Clive Myrie was left ‘shaken’ after receiving a death threat from a man which specifically talked ‘about the bullet that he’d use in the gun to kill me’.
Myrie has risen to prominence as one of the most popular faces on the BBC, taking over from John Humphrys as host of Mastermind since 2021, he’s still a presenter on BBC News and is about to join Laura Kuenssberg to anchor the 2024 general election coverage for the broadcaster, replacing Huw Edwards.
The 59-year-old is a guest on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs where he told host Lauren Laverne that since becoming a more ‘visible’ presenter, now one of the most recognisable faces on the BBC, he has been subjected to vile and often terrifying abuse.
Myrie recalled receiving faeces as well as ‘cards in the post with gorillas on’ and emails saying: ‘You shouldn’t be on our TV; you dress like a pimp.’
‘But one chap issued death threats, and he was tracked down and prosecuted, and his death threats involved talking about the kind of bullet that he’d use in the gun to kill me and this kind of stuff,’ Myrie said.
‘I was shaken for a while after I’d been told. I thought it’s just someone showboating. It’s just bravado.
‘And then they tracked down this character, and it turned out that he had previous convictions for firearms offences. So (I) thought, “Oh my God, what, if anything, might this person have been planning?”’
Ahead of one of the biggest moments of his career as co-anchor of the UK general election, Myrie admitted he’s feeling the pressure.
‘I’ve never presented an election programme in the UK before. I’m getting my head around a lot of statistics,’ he said.
‘But you know, we want to try and make it fun too; it is not just going to be a night for geeks. I hope it’s not just a night for political geeks.
‘I want people to be able to tune in and get a sense of where this country is going and the buzz of being on the front line.
‘This is the front line of what it means to be British regarding the election.’
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