BBC Breakfast presenter Mike Bushell says he was sent a message warning him to quit Strictly or be a “dead man” after surviving Sunday’s dance-off.
The tweet came just hours after head judge Shirley Ballas chose Bushell ahead of former Coronation Street actress Catherine Tyldesley in the dance-off.
Speaking at the Daily Mirror’s Pride of Britain Awards, Bushell said: “It said that unless I withdraw from the competition now I’m a dead man. It was personal and I thought WTF.
“There are bigger things in the world to worry about. I get that people have their own favourite dancers but it’s an entertainment show at the end of the day and to get a death threat is ridiculous.
“My wife saw it first and when I went to see who had sent it, they had already removed the tweet. A death threat? What?! On Strictly? You rise above it but it’s people being cowardly isn’t it?
“The show is meant to be happy, make people feel happy. We haven’t reported it to police because the tweet had already gone. The BBC have been great, really supportive.
“There were others saying ‘f*** off, you’ve got to pull out of the competition’, but you don’t quit. I’m fine. As you get older you get thick skinned. I’ll just come out fighting harder this week.”
On Monday, Prolific North reported how the 53-year-old and his wife Emily had responded to Twitter trolls following Sunday’s show.
Emily tweeted: “Wow the abuse! Painful. We’re beyond gutted Catherine and Johannes have left but Mike danced well and deserves his spot. As a viewer since the start I get opinion but this level of abuse is shocking. He’s just a contestant and giving his all!”
