HOLLYWOOD - Former model Heather Mills has likened her negative press coverage to the terror of domestic violence.
Mills, 39, who is currently embroiled in a bitter divorce battle with ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, has defended her decision to speak out, after she appeared on various TV shows in the U.K. and U.S. last week.
And Mills insists the move was an act of self-preservation, as she has been repeatedly abused by the media.
She says, "I was quiet for a whole year--I didn't say a word but I had 4,000 articles written about me. It didn't work. It's like being an abused woman at home--you can't tell anyone because it might upset the family.
"I'm not asking people to come on my side--but I was abused and no one knows how that feels. I am not protecting Paul but I have to protect myself--so when my daughter grows up she doesn't read a one-sided story and then turns around to me and says, 'Why didn't you protect yourself?'"
But the former model insists the public is behind her following her recent rants, adding, "After 18 months of abuse, the support has been immense."
Mills and McCartney split in May 2006 and have a four-year-old daughter, Beatrice, together.
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