Police are probing death threats sent to Love Island hopeful Chloe Burrows, her distraught family revealed last night.
The 25-year-old has been viciously trolled since Wednesday night's show when she chose to couple up with Aaron Francis, leaving Shannon Singh single.
The family said they understood the "frustration" around Shannon's eviction, but Chloe, from Bicester, Oxon, "does not deserve to die" as a result.
The vile posts come a year after the suicide of host Caroline Flack - herself an outspoken critic of online abuse.
Referring to Caroline, as well as former contestants Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis, Chloe's family said: "Have the deaths of Sophie, Mike and Caroline taught us nothing?"
All three died by suicide, although their deaths were not linked to the show.
Chloe's family added: "We are extremely disappointed and saddened by the threats. We appear to have normalised this type of behaviour. This cannot continue. We must stand tall and demand change from online platforms."
Meanwhile, tragic Sophie's mother Deborah, 62, said hearing about the trolling of Chloe has brought back the heartbreak of her daughter's suicide.
Former beauty queen Sophie was just 32 when she took her own life after struggling to cope with vicious online abuse in 2019 - almost three years after appearing on Love Island.
Deborah said: "After Sophie, how can these idiots in rely their multitudes tell Chloe to 'kill herself?'"
Thames Valley Police have been contacted for comment.
Chloe's relatives have been running her social media channels since she entered the villa last week and were left appalled when an avalanche of abuse was sent towards her online.
The family have now turned to police for help to track down some of the main offenders who are continuing to send hate filled messages towards the marketing executive.
They said in a statement: “We are extremely disappointed and saddened. To receive death threats and see the malicious vitriol that exists online first-hand is incredibly distressing and we are apprehensive for Chloe to leave the villa and observe this herself.
“We must stand tall together and demand change from online platforms like Instagram to safeguard our loved ones when they need it most.
“We will be doing everything in our power to protect Chloe and will support Thames Valley Police in their efforts to track down these perpetrators.”
Last week, Chloe’s family expressed their shock and horror as they noticed a torrent of abuse being directed to the blonde after she appeared on the ITV show – citing concerns that abusive messages led to the suicides of former Love Island stars Mike Thalassitis, Sophie Gradon, and show host Caroline Flack.
In a message shared via Instagram, her family wrote: "We hate to introduce ourselves under such vile circumstances but we’ve had enough, after just 3 episodes.
‘We all have thick skin but the amount of trolling Chloe has been receiving is absolutely disgusting. This morning we woke up to yet another DM encouraging Chloe to kill herself – there have been HUNDREDS.
"Have the deaths of Sophie, Mike and Caroline taught us nothing?
"Not only that, but people are flooding her inbox threatening to kill her themselves. People… this is a GAME show, there is a cash prize!"
They continued: "We understand the frustration surrounding @shannonsinghhh ‘s eviction – we feel it too! She didn’t deserve to leave so early but Chloe does not deserve to DIE because Shannon had to leave the villa!
"She will have had no idea of the repercussions of her decision prior to making it."
The message ended: "‘We are not naive. We know that this post won’t put an end to trolling. All the advice we get is to “ignore it” and “block the trolls”, sometimes it’s not that easy. Our hope is that this just reminds some of you to #BeKind x."
Love Island bosses also slammed the trolls, saying in a statement: "We want Love Island to be a positive experience for all of our cast and their friends and family members.
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"Last night's episode created strong reactions but some viewers' posts were wholly unacceptable. We take these matters extremely seriously and will support cast members and their families in reporting such posts.
"We would once again urge all of our viewers to think before posting, and remember that our Islanders are people with feelings."
Love Island continues on ITV2 and via the ITV Hub tonight at 9pm
