Getty Lorena Gallo attends the "Lorena" Premiere during the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.
Lorena Bobbitt, who cut off her husband’s penis in 1993 is the subject of the Lifetime movie I Was Lorena Bobbitt. Bobbitt, who now goes by Lorena Gallo, is in a long-term relationship with her partner David Bellinger.
Bobbitt became a household name across the country in 1993 after she took a kitchen knife and cut off her then-husband John Bobbitt’s penis while he was sleeping. She then left in her car, driving to the nail salon where she worked and threw the appendage out the window on her way there.
Bobbitt has maintained that her ex-husband repeatedly abused her during their marriage and had raped her that night. John denied those accusations. Both parties have since been found not guilty, Lorena of malicious wounding and John with marital sex assault.
Here’s what you need to know about David Bellinger, Lorena Bobbitt’s partner:
1. They Have a Daughter Together
Bobbitt and Bellinger have one daughter together. Her name is Olivia, and she is 15 years old.
Bobbitt had a hard time explaining to her daughter why she would get recognized in public when her daughter was just 7 years old. She told the New York Times that she didn’t go in-depth with what had happened at the time.
“I didn’t go into details. There was no anatomical . I just said, ‘Mommy got hurt,’ and I said, ‘I was married before with this man, and I cut him.'”
Bobbitt said that when the four-part documentary series about her premiered in 2019, her daughter and partner watched together. Afterward, her daughter told her, “‘Mom, I didn’t realize how strong you were,” Bobbitt told USA Today. “I melted. My heard just… She disarmed me completely.”
2. They Met After Bobbitt’s Divorce
The couple met a few years after Bobbitt’s divorce when she was re-enrolled in a community college.
“I didn’t just fall in love with David like I did with John. It was a friendship that grew into love,” she told Vanity Fair.
They had their daughter together in 2005, and Bobbitt launched a foundation dedicated to the prevention of domestic violence in 2007. Bellinger accompanied Lorena to an interview in 2008 with IOL for “moral support,” and the writer called him a “huge man” who is “almost as broad as he is tall.
3. The Couple Has Been Together For Over Two Decades
Bobbitt and Bellinger have been in a relationship for over 20 years, and they were friends before they were ever officially in a relationship. After getting together with Bellinger, Bobbitt had much of what she’d always wanted; her family nearby and starting a family of her own.
Bellinger told IOL that Bobbitt pursued the relationship first, and he was well aware of her past before they got into the relationship.
“She kept asking me out for years. I kept saying no,” Bellinger said. Lorena reportedly responded by laughing and telling him, “Don’t flatter yourself.”
4. Bellinger Is Willing to Get Married Whenever Bobbitt Wants To
During a visit to The Steve Harvey Show in 2015, Bobbitt said she had gotten remarried to Bellinger and called him her husband, though they have not actually gotten married. She said he’s willing to marry her whenever she wants, though.
“I believe in marriage as an institution, of course, and I respect that,” she told USA Today. “It was my choice. He even says, ‘If you’re ready to marry, I’ll just show up!”
They live together in Virginia, and they fight and argue just like any other married couple, though it is just verbal arguments.
5. Bellinger Has “No Ill Feelings” Toward John Bobbitt
In the 2008 interview with IOL, Bellinger talked about his feelings toward his partner’s ex-husband.
“I have no ill feelings about the guy,” he said. “I feel sorry for him in certain aspects. He made a lot of wrong choices, got a lot of money drained from him.”
I Was Lorena Bobbitt premiers at 8 p.m./7 p.m. central on Lifetime on Monday, May 25, 2020.
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