Former reality TV star Stephen Bear has been released from prison early after serving just half of his sentence. Bear, who won Celebrity Big Brother in 2016 and also appeared on Ex On The Beach, left HMP Brixton in London on Wednesday, Jan. 17 after spending just 10-and-a-half months in custody, the BBC reported. The disgraced reality TV star was initially sentenced to 21 months behind bars in March after being found guilty of sharing a sex tape with ex-girlfriend Georgia Harrison without her permission.
Exiting prison Wednesday, Bear looked almost unrecognizable. The reality TV star, 33, was seen with shoulder-length hair and a beard. He did not comment as he left prison. According to the Daily Mail, Bear was welcomed home by his family, with his sister, Hayley, sharing a video, captioned, “No-one’s hiding under no rock,” on Instagram showing the reunited family Wednesday night. According to the social media posts, Bear cut off his hair and beard shortly after returning home. The Sun reported that Bear arrived home to what appeared to be a belated birthday party, complete with “happy birthday” banners and red balloons.
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Bear was released from prison after a jury found him guilty of voyeurism and disclosing private, sexual photographs and films. During the trial, jurors were told how Bear allegedly uploaded CCTV footage of himself and his ex-partner showing them having sex in his garden in August 2020 to OnlyFans. Jurors were told Bear uploaded the footage “either himself or had it uploaded to OnlyFans and profited financially.” Bear denied the charges against him but was ultimately found guilty. In March, he was sentenced to 21 months in jail. He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register and was subject to notification requirements for 10 years.
At the start of the new year, reports first began to surface that Bear would soon be walking free. According to the Mirror, one outlet reported that the reality TV star was poised to walk free on his birthday on Jan. 15. Just prior to his release, a post shared to Bear’s X account (formerly Twitter) boasted about his impending release, reading, “I will be leaving Brixton prison on the 17th January. Can’t wait to get my life back on track. Who’s excited to see me?” The post included a poll where his followers could vote whether or not they were “excited” for him to be set free from prison, with 18.4% voting “I can’t wait to see you,” while 81.6% voted “I’d rather watch paint dry.”
While Bear is now out of prison, he is still serving a sentence on license. The BBC reports offenders placed on license face strict conditions, including where they can travel and who they can contact. According to sources, per the Daily Mail, Bear is “not the same man” and he plans to focus on spending time with his family.
