Emmerdale’s Michelle Hardwick has revealed she had to ring police after receiving death threats.
The long-standing ITV cast member, alongside her wife, Kate Brooks, and their son Teddy, recently bore the brunt of online trolling and it hasn’t been the first time either. Michelle, who came out in 2013 and has been abused over her sexuality since, believes the root cause of the threats stem from homophobia and claims she has had to get the authorities involved on several occasions.
Speaking to OK! The 46-year-old actress said: “We’ve had a bit of trolling over the last few years. There have been certain times when police have had to be called because there have been death threats. When they’re mentioning your son’s name and you’re just going ‘Really? I’m just in a soap you know – we’re not doing any harm to anybody'. The root of it all is always because I’m gay, I’m a gay woman. And it’s like, ‘Lesbians shouldn’t be on this Earth, just burn in hell and die.’”
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Since getting together with the star, Liverpool-born Kate has experienced the "horrific" type of trolling that Michelle already had to put up with. The 39-year-old added: "The majority of people are really wonderful and supportive, but, you know, as great as social media can be, there is this real dark side to it as well."
Last year, Michelle revealed a number of homophonic messages she received from a social media troll to her 116,000 followers. The Vanessa Woodfield actress dared the anonymous profile to reveal their true identity asking them to “Come on, show us who you really are, I dare you!”
Rushing to her defence at the time, Kate also chimed in on the user's comments. The producer added: “Hi ‘Michael’, the original Prisoner Cell Block H called from 1985 - they’d really like their insults back. Thanks a mill."
Michelle returned to social media hours later to thank her true fans for their continued support. She tweeted: "Overwhelmed by all your beautiful supportive messages. I honestly don't take it to heart, I just like to highlight it every so often. Thank you to every single person who took the time to message me whether I know you personally or not. I promise I'll read them all."
Michelle married Kate in 2019 before welcoming their son, Teddy, through IVF treatment the following year. In the same interview to OK! Michelle also revealed the couple would love to have another baby and one day meet Teddy’s biological father to thank him.
