Shauna Rae Lesick, a woman described as looking like an eight-year-old due to her height, claims fans aren’t going to find out her boyfriend’s identity anytime soon.
When she was a child, the I Am Shauna Rae star was diagnosed with brain cancer. Whilst undergoing chemotherapy treatment, her pituitary gland - a small, pea-sized endocrine gland located at the base of your brain - was damaged, causing her to experience stunted growth.
Now aged 26, the Long Island resident measures just 3ft 10 inches (116.64cm).
This makes her just slightly shorter than the average American eight-year-old, according to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
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Recently, Lesick has opened up about dating as a person with pituitary dwarfism, explaining why she wants to keep her partner of two years away from the public eye.
"Neither one of us care if his face is out there," she told Unplanned Podcast hosts Matta and Abby Howard.
"I more worry because he has a nice job. I don’t want anything bad going to the job. The job knows who I am, they know what I do for my living, they love me."
“But with everything that social media is and everything I know my boyfriend isn’t, I just don’t want him to be labelled something and him not be my partner forever.
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"At this point, unless I’m marrying him, or spending my rest of my life with him, his face isn’t going to be shown."
Elsewhere in the interview, Lesick was asked how it felt for any potential love interests of hers to be described online as a 'predator'.
She admitted that while it was 'upsetting', she just tries not to look at what the trolls are saying.
"I think at the end of the day it’s more sad because I’m just looking at the lack of education. None of them on the internet want to listen. It’s just the fact they haven’t met me in person to understand that I am just a human being. I’m just short. I’m just a tiny person."
The reality TV favourite also stated that she advises her partners not to read up on what others are saying, which included Dan Swygart—a man she got to know after he initially DMd her.
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The 28-year-old claimed he’d received ‘death threats’ after appearing alongside Lesick on I Am Shauna Rae, and that he’d been branded a 'creep' by viewers.
He also hit back at critics, claiming the attitude some people had towards their friendship was 'absolutely disgusting' and said that Lesick ‘deserves to have relationships’ without her S.O being bombarded with online abuse.
Last year, Lesick took to Instagram to celebrate her and her unknown boyfriend’s second anniversary.
"Halloween was our anniversary but Happy two years to my best friend," she typed.
"I love you a lot baby and I hope you’ve enjoyed this really crazy ride we’ve been on!"
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The post included three pictures of Lesick with her partner, whose face was covered by a different Emoji in each image.
Fans flocked to the carousel to defend the woman’s privacy, with one commenting: “She doesn’t hide him because she’s ashamed. It’s probably because so many people say that anyone who dates her must like kids.
"Obviously it’s not true, but people feel like they can say anything online. Just be happy for her and respect their privacy."
And a second wrote: "After what the internet did with your last relationship, I would keep him hidden, too."
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You can listen to the full episode of the Unplanned Podcast with Shauna Rae Lesick now.
Topics: Celebrity, Podcast, Sex and Relationships
Ella Scott