Strictly Come Dancing star Kevin Clifton has opened up about online abuse and given advice on how to tackle it in a new podcast, and his girlfriend Stacey Dooley has publically supported him. The pro dancer shared a photo of the latest episode of The Kevin Clifton Show podcast, which is titled, Trolls, Media & Odd One Out, which he shared on Instagram. Alongside the picture, Kevin wrote: "My new podcast episode is out. Inspired by the Jesy Nelson documentary ‘Odd One Out’ , I’m discussing trolling, bullying, unkindness, social media, press. What motivates people to behave this way and how do we deal with it?" Stacey was one of the first to comment on the post, simply responding to it with a strength emoji. Other fans thanked Kevin for helping them, with one writing: "So inspirational Kevin! I look up to you so much," while another wrote: "Loved it. You're so inspiring Kevin."
Kevin Clifton received support from Stacey Dooley after sharing his new podcast about online trolls
On Kevin's podcast, the dancer gave his opinion on why people react so negatively to each other online, telling his listeners: "All they are doing is reflecting themselves on you, all they are doing is reflecting their insecurity on you." The star also admitted that he has been down recently over untrue headlines in the press. He said: "I have read things about myself at times and sometimes it gets me really down, and just recently there have been quite a few stories about me written and I don't know where they have come from and that have been completely fabricated, and the agenda is clearly trying to make me look bad."
MORE: Rachel Riley reveals surprise admission about Strictly Come Dancing
Kevin revealed his Strictly co-stars had warned him of unkind forums when he joined the show
He added: "Especially when Strictly comes around, I won Strictly in the last series with Stacey Dooley so saying things about me at the moment that are click-bait that make me look bad are going to get attention. I read things sometimes and it can get upsetting if you let it in." The star then went on to speak about one of his most recent experiences with negativity online which had happened after he shared an inspiring video clip on Instagram of himself from the recent Strictly Come Dancing: The Professionals show. In the footage, Kevin revealed that he had been turned down twice by the show before finally being given a chance to appear on it. The star said that while a lot of comments had been positive, he had also received many unkind ones. "You either let it in and it hurts you for a bit, or you ignore it." He admitted that he had even replied to one of the comments, asking the user if they were okay.
Kevin won Strictly in 2018 with now girlfriend Stacey
READ: Victoria Beckham divides fans after sharing new photo of daughter Harper
Kevin revealed that he had also been exposed to the downside of fame early on after first appearing on Strictly. He revealed: "There were a lot of forums when I first came onto Strictly and had a profile, some of the dancers warned me about forums which were full of nastiness. They said you must not look at this forum or that forum as they are full of nastiness. But of course we are humans and so I looked and there were so many negative comments about me, presuming they know me, saying why I am rubbish and about my appearance and about the celebrity I was dancing with." The star added: "It was so horrible and I realised why they told me not to read it. It really affected me and I was so sad and it really got me down."
Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.
