Elizabeth Chambers Reveals the 'Huge' Red Flags That Give Away a Toxic Partner (Exclusive)

In the process of uncovering dangerously toxic relationships, Elizabeth Chambers has pinpointed the biggest red flags everyone should know about.

As host of Toxic, the new true-crime docuseries from Investigation Discovery, Chambers, 42, goes back to her journalism roots to report on harrowing cases of domestic violence and the legal systems that are often stacked against victims.

“These are really heavy stories,” Chambers tells PEOPLE. The mom of two and founder of BIRD Bakery adds, “I’ve had nightmares about all of this. It’s funny because the other part of my world is cupcakes and positivity, and then I’m kind of living in this darker space for these stories.”

Via voiceover featured in the opening credits of each episode, Chambers alludes to “navigating through my personal heartbreak” and how that “ignited a curiosity inside me about love that fractures, inflicts lasting trauma, and can lead to tragedy.”

“I feel that it’s part of my calling to meet with the victims, the survivors, to listen to their stories, show how it can happen to anyone, and expose the truth,” Chambers tells viewers.

Though she sometimes relates to the subjects interviewed for the show, sharing her own connections to what they’re recounting, Chambers clarifies she hasn’t been a victim of domestic violence: “I’ve never faced a fraction of what these incredibly strong survivors have,” she tells PEOPLE.

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On April 10, after the Toxic trailer dropped, Chambers spoke out on Instagram about “frustrating” headlines focusing on her own past marriage to the scandal-plagued actor Armie Hammer, who has admitted to cheating and has denied multiple allegations of assault.

“I understand the importance of clickbait and headlines, but this isn’t about that. Yes, my divorce was an impetus to this,” she tells PEOPLE. “For me, it was just betrayal and the dissolution of my family that really inspired it. But that was five years ago. This whole entire show is really about moving forward and looking ahead. I just hope people can see the show for what it is.”

“I do think there’s a level of sexism — why are we always attached to our partners?” says Chambers. “I hope people focus on the stories and these amazing people that are opening up their hearts and their lives and not something that’s just easy to click on because people want gossip.”

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Chambers says she bonded with the survivors and families who participated in Toxic, still staying in touch with them often.

“I wasn’t just going and sitting in a chair across from them in a living room for 30 minutes getting my information and leaving. I had to earn their trust,” she says. “I talk to all of our survivors weekly.”

With the show, Chambers hopes to start conversations among viewers who can better spot signs of a toxic partner in their own relationship or in their loved ones’ lives.

What are some of those common red flags and patterns to look out for? “Everybody really had the love-bomb aspect of it and then moving quickly,” Chambers says of what she noticed through reporting out this first season.

Additionally, isolation is a big indicator of toxicity. “People who tend to have coercive control and narcissistic tendencies don’t have a large circle of friends — and they don’t want you to either,” says Chambers. “If there’s really not a balance in the beginning and they really are reluctant to meet your friends or to do things as a group, that’s a huge red flag as well.”

Another sign, she says, is the perpetrator “taking no accountability when talking about exes.” She explains, “If you ask them, ‘Why did you break up?’ if the ex was always psycho, a drug addict, an alcoholic, and they take zero accountability or responsibility for the ending of a relationship, that is a huge red flag. Huge.”

For the show, Chambers makes cold calls, knocks on doors and comes face to face with potentially dangerous individuals, adrenaline-inducing moments that she felt “determined” to do in order to bring a “sense of closure” to survivors.

She says she takes “appropriate measures” to safeguard herself given the severity of the subject matter tackled in Toxic.

“I’m very aware of the fact that I have a family to protect,” says Chambers. “It is not lost on me that these people are not going to be happy — they never are when they’re exposed. We’re not dealing with people who want to apologize and make it right. They’re vindictive and angry and feel that they’ve done nothing wrong.”

Toxic is streaming on Max, and new episodes air Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on Investigation Discovery.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.