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JOEY'S HELL
Joey Essex hounded by Baby Reindeer-style stalker who’s sent him 100k messages and threatened to shoot girlfriend Jessy
Worried Joey and his team are due to speak to police to launch a formal probe
REALITY telly star Joey Essex is being hounded by a Baby Reindeer-style stalker.
He has called in police after receiving 100,000 messages, including apparent death threats to Love Island girlfriend Jessy Potts.
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Sinister online messages from the woman seem to threaten to “shoot the s**t” out of Jessy.
The twisted pest also brands Jessy a “fat slag” and a “bitch”.
Worried Joey and his team are due to speak to police today to launch a formal probe after he became increasingly concerned in recent weeks when the content of the messages grew more menacing.
He told The Sun: “We have had to take the decision to report the stalker to the police because the messages have started to become more threatening.
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"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.”
The Baby Reindeer-style stalker has sent Joey private messages as well as leaving hundreds of notes under his social media posts.
They include the rant “just call me annoying again that’s what you get your insecure in yourself”.
She also posted the comments “sort your own insecurity out” and “find your own friends”.
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The Sun is choosing not to name the woman involved or include further examples of her messages.
A source close to Joey, 34, said: “Joey loves his fans and being able to engage with them online so is used to receiving messages.
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“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.
'Increasingly frightening'
"Since he met Jessy, though, they have grown increasingly frightening with some targeted, physical threats and it’s become cause for concern.”
Joey found fame on The Only Way Is Essex. He was a celebrity bombshell on ITV2 dating show Love Island this summer and finished fifth with Jessy, 25.
Netflix drama Baby Reindeer is based on what is said to be the true story of creator Richard Gadd’s experience with a stalker.
The woman, called Martha in the hit series, sent him thousands of emails after they met in a London pub where he worked.
Scottish lawyer Fiona Harvey has launched a £135million lawsuit against Netflix after being identified as comedian Gadd’s real-life stalker by online sleuths.
More than 50million people have watched the series, in which Jessica Gunning plays Martha. Online stalking is considered an offence under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.
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 Essex
The Online Safety Act 2023 also includes stalking as a priority, meaning internet platforms must help prevent users being targeted.
In 2017, the Policing and Crime Act increased the maximum sentence for the most serious stalking and harassment offences from five to ten years in prison.
Joey has had a tough time since Love Island after being accused of bullying other members of the cast.
In an interview with The Sun he admitted producers leant on him to deliver good TV and that meant sometimes stirring up drama.
He insisted: “Am I a bully? No. Don’t get me wrong, whatever you say or do, it is what you’ve said and done.
“We’re surrounded by about 85 cameras with a storyline, with a show to make. That is the reality.
“We’re all there to find love but there needs to be a journey, there needs to be drama — so I had to be that guy. I’d switch it on. I’d do my scene.
"If I was involved in someone else’s stuff it’s because I’ve been pulled in and dragged into that situation. I’ve just done what I’ve done because I’m filming a television show.”
Joey, who has been on more than 15 reality TV shows since Towie in 2011, just missed out on the Love Island final after a cast vote.
Since leaving the villa he has been on a number of dates with branding executive Jessy.
He said: “The first thing I noticed was her natural beauty but she’s got a lot of things under her sleeve.
"It felt very natural just to open up to Jessy, she’s trustworthy. She’s just a very, very nice, genuine girl.
“To walk out with a girl I’m interested in and friends I’ll cherish forever, that was all I wanted from the experience.
"I was trying to find the one, not realising I actually would.”
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