Bianca Wallace claims she has been "publicly bullied" about her MS.
Bianca Wallace claims she was 'publicly bullied' about MS
The 31-year-old fiancée of actor Ioan Gruffudd, 50, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis - a disease that can affect the brain and spinal cord - in 2018 and while she kept the MS a secret for years, she claims she was forced to go public about it in 2022.
Comparing her situation to that of Catherine, Princess of Wales, who recently announced her cancer diagnosis after months of speculation about her whereabouts, Bianca wrote on Instagram: "The Princess of Wales going through difficult health issues and then bullied into revealing these has brought up many thoughts and feelings.
"It is MS Awareness Month and I want to share with you my personal experience of being publicly bullied and having MS.
"...the MS was discovered, and my secret health issues were publicly. and very happily exposed. My privacy, safety and health were taken away. Years of surviving, battling, keeping it hidden, growing, learning - the proudest 3 years of my life. 3 years were replaced with terrible made-up stories, outing the MS and years of a non-stop stream of lies and bullying."
And, Bianca urged people to do better as she said the stress of the situation made her illness worse.
She wrote: "So, why am I bringing all of this up for MS awareness month?
"Because it's not ok! Because we have no idea what a person is really going through in life and don't have the right to assume. Because the world watched on and demanded answers from Princess Catherine and when they weren't getting any, made up their own stories and pushed them as real.
"I didn't deserve to have the MS exposed, made so much worse by the lies and harassment attached.
"We have to do better. A chronic illness diagnosis, no matter the illness, is huge and it takes serious work and a lot of time to come to terms with.
"All of this affected my health, having two MS attacks-one in January 2022 to my brain and one in October 2022 to my spine. Thankfully, through deep healing and professional help, I managed to remove myself, worked hard on calming the MS down, and I searched for a reason and for the positive in my situation. I actually found many positives!
"Everyone is unique and has their own journey. This could have ended badly for someone who was struggling to accept it, who wasn't coping mentally, who had never lived under that level of abuse... Then they all call that a tragedy..."
Tagged in Ioan Gruffudd