Reality television personality Gael Cameron, known for her role on “Below Deck Mediterranean,” has spoken publicly about surviving domestic violence after visiting a memorial installation in Sydney commemorating women killed by intimate partners this year.
The 30-year-old shared an Instagram Reel on Wednesday documenting her visit to the Sweethearts art installation, which features 56 hearts, each representing a woman whose life ended at the hands of someone she once trusted, in Australia this year alone.
“56 hearts,” Cameron wrote to her followers. “One for each woman who life ended at the hands of someone they once chose to trust this year alone in Australia.”
Each heart in the installation carries a different phrase commonly used to minimize abuse, including “boys will be boys,” “she coulda left,” “she winds him up” and “just a one off.”
Cameron, who set her video to Demi Lovato’s “Skyscraper,” said she anticipated the visit would be painful. “My heart would hurt,” she wrote, adding that her “eyes ran and [her] heart broke into a million pieces” once she arrived.
“Knowing how close I came to being one of those hearts I cried,” she wrote. “Not for myself. I cried for the families, and for those who lost their lives at the hands of another. But also for the women still there. Still stuck. Whose fate still feels out of their own hands.”
Background on the arrest
Cameron’s ex, Nathan Gallagher, was arrested in December 2025 and charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, intentionally choking a person without consent, and common assault. The news did not become public until August.
Cameron was not named in initial reports on the alleged assault, but Gallagher referenced his ex, with whom he shares one-year-old son Kayden, in a subsequent statement to Rolling Stone.
“I don’t believe it is fair for one version of events to be presented publicly as though it is the complete story when there is evidence that may materially contradict or provide significant context to that account,” Gallagher said, while adding he’d “made mistakes” he’d “take responsibility for.”
In September, Cameron had already released a statement describing a “tough season” of life. “I have been using the past few months to quietly heal and rebuild for little man and myself,” she wrote on Instagram at the time. “I’m really working on finding myself again and moving forward.”
A message to others
In Wednesday’s post, Cameron said she hoped those who understand her experience would recognize it, and that others might try to empathize. “Something needs to change,” she wrote. “Something needs to give. I’ve sat afraid for long enough, but the fear I feel is what allows this to keep happening.”
She thanked the artist behind the Sweethearts installation and included hotline information for domestic abuse victims. She closed with a message to women who feel unable to publicly acknowledge their situation: “I have hope that someday you get to say to yourself the same thing I say to myself everyday day that keeps me going. And is the reason you see me on here grateful for everyday I get to be here.”
Cameron and Gallagher both appeared on season 11 of “Below Deck Mediterranean” this year, but the production company Bravo has since cut ties with Gallagher. Captain Sandy Yawn has said Gallagher has “stop[ped] drinking” and is “get[ting] help.”
If you or someone you know is affected by domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788.
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