“Below Deck Mediterranean” star Gael Cameron has shared an emotional message about surviving domestic violence, posting from a Sydney art installation nearly a year after her ex Nathan Gallagher’s arrest.
The 30-year-old posted an Instagram Reel on Wednesday documenting her visit to the Sweethearts art installation in Sydney, which features 56 hearts representing women whose lives ended at the hands of a partner in Australia this year.
“56 hearts,” Cameron wrote. “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 carried a different phrase, including “boys will be boys,” “she coulda left,” “she winds him up” and “just a one off.”
Cameron, who set the video to Demi Lovato’s “Skyscraper,” said she knew the visit would be painful. “Eyes ran and my heart broke into a million pieces” upon arrival, she wrote.
“Knowing how close I came to being one of those hearts I cried. 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.”
Gallagher was arrested in December 2025 and charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, intentionally choking a person without consent, and common assault. The arrest did not become public knowledge until the following August.
Cameron was not named in initial reports of the alleged assault, but Gallagher referred to his ex-partner — with whom he shares 1-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 had “made mistakes” he would “take responsibility for.”
In September, Cameron had already posted about navigating 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 at the time. “I’m really working on finding myself again and moving forward.”
In Wednesday’s post, she said she hoped people who have not experienced domestic violence could try to empathise with those who have.
“Something needs to change. Something needs to give. I’ve sat afraid for long enough, but the fear I feel is what allows this to keep happening.”
Cameron thanked the artist behind the installation and shared hotline information for domestic abuse victims. She closed her post with a message to women who feel unable to speak openly about their own experiences, writing that she hopes they will one day be able to say what she tells herself every day — the reason, she said, that she is “grateful for everyday I get to be here.”
Cameron and Gallagher both appeared on Season 11 of “Below Deck Mediterranean” this year, but Bravo has since cut ties with Gallagher. Captain Sandy Yawn recently said Gallagher has “stop[ped] drinking” and is “get[ting] help.”
If you or someone you know is affected by domestic violence, support is available through the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), or by texting START to 88788.
