VanZant says she was sexually assaulted at 14
UFC flyweight fighter Paige VanZant, speaking to ABC News for an interview that aired on "Good Morning America" on Tuesday, says she was sexually assaulted at a party as a 14-year-old and has had suicidal thoughts since.
The 24-year-old VanZant, promoting her new memoir, "RISE: Surviving the Fight of My Life," told ABC News that she had a tough childhood and was constantly bullied in high school to the point where she ate lunch alone in the bathroom.
"I didn't have anywhere to run to. I didn't have anybody to turn to," said VanZant, who grew up in Dayton, Oregon. "[It was] bad enough that I had to run into the bathroom, and I'd eat my lunch on the toilet ... because I just felt too scared to eat lunch in the cafeteria."
VanZant told ABC News that she only recently spoke to her parents about being sexually assaulted as a high school freshman.
"I felt like I was a smart girl," she said. "My parents raised me well. They raised me to know better and to have some intuition. It all went out the window just because I was so lonely.
"I was in so much pain, I just ... all I could think about was, 'Wow, I have somebody who wants to be my friend,'" she said of the alleged assault. "When I walked in the door of their house, I was like, 'This probably isn't such a good idea.'"
VanZant said that night, and the continual bullying that followed, led her to contemplate ending her own life.
UFC flyweight fighter Paige VanZant, speaking to ABC News for an interview that aired on "Good Morning America" on Tuesday, says she was sexually assaulted at a party as a 14-year-old and has had suicidal thoughts since.
The 24-year-old VanZant, promoting her new memoir, "RISE: Surviving the Fight of My Life," told ABC News that she had a tough childhood and was constantly bullied in high school to the point where she ate lunch alone in the bathroom.
"I didn't have anywhere to run to. I didn't have anybody to turn to," said VanZant, who grew up in Dayton, Oregon. "[It was] bad enough that I had to run into the bathroom, and I'd eat my lunch on the toilet ... because I just felt too scared to eat lunch in the cafeteria."
VanZant told ABC News that she only recently spoke to her parents about being sexually assaulted as a high school freshman.
"I felt like I was a smart girl," she said. "My parents raised me well. They raised me to know better and to have some intuition. It all went out the window just because I was so lonely.
"I was in so much pain, I just ... all I could think about was, 'Wow, I have somebody who wants to be my friend,'" she said of the alleged assault. "When I walked in the door of their house, I was like, 'This probably isn't such a good idea.'"
VanZant said that night, and the continual bullying that followed, led her to contemplate ending her own life.