Ian Watkins: Former girlfriend reveals how depraved rock star sold himself online as sex slave


Stacie Rusby with Ian Watkins

A former girlfriend of paedophile Ian Watkins has revealed how the warped rock star prostituted himself out on the internet to be humiliated as a sex slave.

The depraved Lostprophets singer posed online, alongside a willing woman pretending to be his sister, to sell their bodies for cash.

Disgusted Stacie Rushby, Watkins' ex-partner, has now painfully lifted the lid on her past life with reviled Watkins before his shocking descent into child abuse, including one attempt to rape a baby.

And the 34 year old branded the nu-metal frontman as "the scum of the earth" and "very mentally ill".

One of Watkins' harem introduced him to a transvestite, fuelling his lust for sex with men and he attended seedy orgy parties, Stacie explained.

Stacie revealed how Watkins deliberately targeted "depressed" women to become his sex groupies, manipulating them to do his warped bidding, before turning his lurid fetishes towards gay men.

Ian Watkins

He grew obsessed with the explicit Adultword chat website and revelled in touting himself out for sexual depravity.

And she told how, just before he was exposed to the world as a predatory paedophile, he had deteriorated into a "fat mess" and "lost soul", prone to persistent self-harming, with initials carved into his flesh.

Stacie, speaking for the first time about her ex-boyfriend, told the Mirror: "He is a paedophile, someone I trusted years ago, spent time with,laughed with, turned to when life got tough.

"But he's now a monster.



"Maybe he didn't even know until something triggered it off."

Watkins, 36, was sentenced to serve 29 years in jail and six on licence at Cardiff Crown Court last December after admitting the attempted rape and sexual assault of a child.



Stacie first met Watkins after a gig in her hometown of Nottingham, managing to get backstage through a Lostprophets sound engineer she knew.

Now a proud mother, she says she was pilloried with abuse from people who accused her of not spotting Watkins' perverted ways.

The couple split up when he started taking drugs, ridiculing Stacy as "a lightweight" for not joining him on his Class A substance binges.

She said: "Was he really my friend? Was I part of his plan further down the line, did I ever really even know him?

"He kept the worst secret ever and hurt the innocent.

"He's ruined lives, he's hurt his family and friends, let a lot of people down, ruined careers and every person who has been in his life has been affected massively by his actions.

"The answer is no. I did not know this guy was a monster.

"I was in total disbelief when he was first arrested too as most of the country were and I thought it was a set up.

"[It] wasn't long after though I began to realise a lot and it finally sunk in that he was indeed a monster.

"If I knew those things, if I'd seen those things there would be no way on this earth I would get back into bed with the guy or ever want to speak to him again."

Stacie described Watkins as "a rock" - years before his twisted fantasies became a reality - when her life was "at its lowest point".

But she could not coax him away from hardcore drugs, and so she walked away.

At the time Watkins was a wreck of his former self, Stacie said, addicted to crystal meth, which he dangerously mixed with handfuls of sleeping tablets and anti-depressants to produce a toxic mix.

She added: "I often ask myself if I could have really helped. I feel guilty for not trying harder, not visiting to stop him killing himself, but now I'm so glad I made that decision.

"He is a very mentally ill man. He may of always been that way too, he just covered it up well.

"But that's also why he preyed on the vulnerable.

"Every woman I've known him be with was either suffering with depression or going through some sort of trauma in their lives.

"At which point he would pick them up by telling them what they wanted to hear, which made them feel better about themselves. So they relied on him to keep them happy.."

Watkins was also exposed by the Mirror snorting a line of cocaine off a photo of a naked woman, held aloft by a four-year-old girl in his own bedroom.

Days before he was caged, a jokey Watkins was caught describing his twisted child abuse as "mega lolz", as his complete lack of remorse continued.

Sentenced alongside Watkins were two women, who had admitted a string of sex abuse charges against their own children.

Stacie revealed how the rocker described to her how he binged on cocaine to "get to a different frame of mind, to get into the dark side".

She said: "To me, Ian has died. I hate him for what he's done, but at the same time, I don't hate him.

"At the end, he was too far gone on drugs. He was quite lonely and wasn't really there - he was robot.

"Ian thought he was God who thought he could get away with murder.

"At the start, 10 years ago, he was lovely, adorable man. You couldn't meet a nicer person.

"Even though I was with him, Ian had lots of girlfriends. But he was always my friend.

"I never imagined he could do this. It's a big, big shock."

Rock chick Stacie has a message for the Lostprophets, who last month broke their silence about their former bandmate.

Heartbroken guitarists Mike Lewis and Lee Gaze, who have axed the Lost Prophets name, admitted they would never speak again to their one-time friend.

But Stacie, once an avid fan of the post-grunge six-piece, added: "There are five other members in that band, don't slate the music..

"They lost their reputation and livelihood over that man. He is where he belongs so have the decency to carry on listening for their sake.

"And let's hope there's more good music to come..."

Listen to new song from former Lostprophets members



David Williamson
Political Editor
Martin Shipton
Chief Reporter
David Deans
Senedd Correspondent
Alicia Melville-Smith
Breaking News Editor
Gareth Evans
Education Correspondent
Mark Smith
Health Correspondent
Rachael Misstear
West Wales Editor
Darren Devine
North Wales Correspondent
Robin Turner
Swansea Correspondent
Ruth Mosalski
Local Government Correspondent
Karen Price
Arts Editor
Sion Barry
Business Editor
Paul Abbandonato
Head of Sport
Chris Wathan
Swansea City Correspondent
Terry Phillips
Cardiff City Correspondent
Steve Tucker
Cardiff City Correspondent
Simon Thomas
Rugby Correspondent
Andy Howell
Rugby Correspondent