Big Brother presenter Davina McCall is said to have received a number of death threats during this year’s series.

The Mirror reported that Davina received emails that threatened to kill her on air. Her response was to hire three burly security guards and a private investigator.

A source said: “She was really, really terrified. On the show you wouldn’t have realised anything was wrong, but behind the scenes she was very scared.”

The detective traced the emails to a 19-year-old living near Manchester.

“She was very relieved when he was found,” the insider revealed. “It was a very worrying time for everyone.”

A Big Brother spokesman said: “We always have the appropriate security in place.”