Jungle camp 2024
Kim Virginia experienced violence in her childhood
KimVirginia
© RTL
She seems self-confident, fun-loving and always ready to flirt. But jungle camp star Kim Virginia hasn’t always felt like laughing in her life. On the contrary: As a child, she suffered from hellish torment – of all places in her family environment.
It’s a phenomenon every year: the Australian jungle pushes its prominent short-term residents to their physical and mental limits. It is not uncommon for the blazing campfire in the camp to be the result of burning wounds from the past. And suddenly another facet is revealed that suddenly makes some stars seem more approachable. Kim Virginia, 28, was particularly noticed in the first few days for her irritatingly clumsy advances on ex-lover Mike Heiter, 31. In a conversation with Leyla Lahouar, 27, she allows a glimpse into her injured soul for the first time.
Jungle camp star Kim Virginia is looking for love
She is one of the most colorful butterflies in the reality TV scene, floating from one format to another and hoping for love. Kim Virginia wanted the final rose from “Bachelor” Niko Griesert, 33, and was disappointed. She moved on to “Temptation Island”, tried to seduce the taken Abdu Karakuyu with a kiss – and was thrown out of the show. On “Bachelor in Paradise” she packed her bags again after just one day. Then the surprise during the reunion show: there was a spark between her and fellow candidate Emanuell Weißenberger, 31. But in January 2023, after four months of long-distance relationship, it will end again. Mike Heiter meets her a short time later on “Are You the One – Realitystars in Love”. An intimate tête-à-tête with consequences: Even in the jungle camp, the air is burning between the two – although this time not in terms of intimate physical contact, but rather in the constant verbal argument.
Tears were punished
A situation that wears on Kim’s nerves – and apparently conjures up the demons of the past. The woman from Mannheim had to experience literal injuries early on in her relationship with a male caregiver, her father.
Jungle camper Kim Virginia reveals her traumatic childhood experiences to Leyla Lahouar.
© RTL
“I had a very violent father who would drag me along the floor or kick me. That was a constant situation until I was twelve!” she tells Leyla. If she then cried, she would be punished again. “It’s tough on you when you’ve been brought up like that. People think I’m cold-hearted. Because I always got hurt when I cried, it’s harder for me [Gefühle zu zeigen]. “I became so strong because I had to be strong,” she explains through tears. Experiences that are shocking and make Kim’s often brash demeanor easier to understand.
Leyla Lahouar experienced violence from her ex-boyfriend
And Leyla also had to experience attacks, as she made public in the “Venus Club” podcast before she took part in the jungle camp. Her ex-boyfriend, with whom she had a relationship for six years, was repeatedly physically abusive. She was 15 when they got together. The couple was happy together in the first two years, reports the Hessian with Tunisian roots. “At some point he started to get physical. He tried to suffocate me twice with a pillow,” said Leyla. The attack took place during a holiday together in Morocco:“I was looking at his phone and I read that he messed up again. First he hit me, then he hit me with the pillow.” She had no choice but to play dead so that he would finally let go of her. “Like in a movie, he checked to see if I was still breathing. At that moment I went crazy and attacked him. We had a huge fight.”
Both women have experienced violence in their lives. The trauma runs deep. Kim and Leyla have put up a convincing facade of strength over the past few years. But the pain of what they experienced is still firmly at home in their hearts.
Sources used: rtl.de, podcast “Venus Club”