Today, popular mummy blogger Constance Hall writes that she is “broken”. In an heartrending Facebook post she says she is crying on a hotel bathroom floor – her eyes are so swollen she can barely see through them.
Constance’s distress comes after she told fans she has taken time out from her marriage and has left her home with her children to stay in a hotel.
“Bill [my husband] and I are in a really shitty place, I packed my bags and the kids up yesterday and left,” she told her 880,000 followers.
“I don’t know if we will pull through this time, we just can’t stop fighting. My heart is literally stomped on.”
With the troubling and heart-wrenching status, is an image of the mum’s tear-streaked face.
Constance is also distressed about the backlash she has received for a Facebook post on Thursday night in which she called out a Perth mum’s decision to paint her son’s face black for primary school book week. She says the post has made her a target for the most toxic hate she’s ever experienced.
“Then all of this happened with the [AFL player] Nic Naitinui business and I really didn’t have the energy for it.
“I was advised that once it became national news I had to comment, I was asked for my comment from various media outlets and it couldn’t have come at a worse time.”
Watch: Nic Naitanui responds to the controversy. Post continues after video.
Constance’s attention was first drawn to the costume when the mother posted the photo of her son in black face to the blogger’s Facebook page.
Constance decided to take the photo down and posted an explanation why.
“I don’t agree with dressing your child up in blackface, I can’t defend it. Because it is hurtful to our indigenous brothers and sisters,” she wrote in her original post on Thursday night.
“I don’t believe that the mum in question was behaving maliciously, I don’t believe that she intended to hurt anyone.
“However I think it was an ill-informed decision based on her view that there is too much political correctness in our world.”
The torrent of hate has had a ghastly effect on the blogger’s emotional state.
“I have never received so much abuse in my life. I am being called a c**t from her family, I have received death threats, I ban them and they start new accounts, they are relentless.
“I have been called every name under the sun, called a fake, told that I am too big for my boots over and over again.
“I thought I had my anxiety under control but I feel like I can’t breath (sic).”
Devastatingly, Constance said her children have witnessed the toll this has taken on her too.
“The kids have seen me cry more then ever in the last 24 hours and I don’t have my husband to remind me that it’s all going to be ok.”
For now, she has a plea to those who follow her.
“Please stop sending me these horrible messages and writing these things on my wall, I am feeling really broken and alone right now and I don’t have the strength for this.”
Hearing of Constance’s pain, thousands of fans reached out to offer their unwavering support and love. One comment, which has been liked thousands of times, reassured Constance that the hurt will pass in time.
“All you can do is soldier on, the darkness will pass and light will once again shine on your crown,” one fan wrote. “It’s ok to cry, it’s ok to fight and it’s ok to be upset, we are only human, that’s what you have taught me.”
After the many uplifting messages and comments, Constance updated her fans.
"You guys have changed everything," she replied. "I got dressed. I didn't think I could."
"... I might actually feel strong enough to go home soon."
Earlier this week Constance spoke to radio station hit92.9 about her phenomenal success and fan base explaining that her openness about all issues of her life, including her marriage, allowed women to look at their own marriages differently.
“It’s about normalising shit marriage,” she said.
Mamamia has reached out to Constance. And we strongly reiterate her calls for people to stop sending messages of hate - especially to someone who spends her days supporting and lifting up the women she reaches.
Top Comments
Sadly those racists are the most active in the online world. Constance should of posted her dismay at that pathetic mum and then unplugged and then the haters rant on.
Oh my God. I thought maybe she was someone...then I saw she was nothing more than a Big Brother contestant. When will we stop putting nobodies up on podiums and pretending they are something they aren't?
She's also a blogger, has written a book, raised money for charity, and tends to focus on empowering women and encouraging us to support each other. I don't exactly know what you mean by a 'someone', but I think disregarding her other accomplishments because she was also a big brother contestant is pretty short sighted.
So is putting someone up on a podium who appeared on that show.
What I'm saying is that she's done more than that. I don't mind hearing what Constance has to say because she writes a blog which I find funny, insightful, and driven by the idea of women supporting each other, because she has used the attention she's gotten to raise funds for those less fortunate than us, several times, and because her message - one that has touched many women - is always about leaning on each other, supporting women, being proud of ourselves and our bodies, etc etc. I didn't even know her when she was on Big Brother, and if that was all she had done, then yeah, I wouldn't really pay her any mind. However saying that she is nothing more than someone who appeared on Big Brother, no matter how distasteful you find the show, disregards everything else she has done, which is short sighted. I'm not even saying you have to like her or what she's done - just that its a bit ridiculous to say she's only from BB when her current fame, and the reason we are talking about her, isnt about that and is a result of what she has done since.