Dancing With the Stars contestant Father Ray Kelly has reported threats of violence and letters filled with abusive words to An Garda Síochána.
He explained that the threats he received made him want to quit the TV show.
He told the Irish Mirror: “There was a lot of negative stuff coming in from people, anonymous people.”
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“Christmas cards and stuff like that coming in… like one particular card said, ‘Now remember John the Baptist when a woman danced for him and he was beheaded’.”
“There was one last week that came in saying, ‘Father Ray, wouldn’t it be a wonderful witness with Lent coming if you now for the nation decided to pull out from Dancing With The Stars and show the nation just the sacrifice you’re making just by pulling out’.”
“The worst was I had to report one to the guards a couple of weeks ago – very abusive.”
“Every second word was the F word. Priest, parish, parochial house, housekeeper, fat, belly, dancing around the floor.”
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Father Ray revealed that the abuser had left him a threatening voice mail on his phone.
“He left a message on my phone. On my landline there was a message. I went into my messages and there it was.”
““So I spoke to the production team here about it and they said, ‘Well, your best bet is to report it to the gardai’.”
Despite the abuse, Father Ray said that he is determined to continue with his showbiz endeavours, and would love to represent Ireland in the Eurovision.
