Ruth has publicly spoken out about her own experience with coercive control at the hands of her ex-husband, and has now been awarded for her services to victims and survivors of domestic abuse
Ruth Dodsworth has been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by King Charles III during an Investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle(Image: PA)
Welsh TV presenter Ruth Dodsworth has been awarded the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by King Charles III during an Investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle in Berkshire. The 50-year-old was awarded the title for her services to victims and survivors of domestic abuse.
Ruth has publicly spoken out about her own experience with coercive control at the hands of her ex-husband, Jonathan Wignall who was jailed in 2021. The TV presenter has used her platform to share her story in the hopes that it can help others, saying it came with a “responsibility”.
She has continuously spoken about the topic of domestic abuse to raise awareness, and in 2022, she presented the ITV factual documentary Controlled By My Partner? The Hidden Abuse. For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter
Earlier this year she started her own blog @ruthisasurivor on Instagram to further share her story.
Ruth said that being awarded her OBE was “for every single person who held my hand on that journey.”
She added that she “promised to use it wisely”, and to “keep talking about domestic abuse until one day hopefully we won’t have to.
“If all of this can help just one person then all of this has been worth it. It isn’t an easy journey to go on.
“We know it’s not easy but there are really good things out there if you can get out of that abusive relationship, and this is one of those good things.”
Speaking after receiving the award she told ITV Wales: “It feels all a bit surreal and completely unbelievable, and I’m over the moon. It’s just the biggest honour I think I have ever had in my entire life.
“This is not just for me this is for my family, my friends and everybody who has been on this very strange journey that I’ve been on, everybody who has supported me.
“And this is for everybody who is going on journeys of their own as well because it’s not easy and domestic abuse is out there and it’s everywhere.”
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Her ex-husband had subjected her to nine-years of abuse, and it wasn’t until her children feared for her safety that she managed to escape.
In Controlled By My Partner? The Hidden Abuse Ruth explained: “I had no idea that the threats and manipulation my ex-husband used for almost a decade were actually a pattern of criminal behaviour. He would call me dozens of times a day, wanting to know where I was and who I was with. He would check my phone and even delete contacts from it.
“He would turn up at my workplace, or insist that I leave the studio to eat lunch with him in his car.”
Ruth added: “It wasn’t until my own children began to fear for my safety that I realised what was going on wasn’t normal. In October 2019, I finally called the police and my then-husband was arrested.”
Her 18-year-old daughter Grace said: “This was our reality, this was our lives, it was normal for us. And then all of a sudden we’re having all these professionals telling us that’s not right, and everything we’ve known is pretty much gone.”
