Georgia Harrison makes history as first Love Island star awarded MBE

Georgia Harrison has been awarded an MBE for her services to campaigning for better legislation tackling violence against women. The Love Island star has made history as the first of the show's contestants to be given the honour.

Georgia appeared on the third season of the hit ITV show and the first of spin-off show Love Island: All Stars. In 2020, in between her two stints, the 30-year-old discovered her ex partner Stephen Bear had shared CCTV footage of their sexual encounter without her consent and both reported it to the police and filed a civil claim for misuse of private information.

In the civil claim, he was ordered to pay £207,900 in compensation to Georgia, which she planned to donate to charities that support victims of image-based sexual abuse. But this was not paid and in March 2024, Chelmsford Crown Court held a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing and gave Stephen a confiscation order of £22,305 that came from profits he made from the video. From this, Georgia was compensated £5000.

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In the criminal case, Stephen was found guilty of voyeurism and two counts of disclosing private sexual photographs and films without consent. He was jailed for 21 months in 2023, after he uploaded footage of the two of them to OnlyFans, and was released in January of this year.

During the trial in 2021, Georgia waived her right to anonymity to show other victims of sexually-based offences that she stood with them, and said she hoped "one day, girls can look at me and think 'She went in there and done, she was strong, we can do it too'".

Following this, Georgia kicked off a campaign with the Thames Valley Police to get people talking about consent. While revenge porn was already criminalised, the law stipulated that prosecutors had to prove there was an intention to humiliate the victim, but thanks to Georgia's campaigning, that clause was removed.

It's this that she has been honoured for. She was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire by Prince William on Wednesday (8 October) in a ceremony at Windsor Castle.

On being made an MBE, Georgia said: "It was such an amazing opportunity, and I’m really grateful, and I’m 100% going to continue to step up in my campaigning. And if anything, this is going to be something that really drives me to continue to evoke change for women everywhere, and I’m really grateful to be given such responsibility.”

She said that while being honoured on Wednesday, the Prince of Wales told her he had followed her story. She said: “I feel exhilarated. I just didn’t realise how magical the moment was going to be. First of all, I was so happy when I found out it was Prince William.

“I really was hoping that he might be one of the people who was giving it and, you know, I had really found when I was receiving the award, that he took such a genuine interest in everything that I’d done, been following my story, and that really meant a lot to me.”

Over the past few years, Georgia, who is expecting her first child, has also campaigned to reduce violence against women and girls, especially for those who have suffered from image-based abuse. Her experiences being the victim of revenge porn sparked a national debate on misogyny in the UK and the star even went on to make two ITV documentaries – Revenge Porn and Porn, Power, Profit.

Speaking in Revenge Porn, she said: "Two years ago, my life changed forever when CCTV footage of me having sex with Stephen Bear went viral. He filmed and shared it without my consent then tried to deny it was me…

"I think I expected some form of empathy, remorse, maybe that he would realise what he had done… what a slap in the face that on top of everything, he thought he could lie his way publicly through this."

Georgia shared her delight at being recognised by the King's Honours list on social media. She wrote: "I am beyond honoured to be listed to receive an MBE!!

"I’m so grateful to anyone who has reach out to congratulate me and also to all of you who have shared and continue to share your stories with me along the way. I am continuously reading them all, taking on board your experiences and using them as both fuel and knowledge for my campaigning.

"My experience changed me in many ways but one of those ways was that I became a voice for the women that can’t be heard. I always promise to rise to the opportunities that seek my help within regulating the digital space and do my best to make change where possible"

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