Reality TV star Stephen Bear told a court he deleted a video of himself having sex with his ex-girlfriend Georgia Harrison in his garden – caught on his CCTV cameras – when she asked him to the same day.
The 32-year-old, who won Celebrity Big Brother in 2016, is on trial at Chelmsford Crown Court accused of sharing the footage on the website OnlyFans.
Bear, who was in Ex On The Beach, said in evidence that he “got smashed” over lunch with Ms Harrison, who has appeared on The Only Way Is Essex, Love Island and Olivia Meets Her Match.
The defendant, of Loughton in Essex, said he then showed Ms Harrison around a sunbed shop that he was renovating and they “ended up having sex at the shop” on August 2 2020.
He said he then went back to his house with Ms Harrison, now aged 27, who has waived her right to anonymity.
“We had sex before we went into the garden then she goes to me, I was doing card tricks outside, she said ‘you look really fit, like a fit Paul Daniels’,” said Bear.
“Then she started kissing me.”
He said they then had sex in his garden.
Gemma Rose, defending, asked Bear about CCTV cameras at his property, and he said he had previously been burgled and “it goes security first, all day long”.
“I’ve got seven cameras, big gates and three dogs,” he said.
“They’re going to lick you to death if anything, but safety first, all the time.”
He said he “thought it was funny” that the cameras had captured himself and Ms Harrison having sex.
“We played it on the monitor screen,” he said.
“She asked for a copy of it.
“I said ‘of course I will send you a copy’, it was 20 minutes long.”
Bear said that Ms Harrison “told me to delete the footage, which I did”.
“Why would I want that on my phone?”
He said his “intention” that day “was to catch up with a friend – sex was a bonus and the footage was quite funny to watch back”.
He described as a “complete lie” Ms Harrison’s allegation that she saw him send the footage to someone on WhatsApp that evening.
Asked about footage being uploaded to OnlyFans, he said: “I don’t know of any video being uploaded.
“All I know is a 20-minute video I had at the time.
“I don’t know of any other video that’s been uploaded.”
He said he had never changed his subscription price on his OnlyFans account, which was deactivated in December 2020.
Bear denies voyeurism and two counts of disclosing private sexual photographs and films.
The defendant, wearing a black suit and pink shirt and tie, took several deep breaths as he walked from the dock to the witness stand to give his evidence on Thursday.
He said: “Good morning your honour, good morning jury.”
He was then sworn in, before adding: “I couldn’t sleep last night.”
Asked about his work, he said: “I’m like the jack-of-all-trades.
“Used to be a labourer, dipped into roofing, TV work.
“Now I do a bit of adult entertainment because my TV work has been on hold for two years because of this case.”
Bear said four armed policemen had arrested him at Heathrow Airport “on my birthday” in January 2021 as he returned from Dubai.
“I drank every day I was in Dubai, I was there for two months altogether,” he said.
“Come home, I didn’t expect that.”
He said he had heard about footage circulating online while in Dubai, when people were saying “really horrible things” about him on social media, then someone sent him a direct message saying “I can’t believe what you’ve done to Georgia”.
He said that his “reaction straight away” was to tell Ms Harrison that “it’s not her in the video”, adding that he did this “to protect her from embarrassment”.
He said that his Instagram account had been “hacked” and “got deleted” while he was in Dubai.
Jacqueline Carey KC, prosecuting, told Bear: “You don’t care about Georgia Harrison, do you?”
The defendant replied: “She was never my girlfriend, Georgia Harrison.”
Asked by Ms Carey if he put in a “good performance” in the sex video, Bear said: “I put in my best performance every time I have sex with the ladies.”
He continued: “Twenty minutes – I weren’t going to be rubbish.
“I wasn’t a three-minute wonder.”
He said that he “got paid 40 grand” from content on his OnlyFans page.
Bear argued with the prosecutor and suggested that the case against him was “guesswork”, adding at one point: “You had better move on because you’re looking a bit silly.”
“I’ve got all day,” he said.
Asked by Ms Carey if he was saying that his OnlyFans page was hacked, Bear replied: “I’m saying that this footage was never even on OnlyFans.
“It was never on there and it was never sold.”
Bear’s mother Linda Bear, who was called as a character witness, said she does not like social media but “that’s what he’s chosen to do and it seems all young people seem to like it”.
She described her son as a “bit of a showman really”, but said that at home he was “a really private person”.
“I know I’m his mum but he’s a lovely boy, he’s fun, enthusiastic, he loves his mum and dad, he loves his family.”
Asked by the prosecutor if she was aware that Bear had shared “photos of himself masturbating in the shower to make money” online, Mrs Bear replied “no”.
She said she knew he had had “a few girlfriends”, adding: “And as far as I’m aware he’s treated them very well.”
The trial continues.
