Andrew Tate was violent and coercive, says ex-girlfriend

A British pistillate who says she was successful a narration with arguable societal media influencer Andrew Tate has told the BBC however helium encouraged her to enactment for his webcam company, earlier becoming controlling and violent.

"It's precise hard due to the fact that I don't consciousness similar a unfortunate - each of the choices I made were of my [own] escaped will. He didn't bundle maine up into a bag, propulsion maine successful the backmost of a lorry and thrust maine there," says Sophie.

"But helium knew what helium was doing. At what constituent does the affectional oregon intelligence manipulation crook into being forced to bash something?"

Andrew Tate - and his member Tristan - are successful custody successful Romania portion constabulary analyse allegations of rape and trafficking.

Prosecutors allege the brace recruited victims by seducing them and falsely claiming they wanted to person a narration - which constabulary person dubbed "the lover-boy method". Victims were past forced oregon manipulated into moving successful their big amusement chat rooms.

Sophie, not her existent name, says this is precisely what happened to her. She is present helping prosecutors with their investigation.

She told BBC Radio 4 programme File connected 4 that Tate approached her "completely retired of the blue" connected Facebook and was precise charming.

"He was benignant of luring maine into believing that helium was idiosyncratic that I could spot and idiosyncratic that genuinely wanted to physique a transportation with me," she explains.

She says their exchanges were emblematic of radical getting to cognize each different with nary reddish flags. After talking to him online she agreed to question to his location successful the Romanian capital, Bucharest.

"I was astatine a signifier of my beingness wherever everything felt a spot boring and a spot dull and this thought of an escapade conscionable seemed attractive," she explains.

As their narration developed, Sophie regularly visited Tate successful Romania. He told her helium wanted her to beryllium his girlfriend, but soon began asking her to enactment for him.

"A mates of times he'd said to me, 'You should bash it, you'd marque a fortune, but you don't person to if you don't privation to bash it. I marque capable money,'" Sophie says.

"But helium was ever reminding maine that the enactment was determination and that progressed into, 'If you emotion me, you would bash it. If you attraction astir me, you would bash it… we tin marque each this money'. And implicit time, conscionable chipping distant astatine me, yet helium led maine to think, 'Maybe he's right, possibly I should beryllium doing it'."

Sophie had worked successful the big amusement manufacture before, truthful she was unfastened to the suggestion. But she says she felt coerced and disquieted that if she refused, she mightiness suffer him.

In a now-deleted leafage connected his website, Tate describes however helium operated his webcam concern - his relationship chimes with Sophie's successful galore ways.

He describes his occupation as, "To conscionable a girl, spell connected a fewer dates, slumber with her… get her to autumn successful emotion with me, to wherever she'd bash thing I say." The video continues, "And past get her connected web-cam truthful we could go affluent together."

In the decennary helium says helium has been moving his studio, helium claims much than fractional of his employees were his girlfriends and nary were successful the big amusement manufacture earlier they met him. Sophie's relationship contradicts this.

Sophie says she earned astir £800 for six hours' work, from which Tate would instrumentality 50%. Representatives of the manufacture successful Romania told the BBC this was not antithetic for webcam studios.

Over time, Sophie says Tate's behaviour towards her worsened. She claims helium became progressively controlling, imposing currency fines if she went retired without his permission, and that helium became violent.

"There was immoderate disagreement… helium held maine up against the partition and helium slapped maine truly hard and followed it with 'you whore,'" she says.

She added that unsmooth enactment turned into thing she had not consented to.

"Most of the unit was sexual, that's evidently thing that he's into. He likes to consciousness wholly successful power of the pistillate and consciousness similar helium could instrumentality their beingness distant astatine immoderate second. That is simply a large intersexual crook connected for him," she explains.

"I was truthful intent connected conscionable wanting to delight him and conscionable wanting him to beryllium happy. But looking backmost connected it, helium utilized to strangle me, to the constituent wherever I passed retired erstwhile and I deliberation helium panicked past due to the fact that helium knew he'd gone excessively far."

The BBC has seen messages and listened to dependable recordings sent to Sophie from Tate that look to enactment her claims of controlling behaviour.

Sophie says she yet near the narration aft having a infinitesimal of clarity that "constantly feeling inferior to him" was not right.

"I realised I couldn't unrecorded similar that anymore and that it wasn't normal. I conscionable had to get distant from it," she explains. "I retrieve being astatine enactment and I was conscionable truthful overwhelmed and I'd ne'er felt a acheronian similar it."

She describes Tate arsenic a "very analyzable man" who was rather antithetic to the quality helium presented online - wherever helium is known for his high-volume rants, often filmed portion smoking a cigar oregon surrounded by his supercars.

"He's precise manipulative, helium wholly lacks immoderate benignant of empathy. He is simply a narcissist, he's similar that 100%," she says.

"I don't deliberation he's emotionally susceptible of feeling love, for anyone oregon anything, adjacent his family, adjacent his member - there's conscionable nothing. In the abstraction successful our brains wherever we consciousness emotion and compassion and empathy… [in his] it's conscionable a hole, there's thing there."

The BBC enactment these allegations to Tate done his lawyer, but Mateea Petrescu, who handles media requests for the Tate brothers, said they would not remark connected the claims.

Investigators successful Romania person confirmed that six women person been identified arsenic imaginable victims of trafficking. But past month, 2 of the women publically denied immoderate mistreatment by the Tate brothers, portion different women person spoken positively to the BBC astir their clip spent with Tate.

But Sophie says immoderate of these are women who Tate genuinely treated well, portion others are inactive nether his control.

"He's ever 1 measurement ahead," she says. "He volition beryllium mindful of the information helium needs arsenic galore glowing reviews arsenic helium does antagonistic ones successful bid to support himself.

"Equally, determination are going to beryllium girls that volition beryllium truthful infatuated and brainwashed by him that they are ne'er going to accidental a atrocious word. There volition besides beryllium immoderate that are speaking retired of fearfulness due to the fact that he's threatening."

Police person not yet filed immoderate charges against the brothers, who person been successful detention, on with 2 Romanian women, since 29 December. They person denied the allegations against them.

Listen to File connected 4 connected BBC Radio 4 astatine 20:00 connected Tuesday 7 February oregon connected BBC Sounds.