WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT
Former Home & Away star Mat Stevenson has spoken publicly for the first time about the traumatic sexual assault he endured before finding fame, revealing the deep personal pain he carried throughout his career.
Stevenson, 56, who played heartthrob Adam Cameron on the popular soap from 1989 to 1994, told The Sydney Morning Herald in a candid interview that shortly before landing his first major television role, he was drugged and raped by two men after attending a business presentation about becoming a real estate agent.
He recalled being offered a drink, becoming dizzy, and then losing control of his body.
“I was paralysed,” he said. “I was a strong young kid … but I was paralysed.”
While he was “blacked out”, Stevenson said the two men assaulted him. He woke the next day alone in the same room, in pain, and late for work.
“I told my dad, I said, ‘I think I’ve just been raped’, and he ignored it,” Stevenson said. The subject was never spoken of again.
Just a day later, Stevenson was offered a role on Neighbours, launching a career that would see him poached by Home & Away and become a familiar face to millions of Australians. But behind the scenes, his life was shaped by the trauma he had never confronted.
“Inside, I just felt like my soul was being ripped out … I wanted to scream,” he said. “I had to hide those demons … I built a character around me.”
The pain intensified when Stevenson’s father died suddenly of a heart attack in the 1990s, sending him into a spiral of alcohol abuse, gambling and self-loathing.
“I just couldn’t handle life anymore. I didn’t have the skills to navigate my way through it,” he said.
After leaving Home & Away in 1994, Stevenson lost everything and became homeless within a year.
“I was just in free fall, suffering in silence … I walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the pouring rain and thought, ‘If you want to do it, now’s the time. But if you don’t, it’s time to move on.’”
If you or someone you know is experiencing sexual abuse or family violence contact:
National Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence Counselling Service 24-hour helpline 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732
24-hour Emergency Accommodation helpline on 1800 800 588
Lifeline: 13 11 14; Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636
Images: Instagram
