Former Love Islander Katie Salmon has tearfully broken her silence following her conviction for assault, which caused actual bodily harm. In July, Salmon was found guilty of attacking her boyfriend's second girlfriend on a street in Kettering, Northampton, using both a hairdryer and a stiletto high-heeled shoe.

The star, who gained prominence on the second series of the dating show in 2016 – notably making history as part of the first all-girl couple with the late Sophie Gradon and finishing fourth with co-star Adam Maxted – had maintained a silence on social media since her conviction. She recently returned to the internet with an emotional video to address the situation.

Katie, who identifies as a born-again Christian and is also an OnlyFans influencer, avoided jail time and received a suspended prison sentence. Filming the video in her car, she explained her absence: "I have been wanting to come online and do this video for a while now and I've kind of just let a lot of people say a lot about me and write a lot about me and I just needed to just take some time off social media and I did. I haven't been on it for over a couple of months now."

She conveyed that today felt like the right moment to share her message and move forward, explaining that a "scenario that happened over two years ago" led to her current predicament. Her voice trembled as she expressed her regret: "Unfortunately I'm not able to speak on that right now due to legal reasons and it breaks my heart that I'm labelled as something that I'm not or never have been."

Salmon emphasized her personal growth and spiritual journey over the past two years, stating: "But with that being said I feel as though if I was to come on here and try and throw blame at anyone or try and say anything other than what I'm about to say would mean that I haven't learned anything in my walk in the past two years with Christ and I have, and there's a lot more to the story than what people even know." She highlighted the importance of accountability and her faith, acknowledging that her past had caught up with her and she had to face the repercussions, including the profound pain of saying goodbye to her daughter without knowing when she would see her again.

Addressing her followers, Katie asked for their continued support: "Even if you want to judge me by them things and you'd want to unfollow me or you don't want to be a part of my journey anymore or support then that's absolutely fine. You are entitled to do that but if you know me, if you can feel my spirit. If you can feel my heart and who I really am then I'm asking you now to support me because this time in my life I could do with support."

Concluding her heartfelt statement, Katie declared: "So if you were praying for my downfall I want you to know that this isn't the end of me. this is only the beginning. Jesus is restoring what was stolen from me, he is healing what has been broken in me and I'm going to use that as fire in my spirit to make sure that I can make a change starting with me." In her accompanying caption, she described the post as the 'hardest she's ever had to write' and spoke of her 'heavy' journey, but also of moving forward 'with hope and peace' and believing that 'God will use what was meant to destroy her for good'. She ended with a powerful message to women: "You are not your past. You are not what you did, and you are not what was done to you. You have every right to change, to heal, and to move forward."