VICTORIA Derbyshire has revealed that her father threw “scalding soup” over her as a child and put his hands around her throat.
Broadcaster Derbyshire bravely delved into the past to recount the horrific extent of the trauma she suffered at the hands of her father Anthony.
Derbyshire said that her “violent and bullying” father’s abuse included being beaten with a belt and wooden spoon.
The physical and mental abuse was so bad that Derbyshire, along with her mother, brother, and sister, left their home to stay with her aunt, only to return, as “life kept drawing us back”.
The journalist said that her family had lived “constantly walking on eggshells” to avoid riling him.
“When I think about my childhood, it feels like domestic abuse was always there,” the Newsnight host told The Independent.
The violence was “so normalised” that it defined her upbringing: “It was just a feature of growing up — me, my brother, my sister, and my mum.”
She said that despite the abuse she would try not to flinch when her bullying father struck her.
“It was my way of showing him that I couldn’t be riled,” she said.
The Newsnight host spoke of her father putting his hands around her neck and pinning her against the pantry door in front of her screaming best friend.
One time her father threw “scalding soup” over her school uniform.
She said: “I just looked at him with contempt in my eyes — and he could see it. I didn’t say anything […] It was my way of trying to show that he wasn’t affecting me.”
Anthony would also regularly beat her mother, once breaking one of her ribs, Victoria claims.
However, when the injury was reported, a doctor’s note simply described it as “husband trouble”.
The former BBC Radio 5 Live host, also recalled that even something as mundane as not making him a cup of tea would set her father off in a rage.
And when the kettle was boiling her father would get angry and shout until someone switched it off for him.
Derbyshire said it was her mother’s love and her bond with her siblings which allowed them to maintain a sense of normality amid the abuse they faced.
While they tried to briefly live with their mother’s sister, the inconvenience, and the need to attend school and look after their pets, eventually drew them back home.
Her father, who died in 2020, denied hitting his children but has previously admitted striking his ex-wife, claiming she was aggressive to him.
Derbyshire has worked on television news and political programmes including the BBC News Channel, Watchdog, Newsnight and Panorama.
In 2020, Derbyshire made headlines when she hosted the BBC news with a domestic abuse helpline number written on her hand.
Away from the world of television, Derbyshire is married to her partner Mark Sandell.
The pair, who had already been together for over a decade, married in a low-key ceremony at their home in Surrey in 2018.
They are the parents of two children – sons Oliver and Joe.
Throughout her career, Derbyshire has been a vocal campaigner against domestic abuse.
In 2020, she was praised when she hosted the BBC News while having the domestic abuse helpline on her hand.
She told the newspaper telling her story “doesn’t bring up trauma” and said domestic abuse can happen to anyone.
“And it’s nothing to do with class or your job or money. If it helps to talk about it, then absolutely, I’ll talk.”
The interview was granted to newspaper to raise awareness of a new campaign called Brick By Brick that aims to raise £300,000 for a new type of Refuge to help those fleeing domestic violence.
Women's Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – messageinfo@supportline.org.uk.
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service – available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
While on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2020, Derbyshire also candidly opened up about her gruelling cancer battle.
During an episode of the popular show, Victoria and EastEnders star Jessica Plummer had a “frank and honest” conversation about her devastating cancer diagnosis.
Victoria also opened up about the shocking side effect of her diagnosis – that she and her husband “could barely speak” to each other.
She told Jessica: “We are talkers, we are open, we are you know, and we just had no words because honestly all I was thinking was I’m going to die.
“Seriously, I’m going to die. And then, I thought I’m not going to see my boys grow up, I’m not going to grow old with Mark [Sandell], I mean it was just, I just thought my luck’s run out, you know.”
