ITV weather presenter Ruth Dodsworth says her abusive ex told her kids that she "didn't want them anymore".
She revealed coercive Jonathan Wignall, 55, took a photo of her while she lay in a hospital bed and sent it to her children. It included a sinister message.
The photo showed the mum-of-two hooked up to several wires, with Jonathan reportedly writing: "This is what it looks like when you don't want your children anymore."
Ruth shared the picture on her Instagram last night, bravely opening up about the ordeal with fans.
She wrote: " Three years ago I was taken into hospital. He photographed everything. I never knew why."
Ruth continued: "After he was arrested months later, this is the message he sent my children.
"He couldn't manipulate me anymore. So he tried to manipulate them. #coercivecontrol #DomesticAbuse."
Recently, Ruth opened up about her fears at the prospect of her ex-husband being released from prison.
The broadcaster's former partner was jailed for a three year sentence one year ago after he pleaded guilty to stalking and coercive control.
Earlier last month, Ruth appeared on Loose Women to discuss his potential release with the ITV panellists, after recently telling fans she had installed alarms "everywhere" at home.
With Wignall's imminent release possible, panellist Katie Piper asked the broadcaster about her faith in the Parole Board, saying: "We're hearing now your ex had a three year sentence, but could be out in a year."
Ruth replied: "Even worse than that, he could have been out now, because what they don't tell you is, yes you've got to serve a minimum, he was told that by the judge, but then four months prior to that he can apply for early home release. So, yes, he'd be tagged, but he'd still be out."
She continued: “You can't keep people behind bars forever. Everyone has rights, but it was a year ago today that the judge said to him, ‘You're evil and you're a danger to your wife and your children’. How much of that has changed?
“The judge told him, ‘You've shown no remorse’.”
Ruth added: “People say to me, do I think he got long enough? That's such a difficult question because I never set out to send him to prison.
“I'm human and I've had to wrestle with the fact that I feel I've sent this man to prison. He's my children's father.
“The police have been so fantastic in saying, ‘You're not doing this. He's doing this to himself’.
“So, it's such a difficult question to ask how long he should have got, because at the end of the day everyone's different. I would like to think and hope he would come out a better person.”
