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]
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