The tragic story of Loni Willison: The model who was once the wife of a Hollywood star and graced the covers of magazines, is now homeless collecting cans on the streets

Married to a Hollywood star and a regular face on the covers of fitness magazines, to the outside world it looked like Loni Willison had the perfect life.

But her picture-perfect life wasn't what it seemed, and now the 40-year-old former model is living on the streets of Los Angeles. The Sun.

Shocking new photos this week showed her dragging a large trolley filled with her possessions, with a red eye swollen shut, a cigarette in her mouth and many teeth missing.

Loni - who is unrecognizable from her happy blonde days - has been homeless for several years now, and was previously seen rummaging through rubbish bins for food.

This followed a messy divorce from Baywatch actor Jeremy Jackson nine years ago, after which she abused drugs and alcohol.

The photos highlight the model's rapid and tragic downfall after losing her job and home, and shunning offers of help.

Heartbroken she once claimed she makes herself look as dirty as possible to avoid being sexually abused on the street.

Two years ago, she told British tabloid The Sun: “I can live on my own. I have everything I need right here."

"No one really cares about me and I don't want to see them, they don't want to see me."

When Loni and Jeremy tied the knot on a California beach in 2012, dressed in white and surrounded by their white dog, the pair looked like Hollywood's best couple.

Jeremy, from California, now 42, found fame as Hobie Buchanan, the son of lifeguard David Hasselhoff in Mitch, at the age of 11 and played the role until he was 18, leaving in 1999.

Loni, also from California, was the stunning model who graced the cover of fitness magazines in sportswear and swimwear.

Rounds of red carpet appearances followed and they appeared madly in love with each other.

But Jeremy, a former child star, already had a history of drug addiction, which began during his time as a teenager on Baywatch.

He was arrested for manufacturing methamphetamine at age 19, spent 90 days in jail for possession, and completed five stints in rehab.

While they looked like the perfect couple on the outside, the picture behind closed doors was less rosy.

The marriage descended into alcohol-fuelled arguments and, in August 2014, the police were called to their home after Jeremy allegedly assaulted Loni.

She later claimed he beat her, leaving her with two broken ribs, an injured neck and scratches on her face and body, but she decided not to press charges.

The pair split soon after the alleged assault, which she only revealed after her ex entered the Celebrity Big Brother house a year later in 2015.

But it signaled the start of Lon's mental health problems and downward spiral.

"It took me more than two months to recover properly," she said. "I ended up quitting my job as a plastic surgeon's assistant and couldn't work or get any modeling jobs."

"I haven't been out with friends or doing anything - I've been in a really bad place."

When her ex was booted from CBB for exposing Chloe Goodman's breasts, she urged him to press charges "for his own good".

"I didn't report him when he attacked me because I was scared," she added. "I was in a bad place emotionally and I didn't want Jeremy to go to jail."

"At least now everyone can see what I had to endure."

But losing her job at the cosmetic surgery company following their 2014 split was the first of a number of blows as her life spiraled out of control.

She suffered a mental breakdown, leaving her unable to work.

Her lack of funds caused her to fall into debt and, in 2016, she lost her rental apartment and could no longer afford to keep her car.

Finding herself on the streets, she developed an addiction to crystal methamphetamine, and her mental health deteriorated.

In a 2018 interview, she claimed to have been electrocuted in her previous apartment and said she believed her body was so charged with electricity that she was a danger to others.

"I was being tortured in my home, in my apartment," Loni told the Daily Mail. "I lived alone, but I was getting electrocuted."

"It was really bad, really terrible. "Later I found a red mark on the back of my neck and I think that's how the electricity was going into my head."

She said she tried to talk to friends, but "I was trying to give them what I was talking about, so I just stopped talking to everyone."

Loni also claimed she saw Jeremy standing outside her apartment while she was being "tortured".

She said her "charge" meant she would tear down the buildings she slept in - and the only thing that could stop her was taking drugs.

At the time, Loni added that living on the streets was "survival of the fittest" and she hadn't showered in over a year in an effort to avoid the abuse.

"I get robbed all the time. People take my stuff," she said. "I basically make myself as dirty as possible so that no one attacks me."

"The dirtier I am the better. Even with bad smell. If I do these two things, it seems to work."

"I also cut my hair to look different. I cut them myself. But I have been attacked, this will also happen."

After he was first photographed sleeping under a shopping cart, Lon's model friend Kristin Rossetti tracked him down and put him up in a hotel for the night, giving him fresh clothes and a hot meal.

But after talking all night, Loni rejected her friend's offer to pay for rehab and ran away, disappearing for two years and leaving friends worried for her safety.

"Loni desperately needs our help, she needs to be off the streets and in care," Kristen said at the time.

"It makes me very sad, but you can't force someone to accept your help, they have to want to help themselves."

Loni finally resurfaced in October 2020, rummaging through bins near Venice Beach for clothes and food.

Her once stunning looks have been ruined by drug addiction and she has lost several teeth.

It was just meters away from celebrity mansions, including Ben Affleck's £5 million home.

Speaking to The Sun, she said: “I haven't spoken to Jeremy. I don't want to talk to my friends, I'm having a good time. I don't want anyone to help me."

She added: "I don't have a mobile phone. I have food and I have a place to sleep. I get money here and there and there is food in the garbage cans and near the shops. There's a lot here."

Tragic photos last year showed Loni eating a pizza she found in a bin and sharing it with a nearby squirrel.

While Loni is still struggling with her drug addictions, her ex-husband is managing to stay clean and is now a major figure in the Los Angeles fitness scene, posting muscle-toting photos on his Instagram page. .

He has refused to comment on his ex-wife's plight when asked on previous occasions, but another ex, Cindy Kovacs, criticized the actor for refusing to help Lon after their 2014 split.

She told the Sun: "It's really sad what happened to Loni and she never got the help she needed."

"He didn't do anything. It was worth nothing to him. He didn't even move his butt. It was terrible, disgusting."

The new photos will bring heartache to friends, like Kristen, who still cares about her former glamour.

Let's hope they lead to Loni getting the help she so desperately needs. /Telegraph/