Profile romance ends with dirty laundry

Model Jaime Wright, the ex-partner of Biggest Loser trainer Shannan Ponton has told a Sydney newspaper of verbal and emotional abuse which forced her to leave a high-profile relationship.

In an outspoken (and one-sided) interview to the The Sunday Telegraph, Wright said she left Ponton because she feared he would become physically violent if their relationship continued.

“‘Pathetic bitch’ was his favourite thing to call me,” Wright told the newspaper.

“He would be very aggressive, in my face and screaming, telling me I was a liar and a nobody with no friends. He told me everyone liked him because he is a TV star,” she alleged.

Wright, 28, and Ponton, 35, said she called an end to their six-month relationship when Ponton became abusive in front of her family while on holiday in Bali. She flew back to Australia alone and moved out of the Chatswood apartment they had shared for three months.

“I was scared because he was so angry, it exploded — and it was hard for me to understand where it came from,” she said.

Wright claims at first the abuse was private but as their relationship went on he became more aggressive in public.

“I was in public with one man, the guy I love, but when we were in private he was a completely different person,” she said. “It was tough to leave because I thought I was going to marry this man and have his children. People would call us Ken and Barbie so it does put a lot of pressure on us.”

Wright said she had been offered money to tell her story to a women’s magazine, but chose to speak to The Sunday Telegraph for no fee because she wanted to be a role model for women in abusive relationships. Ponton refused to comment on the story yesterday, as did Channel 10.

It is the second troubled story for the reality series recently, following a guilty plea for welfare fraud charges against host Ajay Rochester.

Source: Daily Telegraph