Ruth Dodsworth recalled the moment she was ‘too scared to go home’ (Image: ITV)

ITV weather presenter Ruth Dodsworth has opened up about the on-screen moment where she was “so frightened” to go back home to her abusive husband who “would have killed her”. Ruth, who was awarded an OBE for services to victims and survivors of domestic abuse earlier this year, knew that one day in 2019 she would never return home to her normal life ever again.

Now Ruth has reflected on a moment she actually dropped her clicker while presenting the weather because she was “so frightened”. Posting the clip on Instagram, she wrote: “The exact moment I knew I was never going home. This exact day, Thursday 17th October 2019.

“By this time my husband had been on an all day drinking session and would have killed me that night if I had gone home. My children called me and told me to stay away. So I did.

“I did my studio weather as normal but I was so frightened at this point I actually dropped the clicker. I’d like to tell this Ruth that six years later, life would be worth living again.

“It’s the day my old life ended. But my new life began. Happy anniversary!” she penned.

Ruth’s ex-husband Jonathan Wignall was jailed in 2021 after a campaign of harassment and stalking against his ex-wife for nine years. He pleaded guilty to one count of coercive and controlling behaviour and stalking and was jailed for three years.

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Wignall was also given a restraining order against contacting Ruth.

They originally met in 2001 and married in 2002, but it was when the couple moved from Swansea to Cowbridge in 2010 that his controlling behaviour began, as Wignall’s nightclub business began to fail and his alcohol intake increased.

The court heard he caused Ruth to fracture a rib when he pushed her over in 2016. The court also heard that he grabbed her by the neck and used her fingerprint to access her phone while she was asleep.

For confidential support, call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Freephone Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or visit womensaid.co.uk If you or your family have lost a friend or family member through fatal domestic abuse, AAFDA (Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse) can offer specialist and expert support and advocacy. For more info visit www.aafda.org.uk.