Brian is currently shooting a documentary taking a closer look at trolling and the real-life impacts it has on victims, and has described it as an ’emotional experience’
Brian Dowling and Arthur Gourounlian with daughters Blake and Blu(Image: Instagram/bprdowling)
Brian Dowling says shooting his upcoming documentary on trolling has been an emotional experience.
The TV presenter and his husband, Dancing With The Stars judge Arthur Gourounlian, have been faced with cruel online abuse from homophobic trolls since becoming parents to daughters Blake and Blu.
In a bid to clamp down on trolls and make the wider public aware of how horrific online abuse can be, Brian is making a documentary with Virgin Media called Toxic Threads, which will examine trolls and the real-life impacts of their comments.
Being in the public eye, Brian understands not everyone will like him – but he draws a line on certain comments made on social media.
He said: “It’s been quite emotional, actually, shooting it.
“I suppose I’ve come to terms with the fact that people will want to comment, which sounds silly, on my weight, on my appearance, on how I look, how I talk, on certain aspects of my life.
“I feel: ‘Okay, I’m willing to understand that.’ It sounds horrendous, but that’s going to happen purely on the job that I do.”
However, Brian added to Magazine+: “But there’s certain stuff people cannot say and people cannot allude to on social media.
“The death threats over the years. Our address was made public. About our parenting.
“There’s been so much horrendous stuff on social media platforms.”
Arthur added that it’s not just them, or people in the public eye for that matter, who experience trolling.
He said: “It’s not about celebrity, people are getting trolled and bullied in every day life, you can have a nine to five job and get that.”
The TV personality said that trolls “mean nothing” to him.
He continued: “If you come to me outside and talked to me the way you talk to me online, you’d be arrested.
“At the end of the day it’s all fake names, it’s keyboard warriors.
“There’s nothing I can do, even though I can’t wait for this documentary, for everybody to watch it.”
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