Emmerdale's Amy Walsh has spoken about the online abuse her boyfriend receives due to his portrayal of EastEnders domestic abuser Gray Atkins.
The 34-year-old actress appeared on ITV's Loose Women yesterday and spoke of her partner Toby-Alexander Smith's difficulties with the public.
The pair, who play Tracy Metcalfe and Gray Atkins in their respective soaps, have been dating since last year.
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Amy said people often struggle to separate Toby from the character that he plays on screen.
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When she was asked whether Toby faced any abuse from the public for his role, she said: "‘Yeah, he gets a bit, he’s been quite lucky but you do get a bit. It’s more online than anything else.
"But I just always say it’s because you’re so good, you’re doing a good job and that’s all that matters.
"His storyline was such an important one to get people talking and raise awareness so as long as he’s doing that, his work here is done."
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Toby has been playing villan Gray in EastEnders since 2019. His storyline has seen Gray subject wife Chantelle Atkins, played by Jessica Plummer, to horrific domestic abuse.
The violence ultimately led to her death when he pushed her over onto an upended knife in the dishwasher in their kitchen in harrowing scenes last year.
In a previous interview, Toby said: "Obviously social media can be very loud. When people started directing it at Gray, that was when I was like, 'OK, we're doing our jobs here, people are calling out this behaviour, this behaviour is unacceptable'.
"And that's why we do it, for people to be able to recognise that there are people like Gray out there.
"It may be a father, it may be an ex-boyfriend, it may be a brother, it may be a friend. It just gave people that platform to recognise those behaviours."
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7pm on ITV, with an extra episode at 8pm on Thursdays.
