Emmerdale star Michelle Hardwick has been forced to ramp up security measures at her Yorkshire home after being subjected to vile homophobic death threats.
The 46-year-old, who plays vet Vanessa Woodfield in the long-running ITV soap, even had to involve police recently due to concerns for the safety of her family.
The actress came out as gay in 2013 whilst she was together with Rosie Nicoll, whom she later married. The pair split two years later, however, before Michelle found love with producer Kate Brooks. The pair subsequently wed in 2019 and share a son.
Michelle took to her Instagram account on Monday to thank a security company for increasing protection around their countryside home.
"Anyone local to the Leeds/Wakefield area who needs any security solutions then look no further than @msc.security.solutions," she wrote.
"This was a fully paid for job, not a paid ad. I just wanted to post because they were fabulous."
Back in May, meanwhile, Michelle had similar worries after finding herself the subject of 'horrific' trolling on social media.
She told OK! Magazine at the time: "We've had a bit of trolling over the last few years. And there have been certain times when police have had to be called because there have been death threats.
"When they're mentioning your son’s name and you're just going 'Really? I'm just in a soap you know – we’re not doing any harm to anybody'."
In happier news, Michelle revealed on Loose Women last month that she is expecting a baby girl with Kate.
"It seems to have flown by this time," Michelle gushed as the pair held hands. "Quite a bit of morning sickness!" The couple went on to speak about their Memphis wedding as they eloped in the US.
"Looking at where we are, we've been married nearly three years," she said. Admitting that she was worried about initially telling their families about their plans to elope - particularly because her dad is an Elvis fan - Michelle said that they were "absolutely fine".
Michelle and Kate revealed that their donor this time round is also Teddy's biological dad, revealing that he was open to meeting the children when they're 18 and if they wish to see him. Revealing the gender, Michelle announced excitedly: "So baby number two is a little girl!"
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