Joey Essex has been forced to call in police after he received 100,000 messages, including an apparent death threat to his girlfriend Jessy Potts, from an alleged stalker.
Joey Essex reports 'stalker' to police after receiving 'threatening messages'
The 'Love Island' star - who met Jessy on the ITV2 dating show earlier this summer - is due to speak to police on Thursday (15.08.24) about the content of the messages from a female fan.
One message appeared to threaten to "shoot" 25-year-old brand partnerships associate Jessy.
Joey told The Sun newspaper: "We have had to take the decision to report the stalker to the police because the messages have started to become more threatening.
"I love my fans and want to be able to talk to them online but there has to be a line somewhere and sadly this is it."
Joey's team is said to have noticed the messages during his recent stint in the 'Love Island' villa, but the notes, which are said to include private messages and posts underneath his social media posts, are said to have become a "cause for concern" since he started dating Jessy.
A source close to the 34-year-old star said: "Joey loves his fans and being able to engage with them online so is used to receiving messages.
"Of course they’re not always nice and he does get trolled, but after being in the public eye for so many years he’s got used to dealing with that side of it.
"But when he was in the 'Love Island' villa his team noticed a real uptick in messages from one user in particular and most of it is nonsense.
"Since he met Jessy, though, they have grown increasingly frightening with some targeted, physical threats and it’s become cause for concern."
Joey and Jessy hooked up in the 'Love Island' villa this summer, and they finished fifth in the series, narrowly missing out on a place in the final.
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