Former Strictly Come Dancing winner Ore admitted he is ‘terrified’ to speak out but believes it is the right thing to do as he addresses his pornography addiction
TV host Ore Oduba has revealed he is getting professional help for a porn addiction that began when he was aged just nine.
The former Strictly Come Dancing star, 39, spoke to podcaster Paul Brunson about his problem as he said he wanted to highlight the issue of children seeing sexual imagery on social media.
Ore said: “This is me putting my life as it is on the line, to save my children and to guide anybody else’s children going into a world where at their fingertips, they can fall into something they never asked to.”
He added: “Part of me is terrified, the vast majority is terrified because I feel like, personally, for me, the rest of my life begins the day after this, as it’s a kind of a seminal draw-the-line moment.”
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Dad-of-two Ore said he was first shown adult images on a computer by a friend’s older brother. He said he was not immediately addicted but was intrigued, and it did not take long until he tried to find more and more images on TV, computers and in magazines – but he kept quiet about it because he felt shame.
The behaviour continued for decades with him keeping it separate from other elements of his life. On the We Need To Talk Podcast, he explained: “It’s very isolating. It was something that I just knew to be me. Just a part of me. Something that I would always go to to feel. If you ever felt worthless, if you ever felt rejected. It was always a thing.
“The reason that I felt like I needed to speak about this is because I wanted to be able to guide my own children when it comes to it, when it comes to them seeing stuff that is going to be there.
“They’re going to come across it in life, so many of life’s pitfalls, whether it’s drink, drugs, money. It’s something I knew I needed to address.”
He added: “This is, I believe, one of the biggest problems we have societally. There is such a prevalence. When we hear that 60% of children are finding it accidentally, that it is cropping up on iPads, that it’s just so normal. If we leave it, what’s going to happen is these children start self-educating.”
Ore presented CBBC’s Newsround from 2008 until 2013 and won Strictly in 2016. He has a son named Roman and a daughter named Genie with TV researcher Portia Culmer. The couple split in 2024.
Ore also said one of his siblings was caught smoking aged around 10 and their father threatened that if “something like this happened again” they would be sent to Nigeria to be educated away from their friends. This was another reason that made him keep his porn interest a secret. Earlier this year he revealed his dad died in October 2023.
A spokesman for the Naked Truth charity said: “Ore’s story also underscores the importance of safe family environments where children feel able to discuss what they encounter online.
“We deeply appreciate Ore’s courage in addressing this topic, sharing so openly and with such sensitivity.”
* The interview with Ore is on the We Need To Talk podcast with Paul Brunson, which is out today.
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