Celebrities who survived love bombing

What is love bombing?

Love bombing is when a partner presents himself/herself as being the ideal lover, by doing things that will sweep you off your feet, and then as soon as they win your trust and affection, he/she switches and becomes difficult, abusive, or manipulative.

Signs that you are being love bombed

Sexologist, intimacy expert, and author, Shan Boodram, describes some of the common signs as:

“When someone begins the relationship by showering you with time/attention/gifts/love/compliments without really even knowing you.

“Then, little by little they take these positive reinforcements away, which causes the person on the receiving end to fight to win their approval again in order to get back to this perceived idyllic time.”

READ: Domestic abuse survivor urges others to speak out about their abuse

Celebrities who survived love bombing

In last week’s episode of ‘The Real Daytime’, presenters Loni Love, Garcelle Beauvais, and Adrienne Bailon spoke about their past love bomb experiences.

"They dropped a bomb on me. I was dating this guy. We would talk for hours on the phone. It was so great because nowadays people just want to text," Garcelle Beauvais said. 

"We would laugh, talk. I was actually in Rome shooting 'Housewives'. We would talk for hours in Rome. Like I would be up through out the night talking to him and you know at first he was really attentive and sweet and then I noticed a change. I noticed that he would try to belittle me. 

"I found myself crying all the time. Even triggering me with stuff with my dad that I had shared. It became abusive. I also realised he was in a relationship prior to me that was very dramatic," she added. 

Adrienne Bailon said: "I for sure experienced love bombing. I had an ex that did everything to pursue me. I am talking wine and dine, have deep emotional moments with me, I mean we would cry together. He'd write this love letters to me. 

"One day I remember saying I was sick and maybe like 20minutes later, there was a knock on my door and my doorman came up and he had delivered soup for me and I think even a humidifier." 

The presenter says the phase lasted for two years. 

"This was the norm for the first two years of our relationship . Even his family and his friends were like ‘this is a changed man. We have never seen this version. 

“That made me feel like 'Oh my gosh, that means I changed him . He is totally different. This is real .This is true and then two years into the relationship , once the in love experience had ended he was a completely different person. 

"He was cold with me. I felt like I couldn’t reach that person that I fell in love with anymore and it was devastating. I was heartbroken. I was confused. I blamed myself. I was like ‘what happened to the guy that I fell in love with’ and I couldn’t find him, and you almost feel like did that person ever exist. 'This guy, this prince charming, where is this guy because he doesn’t exist', and you blame yourself to some extent. You really think like did I do something to deserve this," said Adrienne. 

"The last one that happened to me was maybe about five years ago. Great guy. We got along. We ate off from the same plate, you know, that's love. The next minute is like a switch. It's like a snap," said Loni Love. 

"I think they wait for a sign from you to know that they got you. You have fallen into the love trap that they have created, and then they pull back," added the presenters. 

"Unfortunately, a lot of women will stay too long into the situation because they can't believe that it is happening or they think 'oh it's just a moment, it's just a phase, he is gonna come back. That same guy is going to come back at some point," the three of them added. 

READ: "We have failed to stand up for our boys and men that also suffer abuse and mental health issues"

Image courtesy of Instagram.