For many people, the goal in life is to be better off in the future than you are right now. A strong work ethic and making wise choices by saving money for the future can help make this possible; however, sometimes things don’t work out the way we expect. Sometimes someone who seems to have it all ends up losing literally everything.
Loni Willison was once a swimsuit and fitness model. She graced the covers of magazines and walked down many red carpets.
In 2012, she married former child star Jeremy Jackson. He is best known for his role on “Baywatch.” They looked like the perfect couple, but behind closed doors, there were many arguments, and sometimes there was physical violence.
In 2014, the police were called to Willison and Jackson’s home. Allegedly, Jackson attacked his wife, leaving her with scratches on her neck and body, a neck injury and two broken ribs.
Willison decided not to press charges against her husband because she didn’t want him to go to jail, but the couple did end up getting a divorce.
After the alleged attack, Willison had to stop working while she recovered from her injuries. She explained, “I ended up having to quit my job as an assistant to a plastic surgeon and I couldn’t work out or take on any modeling jobs. I didn’t go out with friends or do anything – I was in a very bad place.” It took Willison over two months to recover, but that was just the beginning of her downward spiral.
Willison rented an apartment and lived on her own after her divorce from Jackson; however, she claims that she was being “tortured” at her apartment. She believes she was being electrocuted. She told the Daily Mail, “I was getting tortured in my home, my apartment. I was living by myself but I was getting electrocuted. It was really bad, really horrible. I later found a red mark on the back of my neck and I think that was how the electricity was getting into my head.”
Willison claims that she tried to explain what was happening to her to her friends, but they didn’t understand. As a result, she “stopped talking to everybody.”
Eventually, Willison couldn’t pay her rent. She ended up losing her apartment and her car. She has been homeless since 2016.
On the streets, Willison ended up becoming addicted to crystal meth. She believes that nobody really cares about her, and she has refused help from friends.
In 2018, Willison talked to the Daily Mail about being homeless. She explained that she cut her hair herself “to look different.” She also purposely tries to look dirty and to smell bad so that people won’t mess with her. She explained, “I basically make myself as dirty as possible so that no one attacks me. The dirtier I am the better. Smelly, too. If I do those two things, that seems to work.”
After seeing a picture of Willison homeless, Kristin Rossetti, a friend from her modeling days, tracked her down and put her up in a hotel with clean clothes and food. The two old friends stayed up talking. Rossetti offered to pay for Willison to go to rehab, but Willison turned down the offer and disappeared, not wanting to get help.
More recently, Willison has been spotted living on the streets in Venice Beach. The Sun spoke to her in 2020, and she claimed “I don’t want to speak to my friends, I’m doing just fine. I don’t want anyone to help me.”
Watch the video below to hear more about Willison’s fall from model that had it all to homeless and alone.
Do you think Willison will ever be ready to accept help? Why do you think she refused to go to rehab back in 2018?
