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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Katherine Heslop

Downfall of Stephen Bear - Reality TV bad boy to dark controversies and revenge porn

Disgraced TV personality Stephen Bear will today be sentenced after he was found guilty of leaking a video of himself and Love Island star Georgia Harrison having sex to OnlyFans.

Bear's biggest claim to fame was his Celebrity Big Brother win 2016, but he soon became known for a number of disturbing controversies and antics.

Even during his December trial at Chelmsford Crown Court, Bear, 33, boasted of his sexual prowess and informed the court he had "many girlfriends in the press with high profiles."

Georgia, 27, who has waived her right to anonymity, watched on in December as the jury verdict's was read out, with Bear being found guilty of voyeurism and two counts of disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress.

Bear and girlfriend Jessica Smith arrive for his revenge porn trial in December (PA)
Bear with a cigar and cane as he arrives for court (GC Images)

Georgia had taken the stand during the trial, and spoken of how the publication of the CCTV footage of the pair having sex in Bear's garden in 2020 had left her so ashamed she couldn't leave her room. After the verdict she told of how she had been through two years of "absolute hell".

Bear made his reality TV debut on Shipwrecked in 2011, but didn't appear on our screens again until 2015, when he appeared on Ex on the Beach.

While originally known as a reality TV bad boy, his vile behaviour over the years has seen fans turn against him. He hasn't been on TV for a good while and moved into adult entertainment, sharing explicit videos of himself.

Stephen Bear on Ex on the Beach (MTV)

Before today's sentencing, we've taken a look at the many controversial moments in his fall from grace.

In 2017, Bear appeared on Celebs Go Dating, and went on a double date with Jonathan Cheban and a pair of twins.

The two men sat down for drinks with the twins but, before long, Bear appeared to have made the mood awkward with his inappropriate comments.

Bear, who announced his engagement to Jessica Smith in January, left the women feeling uncomfortable as he offered to have threesome with them and asked if they ever kissed one another.

Bear after he won Celebrity Big Brother in 2016 (WireImage)

Speaking to the camera, one of the women said: "We came here thinking Bear would be the most attractive, but he's said some things that aren't appropriate. It's kind of ruined it for us a little bit, so we're going to leave it here."

Later, speaking to the camera, Bear said: "It’s those birds that missed out. I didn’t fancy them anyway."

The next year, Bear hit the headlines as he mourned the loss of the nine-week-old pup, who he found dead in its basket.

The rottweiler puppy had been rushed to the vet for emergency surgery just a week before its death, after contracting a serious infection in its leg.

Georgia Harrison said she'd endured 'two years of hell' after Bear shared intimate footage of her (PA)

Critics blasted Bear for allowing the pup to play outside before he had all his injections and alleged that he had taken the pooch home from the breeder earlier than he should have.

Bear later told OK! magazine that he was not to blame for Wolverine's death: "Vets have since told me that an infection that Wolverine already had attacked his system and caused [his] death. [They have] reiterated that there was nothing that I could have done."

By December 2020, the video of Georgia and Bear had reached the internet, and Georgia spoke out to say Bear was responsible.

Bear arriving at court for day three of his trial (GC Images)

He was then slammed for saying he was tempted to stage a fake suicide to get people to leave him alone.

Taking to his Instagram story, Bear struggled to contain his laughter as he went into detail about how he could stage taking his own life.

He said in the video: "I was so tempted to do the ultimate f***ing narcissist move and make everyone feel sorry for me."

Bear then jokingly discussed a possible method of how he could made it look like he's taken his own life, and said he could get his friend to save him.

Bear in the Big Brother house (Rex)

"And all you people would have been like,” he went on, placing his hand over his mouth to appear shocked.

"Then you would backtrack and delete all your comments and all your news articles will all disappear."

The next month, Bear was arrested on his birthday after flying back to the UK from Dubai.

After being arrested, Bear disgusted the public with a pregnancy prank. He posted a sonogram photo that hinted he is expecting twins before confirming it had been a prank hours later.

Bear appeared on Celebs Go Dating (Channel 4)

The sonogram photo was later found to have been taken from Google images after being shared online by an expectant mum two years ago.

Taking to Instagram after the furore, Bear's partner Tia, 18, said 'it's not fair' that she had been dragged into the prank and later dumped him.

After his split from Tia, it was reported by The Sun he was auditioning for a new girlfriend.

He decided to reinvent himself as a wannabe porn star as he claimed he was quitting showbiz in April 2021.

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