- Warner says the consequences of going to the bathroom were the hardest part of her life
- She says she remembers the pain the infamous incident caused her family
- Says she wasn’t perfect, but she wasn’t who she was supposed to be either
Candice Warner has spoken about the shocking impact of her infamous pub toilet visit with football star Sonny Bill Williams, admitting the scandal was the ‘hardest part of her life’ and prompted her to end it.
Warner’s name was in the news for weeks when she was photographed in a bathroom with ex-Bulldogs star Williams during a night out at the beachside Clovelly Hotel in Sydney in 2007.
Just 22 when the incident occurred, Warner opened Sunday night’s episode of ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!’ about the toll the public humiliation took on her family and herself.
“I think the hardest part of my life would have been 17 years ago,” Warner said.
Candice Warner has spoken about the pain she and her family had to endure as a result of the infamous off-field scandal
The shocking incident, in which Warner was photographed in a compromising position with Sonny Bill Williams (pictured) in a pub toilet, caused a huge media storm.
‘As a young girl I made one stupid mistake and that was it.
“All I remember is the hurt and pain I caused my family because of the comments made about me in the media.
‘That was probably the most difficult period of my life, given how brutal it was. It was just constant.”
In a direct piece to camera, Warner talked about how serious the bullying became.
“When I was a lot younger, I think there was a lot of scrutiny and a lot of name-calling and online bullying because of a mistake I made,” she said.
‘Then I moved to Perth. My family needed a break from people coming up to them and saying, “What is your daughter up to? I read this, I heard that.”
“I wasn’t perfect, but I certainly wasn’t the person I was made to be.”
The 39-year-old admitted she contemplated suicide as a result of the fallout from the scandal.
Warner said the upside of the incident was that it prepared her to help her cricket star husband David through the Sandpapergate ball-tampering scandal.
“I try to look at everything in a positive light and I feel like when my husband went through what he went through with cricket in 2018, I knew I had the tools for us as a family to get through it,” she said.
Candice married David in 2015 and they share daughters Ivy Mae, Indi Rae and Isla Rose
Candice says the infamous incident helped her guide David through his own media scandal when he became embroiled in the Sandpapergate ball-tampering saga in 2018
“I knew I could guide him because I had experienced it.”
Speaking to Ny Breaking Australia at her book launch last year, Warner said she has not heard from Sonny Bill Williams, 38, as they have both “moved on with their lives”.
‘No, I haven’t heard from him and I didn’t expect to. He moved on with his life and I moved on with mine,” she said.
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