Dani Mathers is moving forward since her locker room photo incident. The former Playboy model made headlines last July when she posted a Snapchat photo of a 70-year-old naked woman in an L.A. Fitness locker room, writing, “If I can’t unsee this then you can’t either.”
In an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Mathers, 30, tells Us that the intense backlash she faced has been a “huge learning experience” for her. “You’re taught to think before you speak, think before you post, but this really did put it into perspective for me,” she says.
She even had to steer clear of her own home to avoid the media frenzy. “There were actually a lot of months at a time and weeks at a time that I would go and stay with family members because there were paparazzi kind of camped outside of my home,” she recalls.
Mathers, who is engaged to John Connor, adds that the incident “absolutely” strained her relationships. “My fiancé and I absolutely took a hit during all of this. He didn’t ask for any of this. This was my doing,” she tells Us. “As somebody who loves me and shares his life with me, [he] just kind of had to take on the same consequences that I had. He didn’t ask for that, so that was really stressful for both of us.”
The former radio host credits her parents and Connor for helping her through the ordeal, but says not everyone was supportive. “A lot of friends that I had in my life weeded themselves out very quickly. Some people that I thought would be there for me were not, and some people that I maybe didn’t expect to be there for me really stepped up to the plate,” she says. “This situation sort of gave my life a spring cleaning.”
The actress was sentenced to three years of probation and 30 days of community service for her actions. She’s “accepting it with open arms,” but admits she’s even harder on herself. “I’m going to consider my probation [goes until] forever because I don’t ever want to hurt anybody like this again,” she tells Us. “I don’t ever want to violate anybody’s privacy.”
