Bobby Norris emotionally opens up on the horrific online abuse and 'death threats' he faced due to his sexuality after starring on TOWIE

Bobby Norris has emotionally opened up on the horrific online abuse and death threats he faced after starring on The Only Way Is Essex.

The TV personality, 38, was catapulted to fame when he joined the cast of the ITVBe reality show back in 2012, and remained on the series for nine years before leaving for good in 2021.

But though being part of the show had its positives, Bobby reflected that he endured some really dark times as social media developed, with trolls targeting him due to his sexuality. 

Speaking to his FUBAR Radio co-star Ellen Coughlan on the Halloween special political programme, Politics Uncensored, Bobby detailed the vile messages he received after filming the TV show.

He shared: 'I love social media, but I've been through it, and this is something actually, I'm not sure if a lot of people will know, but I think back in I think 2019, I was on a big reality show at the time, and was receiving a huge amount of abuse on social media, predominantly because of my sexuality.

'There was this one, I think another death threat come through. And when I say that it sounds so flippant, but it was literally just another one was outside my house and was going to petrol bomb me.'

Continuing to speak about his ordeal, he added: 'It was a tough time. I've got a thick skin. So I was never losing sleep over it. And I was very aware. I thought, I can deal with this. 

'But I know 13 or 14 year old Bobby couldn't have dealt with it. They were not just saying, Bob, I don't like your hair. I don't like your blow dry today, or I don't like that Louis Vuitton bag. No, we're talking really dark stuff.'

As a result of the homophobic abuse he endured online, Bobby campaigned for a change in legislation to make online homophobia to be made a specific offence, as the then current legislation was passed before the internet 'as we know it today'.

Detailing his campaigning efforts, Bobby explained: 'I created a petition sat in my bedroom. And so I think this was 2019, so I campaigned for, I think about four or five years. 

'Well, yeah, it's been in law for one year now, yeah, to put an aim to or to have some kind of legislation around how people can speak online.'

On the outcome of his campaigning, he continued: 'I went to Downing Street. I've been to Parliament several times for debates, and thankfully, after four or five years of campaigning, it's become a law, and it is the Online Safety Act.

'It isn't about the snowflake generation saying that they don't like something about you. It's not opinion based. We're talking threats violence, threats violence, discrimination, dark stuff.'

Bobby has previously opened up about the online abuse he's faced, revealing in 2020 that he took a social media break as a result. 

The star admitted he signed off the platform after receiving both death and acid attack threats for being gay.  

Speaking on FUBAR Radio at the time, the media personality also touched on the impact of the Be Kind campaign as he claimed people have 'gone back to trolling' just months after Love Island host Caroline Flack's death. 

In an interview with former hosts Joanna Chimonides and Stephen Leng on Access All Areas, Bobby explained: 'It's so disappointing that something that's been set up to be a positive place gets tarnished with trolls that clearly get something out of it. 

'There is that double edged kind of side to it where you don't really want to address it and give them the platform. But also… it's almost weird not to.'  

'It's absolutely awful and vile. To the point where from the Saturday night to kind of like Monday morning I thought, 'I'm gonna take a break from social media, this is so full on''. 

It comes after Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Win star Jason Fox revealed that Bobby unexpectedly won his over during his stint on the show.

In an exclusive interview with MailOnline the TV tough man has revealed that the celebrity managed to do the unthinkable and change his viewpoint entirely, going from appearing 'useless' to leaving Jason 'pretty impressed.'

Reflecting on the most recent season of the show, the former Royal Marine and SBS, 48, revealed Bobby won him over and was 'easily the most stand out person who made the biggest improvement on the show'. 

While Bobby was forced to leave the show after a brutal challenge took a wrong turn, Jason named him as the contestant that left a lasting impact. 

The reality star was discharged from the Channel 4 programme after sustaining an injury during a wrestling match.

During an SAS training event to raise awareness for the Armed Forces charity SSAFA, Jason revealed he did not have high hopes for Bobby to begin with but he now considers him a 'tough guy'. 

He said: 'On the last one that has just been aired we had a guy called Bobby Norris on it and I didn't know who Bobby was.

'He turned up and for the first 24 hours he was useless. He cried for about 24 hours, and then I think he rapidly worked out, and also wanted to be there, he wanted to really push himself and test himself.

'He's not the best person we've had on it, but he's easily the most standout person who's made the biggest improvement.

'I expected nothing from him. I found out he was from TOWIE . Now I'm like, he's a tough, tough guy really.

'It wasn't one singular moment. It was just over the course of a few days. I was pretty impressed with the turnaround.'