Karen Danczuk has revealed that she was raped by her brother as a child.
The 33-year-old estranged wife of MP Simon Danczuk has opened up about how she was molested in her family home from the age of six until she was 15 or 16 by Michael Burke, who this week was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of a series of sex attacks.
The star of The Island with Bear Gryls said: “Most people remember their first time having sex with somebody they love. Whereas my first time of having sex was with my brother.
“It’s horrible. Even now I can’t sleep naked. I can’t even cuddle in bed.
“I will never love properly, I will never be able to let someone in. It’s horrible.”
Karen Danczuk told the Sun: “My brother’s a monster for raping me. He is sick, I hope he rots in hell.
“He robbed me of my childhood. I was so damaged, my education suffered and I’ve battled anxiety and depression in my adult life.”
In the painfully frank interview she bravely revealed heartbreaking details about her horrific ordeal.
“I remember hiding in bed with him and he’d pull the duvet over us.
“He told me we were in a game but I don’t even think anyone was looking for us. I remember him lying on top of me naked.”
Karen also revealed how Burke would start sneaking into the bedroom which she shared with her sister and slip into bed with her.
“He’d come in behind me and I could tell he was naked.
“He would lift up my nightie and touch me. Then it eventually developed into him taking my hand and using it to pleasure himself.
“I would always pretend to be asleep and lie with my back to him, facing the wall. I was terrified and confused but I didn’t know what else to do.
Karen also revealed how the abuse eventually turned to rape and how she was too scared to tell anyone.
“Now I’ve got children of my own that makes me feel sick,” she said. “I was living in a hell-hole — there was no love in my house. It wasn’t a normal household.”
Burke, 38, who has been described as a “controlling and violent” man, was found guilty of eight counts of rape and another serious sexual offence against three women – including three counts of rape against his sister between 1992 and 1994.
He was cleared of nine other serious sexual offences.