Wayne Lineker has revealed that he's deleted Twitter from his phone, and plans to delete his account permanently in the next few weeks because of the sheer volume of abuse that he's received.
The 58-year-old hospitality entrepreneur - currently starring in Celebs Go Dating: The Mansion - revealed that while he isn't bothered by the relentless trolling he receives on the social media platform, he can't stand to see his family brought down by it.
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He told LADbible: "It doesn't get me down personally, but it affects me because it affects my family.
"It's very difficult to know that my daughter Tia is seeing this silly abuse that I'm getting when she knows what a genuinely nice person I am.
"It breaks her heart, so that's the only way that it affects me. I know that these people are just sitting in their little cells at home with no name, no nothing.
"It does affect me, but because of my family, not personally."
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"I just laugh it off, but I have to think of my family, so I am trying to calm things down a bit because I have learned a lesson as well, which is not to try to encourage too much exposure to these people.
"I've come off Twitter now, I have my account on there but it's not active, I don't use it. It's not my favourite social media site in the world, let's say that.
"I don't even have it on my phone, my PA checks in now and again but we don't post on there anymore. That decision was made last week, actually.
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"I've had enough of Twitter."
However, that doesn't mean that Lineker is signing off from social media altogether. He's got 564,000 followers over on Instagram who will still be able to get regular updates from Lineker's life at O Beach Ibiza.
He continued: "I love Instagram, everyone is really nice on there, and genuinely nice to me. Facebook too, it's just Twitter really that is a despicable place."
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"Especially the past 12 months - I was trending on Twitter three times this summer, but it was never for anything good.
"It was always for something controversial, but it was the abuse that got me trending instead of the positivity.
"Even though there was more positivity, people were joining the bandwagon, and it only happens on Twitter. It doesn't happen on Instagram or Facebook, so that was the main reason I've decided to come off Twitter.
"Even though my account will be there, it just won't be active. I plan to delete it in the next few weeks."
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When pressed as to what he'd say to any of the trolls, should he ever meet them in real life, Wayne responded: "I don't have anything to say to them. Nothing I say will change their minds, they are that way inclined.
"Hopefully, they'll see a different side to me on Celebs Go Dating and realise that I'm just one of the lads, trying to have fun.
"You know, Peter Pan! Never grow up!
"But they'll take it the way they want to take it, and let them carry on, it's sad for them more than it is sad for me."
Celebs Go Dating: The Mansion airs at 9pm on E4
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/E4Topics: TV and Film, Celebrity, UK Entertainment, Twitter