Emmerdale star Claire King has admitted that "cruel" trolls drove her off social media.
The Kim Tate actress opened up about her ordeal in a new interview, admitting she received "personal" age-related comments.
"I think everyone in the public eye gets trolled, it seems to be the in thing these days," Claire told OK! Magazine. "The first time I was in Emmerdale, we didn't have social media so it's a completely different world.
Related: Emmerdale star Claire King explains why Kim Tate has disappeared from screens
"I came off Twitter because some of the comments got very personal and it's always age-related. I had messages calling me a 'wizened old woman'.
"It's cruel and I don't think it helps that Classic Emmerdale is shown on ITV3, so you can see me in my prime in the afternoon, then a few hours later I've aged 30 years in the current episodes on ITV."
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She further explained: "Some have no profile picture, so I'd love to see what they look like. But surprisingly, a lot of trolls were middle-aged women.
Related: 11 huge Emmerdale spoilers for next week
"I'd have thought women would stick together, but sadly not. I don't have time for it and I don't need it in my life so I just came off social media. You'd think people would be a bit kinder in this day and age with all the talk about mental health."
Asked whether it affected her confidence, Claire said: "No. It probably would have if I was younger, and I can understand why people get upset about it, but I only care about the people who know and love me.
"You learn to have rhinoceros skin in this industry, but still, I don't need somebody I don't know just being nasty for the sake of it."
Emmerdale currently airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7pm on ITV.
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