A BBC weather presenter has lashed out at troll viewers who she says keep hurtfully criticising her looks.
Kay Crewdson took to social media to respond to viewer barbs about her hair and clothes she wears.
She revealed how she has been repeatedly targeted and felt compelled to post a response on her Facebook page.
Kay wrote: ‘To the Richards, the Sandras, the Johns, the Lizs… the ones who somehow have time to email me about how bad I look or how annoying I am, thank you.
‘For you see, despite being as terrible as you say I am, you still watch [laughing emoji].
‘Here’s to perimenopausal hair and being a damn good weather WOMAN who sometimes, granted not all, but sometimes gets it bloody perfect.
‘Now leave me to my girlie Nümph [dress emoji].’
Kay also filmed an accompanying video in which she detailed some of the abuse she has received.
BBC Weather Presenter Kay Crewdson took to social media to respond to trolls who have made comments about her hair and clothes
In response to criticism about her ‘girly dresses’, Ms Crewdson said she ‘found the girliest one I could and put it on – ha!’
She said: ‘The amount of hate mail I get at the minute is unreal and I’ll clear a few things up.
‘One – my hair. I’ve been trying to grow my hair for nearly two years and finally it is growing, but like a child’s hair.
‘So I can’t do much about that. And if I was to wax that down, I’d probably get emails saying like I look like a slaphead, so I can’t do that.
‘Next – I shouldn’t wear girly dresses. Ah, what are you gonna do? Found the girliest one I could and put it on – ha!’
Her post was met with a flood of supporting messages from fans and well-wishers, including one called Janet Jack.
She told her: ‘You are the best. Let the keyboard warriors come and meet us face to face and say what they feel brave enough to say behind closed doors.
‘The word jealousy springs to mind. Keep doing what you are doing gorgeous Kay. You are a star [star emoji] xxxx.’
Kay is a BBC North West host who is a Met Office trained weather presenter and has been at the Beeb for more than 15 years, including a stint as a Radio York breakfast show presenter.
Ms Crewdson said her ‘perimenopausal’ hair – which viewers had been criticising online – has taken two years to grow
She has been applauded for bravely talking about baby loss after losing two of her babies to miscarriage and told how it ‘felt like the world had stopped’ when a sonographer told her there was no heartbeat.
Three years ago sharing her story on the BBC for Baby Loss Awareness Week, she said she lost Reg and Star in the early weeks of her pregnancy and though she never got to meet them, she would ‘talk about them as long as I live.
In 2018 she also produced a BBC radio documentary called The Emptiness Within, after suffering her first miscarriage. In it, she and her partner Jim Harding described their devastation at finding out their baby had died a few weeks after learning she was pregnant the year previously.
She said at the time: ‘I wanted to make the documentary to get people talking about the subject of miscarriage. In 2018 it really shouldn’t be a topic that remains shrouded in mystery – almost as if it’s a taboo.
‘I wanted the documentary to resonate with others, many of whom have suffered in silence; and for those who have never experienced miscarriage, both male and female, who really have no idea what it’s like.
‘When it happened to me, I felt empty, both emotionally and physically. It’s a feeling that all of the contributors I spoke to expressed when sharing their stories, and I want to thank them for taking the brave step to talk so openly about their experiences.’
