Worcestershire woman who received death threats online says more support is needed for reality TV stars
Love Island contestants have received online abuse during this year's show
A woman from Worcestershire who received daily death threats online says more support is needed for reality TV stars and influencers.
Contestants on Love Island have received online abuse during the show which ended on Tuesday.
The most recent is Sharon Gaffka who was hit with abuse before the final after posting a screenshot which supposedly encouraged fans to vote for Chloe Burrows and Toby Aromolaran.
On Monday, Sharon took to Instagram to speak out against the abusive messages she received, saying "can we just enjoy the final without the nasty messages and comments?".
Daisy Johnson, from Worcestershire, was subjected to daily death threats for years on after building a large following on Twitter.
"It's a really traumatic experience which has lead me to a place where I don't have any social media", she says.
"Everyday I was crying about something and that is no way to live your life. I ended up having a mental breakdown."
Daisy has told us it's growing more difficult for influencers and reality TV stars to find a balance between posting content from sponsorship deals with the risk of receiving online abuse.
"There's that expectation for people to post content online, especially Love island contestants, and it for some reason receives backlash because some people don't like it.
"But does that mean that person deserves to be trolled or sent death threats on the internet? Absolutely not."
Love Island contestants are now offered a minimum of eight therapy sessions following the show as part of new protocols from ITV.
They've been introduced after former contestants Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis took their own lives after being trolled online.
In February 2020, ex-host Caroline Flack also took her life after she found out she was being prosecuted for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend which subsequently opened her up to online abuse.
Daisy continued: "So many people have died after receiving abuse online specifically from Love Island including the presenter.
"You can't spread the 'be kind' message and movement if you're dragging people down on the internet for what they choose to do.
"There absolutely needs to be more support for influencers and more so reality TV stars. They're simply just making a living off what they choose to do."