Halle Berry used to be attracted to abusive men. The Oscar-winning beauty regularly witnessed her father attack her mother when she was growing up and says it affected her choice in partners.

She said: “My mother was a battered woman and that was my childhood for a good chunk of it.”

“Early on in my life, I made choices, and I chose men that were abusive because that was what I knew growing up.”

However, she underwent therapy and learned what to do if and when a relationship became violent.

The 43-year-old actress has now found happiness with model Gabriel Aubry, the father of her 19-month-old daughter Nahla.