A woman has been arrested for allegedly stalking reality-TV star Joey Essex and threatening his Love Island girlfriend with violence.
Cheshire Police have arrested a woman in her 30s from the Stockport area on suspicion of stalking, after The Only Way is Essex star was reportedly sent over 100,000 messages.
The woman has been released on conditional bail until February while enquiries continue and is not permitted to contact Mr Essex and his family or travel to London and Essex.
The Cheshire police said in a statement to The Independent: “We can confirm a 34-year-old woman from the Poynton area has been arrested on suspicion of stalking. The woman has been released on conditional bail until February while enquiries continue.”
A source close to Mr Essex told The Sun that he was relieved the alleged stalker had been found.
Last August, he revealed he had received thousands of messages on social media from the person, some of which were thought to have included threats towards his girlfriend at the time, Jessy Potts.
“We have had to take the decision to report the stalker to the police because the messages have started to become more threatening,” Mr Essex said last August.
“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.”
A source told The Sun that his team had noticed an uptick in messages from one user during his time in the Love Island villa last year.
They said the messages “grew increasingly frightening with some targeted, physical threats and it became cause for concern”.
“Joey is relieved the woman has been found and grateful to Cheshire Constabulary,” the source added.
Mr Essex, who rose to fame on reality show The Only Way Is Essex, entered the Love Island villa as the first celebrity contestant during last year’s run of the show.
It was in the villa that he met Ms Potts and the pair dated for two months before splitting in September.
The Independent has contacted Mr Essex’s representatives for a comment.
