What was Chanel Ayan’s painful revelation on RHODubai Episode 11? Fans come out in support of the reality TV star

On the Wednesday’s episode of RHODubai, Chanel Ayan opened up about her childhood trauma that left her in tears. She revealed that she was forcefully circumcised against her will when she was a 5-year-old. While speaking to the hypnotherapist's in the Wednesday’s episode, Chanel said:

“At 5-years-old, my aunt and my grandma came to pick us up to take us to another town. And then the next morning at 6 a.m. I didn't know where I was going whatsoever and then they took us to this man's house and they just tied us on the bed and we were circumcised."

Chanel even recalled that there was “crying, the sadness, the beatings” and “a lot of pain” while she grew up at her parents’ house. Her painful revelation on RHODubai made fans emotional. They voiced their support for the reality star on Twitter, commending her strength and bravery. A Twitterati by the username @BravoLover even wrote:

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Chanel Ayan reveals her painful childhood on RHODubai Episode 11

At Sara Al-Madani's insistence, Chanel met a hypnotherapist who asked her to reveal her prepubescent days in episode 11 of RHODubai. While talking about her childhood's physical and emotional wounds, Chanel broke into tears saying:

“We were tied in the legs. Couldn't pee. Couldn't move. When we needed to pee, they would carry us and put us on the grass. I just didn't understand what the hell was going on whatsoever and my mom didn't know that that was happening to us."

Years later, the 43-year-old model had to get her forced genital mutilation medically fixed so that she could get intimate with her husband Christopher. In the RHODubai confessional, she said:

“I wanted to get married, I had to go back to the doctor and I had to open it again because it was sewn, couldn't have sex. Then, I had to wait until I healed.”

She further added:

“I've tried to understand and learn about it. Why did that happen? It's because we need to be virgin when we get married so our families could get our dowry. That's some f***ed up sh**. It's like torture. It's abuse.”

She even told the therapist how her father tried to sell her when she was 14-year-old but it didn't happen because her sister protected her.

Chanel, who is of Somali and Ethiopian descent, feels that she is a “survivor” for being able to make it through her traumatic childhood. In her culture, mutilation is done to “keep women virgins.” This is why, “everybody's a virgin” in her culture. Reflecting on the horrifying custom that is still practiced in several countries, she told E! News:

“This is practiced in over 28 African countries, the Middle East, Syria, Yemen. Even in America, I have cousins and family that still find ways to do it to the young girls behind the scenes, because you don't need a doctor. You just need someone who knows how to do it.”

Even though the mutilation happened to her 35 years ago, she has “never gotten over it.” Her past still haunts her, which is why she had made it her mission to “bring awareness” about this “barbaric practice.” She said:

“I think the trauma is something that I will live with for the rest of my life. This is why I want to talk about it, because I honestly don't want this to happen to anyone because I know exactly how it feels and it's not good. A lot of girls get depressed, hormones are imbalanced, a lot of young girls die."

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RHODubai fans reacts to Chanel’s trauma

After seeing Chanel open up about her traumatic past for “the first time” on RHODubai, and how she is using her “platform to bring awareness to stop this” child abuse, fans voiced their love and support for Chanel on Twitter.

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Tune in every Wednesday to watch the all-new episode of RHODubai on Bravo.