Gael Cameron has broken her silence about surviving domestic violence in a raw Instagram post nearly a year after her ex’s arrest.
The “Below Deck Mediterranean” star, 30, visited the Sweethearts art installation in Sydney on Wednesday and documented the experience in an emotional Instagram Reel set to Demi Lovato’s “Skyscraper.” The display featured 56 hearts, each representing an Australian woman killed by a current or former partner this year alone.
“56 hearts,” Cameron explained 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 carried a different phrase victims hear, from “boys will be boys” and “she coulda left” to “she winds him up” and “just a one off,” Cameron wrote that she knew her “heart would hurt” seeing the art, and her reaction proved even more overwhelming than expected.
“Knowing how close I came to being one of those hearts I cried,” she wrote in her caption. “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.”
Cameron and her ex, Nathan Gallagher, welcomed son Kayden in June 2025. The couple appeared together on Season 11 of “Below Deck Mediterranean,” which aired this year. Bravo has since cut ties with Gallagher following his legal troubles.
Gallagher, who was arrested in December 2025, faces charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, intentionally choking a person without consent, and common assault. The news did not become public until August. While Cameron was not named in initial reports, Gallagher referenced his ex in a statement.
“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,” he said — while admitting he’d “made mistakes” he’d “take responsibility for.”
Captain Sandy Yawn said’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” that Gallagher has “stop[ped] drinking” and is “get[ting] help.”
Cameron had previously addressed her difficult year in a September Instagram Story statement. “I have been using the past few months to quietly heal and rebuild for little man and myself,” she wrote. “I’m really working on finding myself again and moving forward.”
In Wednesday’s post, Cameron added that “those who understand, understand” and expressed hope that people who cannot personally relate to domestic violence would still try to empathize.
“Something needs to change,” the reality star continued. “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 installation and shared hotlines for domestic abuse victims. She also directed a closing message to women who cannot publicly engage with her post — “who can’t share this, can’t like it, can’t save it, can’t have it sitting in their phone.”
“I have hope that someday you get to say to yourself the same thing I say to myself everyday day that keeps me going,” Cameron told them. “And is the reason you see me on here grateful for everyday I get to be here.”
The couple’s tumultuous relationship played out during filming for Season 11 in Croatia, with Cameron later describing that period as being in “survival mode.” The season aired as Gallagher’s legal situation developed, creating a complicated backdrop for viewers watching their on-screen dynamic unfold.
Cameron continues to raise her son while using her platform to advocate for domestic violence awareness and support other survivors.