 'stand by' their children even if they disagree with their choices, but the ladies began to talk over each other in disagreement as Brenda rolled her eyes and slammed it as 'disgraceful' that money is being made from such a venture. She added: "Do it behind closed doors, I just don't need to see it!" The heated nature of the discussion did not go unnoticed by fans, and they flooded social media with comments begging them to stop interrupting one another. One viewer wrote on X: "Only Mariella's opinion counts," whilst another said: "Shut up mariella , stop interrupting," and a third said: "Mariella gets so intense on this panel." Another asked: "Have to shut off when Brenda starts her rants. The arm waving is irritating as well as her voice" but another viewer agreed with the former X Factor star and simply said: "Well said Brenda" after listening to her opinion. At a screening of the documentary, Bonnie insisted she is 'very happy' with her life. But her notoriety, and her boasts of sex with married men, who, she says, should not feel guilty about cheating on their wives, come at a price. In the film, Bonnie, whose real name is Tia Billinger, says: 'The last time I went out by myself was probably about six months ago. Now it is not that safe. 'I get 100s of death threats a day, so it is not that safe when I walk around. I say, 'It is going to happen at some point, someone will come and give me stick' and fair play to her, at least they are getting up off their sofa. My worst one is acid, if someone did acid, and I could see some spiteful girl doing that.' Bonnie has split from her husband and her closest friends seem to be Josh, who posts her videos, and a stylist. She says: 'My sort of circles got smaller, but my team are also my best friends.' Director Victoria Silver followed Bonnie for six months, gathering footage of her having sex, and was at her January marathon for a couple of hours.
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Rich Holiday, Poor Holiday viewers criticise wealthy family's 'boring' rules on lavish trip
Channel 5 viewers were not impressed with the Dissont family on this week's episode of Rich Holiday, Poor Holiday as they branded them 'boring' and 'pretentious' Rich Holiday, Poor Holiday returned to Channel 5 on Sunday with a new series featuring strangers from opposite ends of the wealth spectrum embarking on two vastly different holidays. However, just minutes into the show, one family sparked outrage among viewers as they outlined their expectations for a luxury trip. The families get to live out each other's idea of an ideal holiday, but what is paradise for one family can be hell for another. This episode saw two very different families sharing their unique experiences, with well-off medics and aesthetics practitioners Sam and Andre Dissont and their 14-year-old daughter Cassia first taking the cash-strapped Leaf family to a posh health resort. Gary, Beth, 13-year-old Grace, and eight-year-old Noah were treated to a five-star stay in a Malta hotel - but the activities that the Dissonts had planned were far removed from what the fun-loving Leafs were accustomed to. Upon arriving at the first destination and meeting up, the Dissonts, who regularly splurge £40,000 on a holiday without batting an eyelid, revealed their preference for a healthy lifestyle. They each indulge in a £1,000 session in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber before jetting off. Once on holiday, they adhere to a strict diet, which includes abstaining from alcohol and consuming plenty of fresh food, and also incorporate exercise into their trips, reports the Express. After revealing their dream holiday, the Dissonts invited the Leafs - known for their extravagant holidays - to join them in their health-focused activities. The families embarked on a schedule packed with private tours of historical sites, sushi restaurants, gym sessions and a snorkelling trip to the blue lagoon. While the Leafs seemed somewhat impressed, they concluded that it wasn't worth the money. Meanwhile, viewers at home labelled the wealthy family as "boring". One disgruntled viewer posted on Twitter: "What a boring family. Oxygen chambers, wanting to go on healthy holidays and come back healthier. What a load of rubbish, sterile to the core #richholidaypoorholiday." Another chimed in: "What pretentious snobs. Wasting a medical education to overcharge people for ridiculous s**t! I hope the poor people don't have to follow their strict rules. Yuck #RichHolidayPoorHoliday. "Wow what a boring family #richholidaypoorholiday," another commented, while one more added: "The rich family have to be the most annoying family they've had on this. Particularly the dad. Giving off accidental partridge vibes. #richholidaypoorholiday." But the Dissonts proved how kind-hearted they are at the end of the show when they gifted the Leafs another holiday to Greece.
