Meredith Vieira discusses abusive relationship on her talk show

Meredith Vieira startled her studio audience on Wednesday’s episode of “The Meredith Vieira Show” by discussing the details of an abusive relationship she’d been in early in her life.

Vieira’s new syndicated talk show is only in its second week, but it’s already grabbing attention by the host’s highly personal revelations.

As part of the current discussion around domestic violence, touched off by NFL player Ray Rice’s violent confrontation with his then-fiancee and the Twitter hashtag #WhyIStayed, Vieira admitted to her own audience that she was once in a similar relationship.

“I loved this guy,” Vieira said of her former boyfriend. “It started out, we’d have a fight and he’d just sort of grab my arm.”

But, as Vieira recounted, things quickly escalated to the point where he was shoving her against walls and even completely naked into a scalding shower and then out of their apartment.

Yet, she didn’t leave him. Not until she got a job offer out of state.

She shared with the audiences the reasons she initially stayed with the abuser.

“Part of it was fear. I was scared of him and scared that if I tried to leave, something worse could happen to me,” she said. “Part of it was guilt. Because every time we had a fight, he would then start crying.”

Vieira has been married to journalist Richard M. Cohen since 1986.

Twitter: @patrickkevinday