Stephen Bear

Stephen Bear
Born
Stephen Henry Bear

(1990-01-15) 15 January 1990 (age 34)
Walthamstow, London, England
OccupationTelevision personality
Years active2011–2023
Television
Criminal charges
  • Voyeurism
  • disclosure of private sexual photographs
Criminal penalty21 months imprisonment
Criminal statusReleased on licence on 17 January 2024

Stephen Henry Bear (born 15 January 1990) is an English former television personality and convicted sex offender. After appearing as a contestant on the E4 reality series Shipwrecked in 2011, he went on to appear on the MTV reality show Ex on the Beach, as a cast member in the third and fifth series respectively. He won the eighteenth series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2016, and subsequently went on to appear in various other shows including Celebs Go Dating, Just Tattoo of Us, and three series of The Challenge. In March 2023, Bear was jailed for disclosing private sexual photographs and films of his former girlfriend with intent to cause distress.

Early life

Stephen Henry Bear was born in Walthamstow, London, on 15 January 1990, the youngest of four children born to Stephen and Linda Bear (née Simons).[1][2] He has two brothers Daniel and Robert, and a sister Hayley.[3][4] According to his own testimony, he worked as a labourer and then a roofer before he began undertaking work in television.[5]

Career

Bear made his reality television debut in 2011, appearing as one of twelve contestants on the E4 reality series Shipwrecked: The Island.[6][7] He subsequently went on to appear on the third series of the MTV reality show Ex on the Beach in 2015, and returned for the fifth series in 2016.[8][9] In July 2016, Bear entered the Celebrity Big Brother house to compete in the eighteenth series.[10] A controversial housemate, he became eternally nominated and faced every eviction from Day 9 onwards.[11] Despite this, Bear went on to reach the final and ultimately won the series.[12] In 2017, Bear appeared as a cast member on the second series of Celebs Go Dating.[13] He was subsequently removed from the series during the eighteenth episode for breaking the rules by dating Charlotte Crosby outside of the agency.[14] Bear went on to front the first two series of the MTV series Just Tattoo of Us alongside Crosby, before leaving the show following their split.[15] In 2019, Bear competed in the MTV reality competition The Challenge: War of the Worlds, and was eliminated in the tenth episode.[16] Later that year, he competed in the next series, The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2, in which he fared less well and was eliminated in the seventh episode.[17] In 2020, he competed in The Challenge: Total Madness, which transpired to be his final television appearance prior to his arrest. He was eliminated in the eighth episode.[18] Bear opened an OnlyFans account in October 2020, and began uploading X-rated content.[19]

Prosecution

Bear was arrested in January 2021, following an investigation into the alleged disclosure of sexual photographs without consent after he had uploaded CCTV footage of himself having sex with his then ex-girlfriend Georgia Harrison to his OnlyFans account.[20][21] He was charged on 14 May 2021 with voyeurism, disclosing private, sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress, and harassment without violence.[22][20] Bear pleaded not guilty, but on 13 December 2022 he was found guilty.[23] On 3 March 2023, Bear was sentenced to 21 months imprisonment and began serving his sentence at HM Prison Chelmsford, before being transferred to HM Prison Brixton in August 2023.[23][24][25][26] He was released from prison early on 17 January 2024.[27]

Filmography

As himself
Year Title Notes Ref.
2011–2012 Shipwrecked Contestant [6]
2015 Ex on the Beach Cast member; series 3 [8]
2016 Celebrity Big Brother Winner; series 18 [10]
2016, 2017 Loose Women Guest; 3 episodes [28]
2016 Ex on the Beach Cast member; series 5 [9]
2017 Celebs Go Dating Cast member; series 2 [13]
2017 Just Tattoo of Us Presenter; series 1–2 [15]
2019 Eating with My Ex Guest; 1 episode [29]
2019 The Challenge: War of the Worlds Contestant [16]
2019 Hey Tracey! Guest; 1 episode [30]
2019 The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 Contestant [17]
2020 The Challenge: Total Madness Contestant [18]

Bibliography

  • Bear's Necessities (2017)[31]

References

  1. ^ "Reality TV star guilty of posting 'revenge porn'". Crown Prosecution Service. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  2. ^ "Stephen Henry BEAR". freeBMD. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Stephen Bear's brother is multi-millionaire who has a business with Priscilla Presley". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  4. ^ Matt Lee and Ellis Whitehouse, "Live Updates as Stephen Bear Will Go to Prison for Uploading Revenge Porn of Ex Georgia Harrison", EssexLive, 3 March 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  5. ^ "Stephen Bear found guilty of sharing sex tape featuring Georgia Harrison on OnlyFans", Sky News, 13 December 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  6. ^ a b "'Shipwrecked' returns: Meet The Bear and Anna". Digital Spy. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  7. ^ "Shipwrecked is back! But what happened to the stars of T4's original run?". Digital Spy. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Ex On The Beach season 3 line-up: From Vicky Pattison and Jordan Davies to Kirk Norcross and Cami Li – meet this year's sexy singles". Metro. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Still not sick of Stephen Bear? The CBB housemate returns to Ex On The Beach - and he's just as naughty". Digital Spy. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  10. ^ a b "Who is Stephen Bear? Celebrity Big Brother 2016 contestant guide". Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  11. ^ "Celebrity Big Brother: Stephen Bear is cursed with 'eternal nominations' in eviction bombshell". Digital Spy. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  12. ^ Power, Ed (28 August 2016). "Celebrity Big Brother 2016 final: Stephen Bear is the most divisive winner ever, plus other talking points". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  13. ^ a b "Stephen Bear and Ferne McCann are joining Joey Essex on the hunt for love in all new series of Celebs Go Dating". Digital Spy. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  14. ^ "Watch Stephen Bear FINALLY get kicked off Celebs Go Dating". Digital Spy. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  15. ^ a b "Stephen Bear admits he's responsible for tearful Charlotte Crosby storming off Just Tattoo of Us". Digital Spy. 28 March 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  16. ^ a b "Stephen Bear, Love Island's Georgia Harrison and Ashley Cain set to star in MTV's new series of The Challenge". Metro. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  17. ^ a b "'The Challenge' Alum Stephen Bear Found Guilty of Revenge Porn Against Ex Georgia Harrison". People. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  18. ^ a b "'The Challenge: Total Madness' Reveals Cast for Season 35 — And a Shocking, Game-Changing Twist". People. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  19. ^ "Stephen Bear shared sex footage with ex 'for money', court told". BBC News. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  20. ^ a b "Reality TV's Stephen Bear charged with sharing sexual images". BBC News. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  21. ^ "Georgia Harrison's £200k damages over Stephen Bear sex tape". BBC News. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  22. ^ "Stephen Bear: Celebrity Big Brother winner Stephen Bear charged with revenge porn offence, police say". Sky News. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  23. ^ a b "Reality TV star Stephen Bear guilty of sex tape offences". BBC News. 13 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  24. ^ "Stephen Bear jailed for sharing sex video on OnlyFans". BBC News. 3 March 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  25. ^ "Stephen Bear: Revenge porn prison sentence 'sends clear message'". BBC News. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  26. ^ "Stephen Bear jailed for 21 months for sharing sex video without consent". The Guardian. 3 March 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  27. ^ "Stephen Bear unrecognisable as he leaves prison early after 11 months". Metro. 17 January 2024. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  28. ^ "Stephen Bear on winning Celebrity Big Brother". ITV. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  29. ^ "Stephen Bear – Eating with My Ex". BBC Media Centre. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  30. ^ "Love Island's Megan Barton Hanson hilariously rejects Stephen Bear". Digital Spy. 15 June 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  31. ^ Guiltenane, Christian (25 May 2018), "Where did it all go wrong for Stephen Bear? Stephen himself sets the record straight", Digital Spy, retrieved 30 October 2019
Preceded by Celebrity Big Brother UK winner
Series 18 (2016) 		Succeeded by
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