Zara McDermott surprised by the identities of people trolling her

What did you miss?

Zara McDermott has discovered the identities of some people who trolled her and she was surprised by what she found.

The documentary maker, who first was propelled into the limelight on Love Island, pre-recorded a special film investigating trolling for BBC's Morning Live which aired on Thursday.

Having had a fair amount of experience with trolling herself, she admitted in the segment: "I've had people commenting on everything I post, things I'm wearing, even people digging into my family life and my relationships. It's invasive. It makes me feel scared. Scared to post anything now days."

In the special film, McDermott revealed one of the interesting things was finding out some of the people who have trolled her in the past actually have normal jobs like being a nurse and a primary school teacher.

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What, how and why?

She said: "What I found really interesting are who the people behind the comments actually are." McDermott didn't openly name who the trolls are but she shared some things she had found out about them, such as their jobs, which would not lead to them being identified.

She said: "I've done some digging into who the people are that troll me. I've actually found one woman who is a primary school teacher. I found another guy, he's a middle-aged guy, he's married with young children. 'And there's another woman that I found who's actually a nurse.

"I had a perception in my head that a troll was someone who sat in a dark room, on a laptop all day, spewing out hateful comments online. But, actually, these people are people with normal jobs, with friends, with children."

Some of the hateful comments that have been written about McDermott were also shown in the special film, blurring out the name of the users who were trolling her. Also in the TV segment, McDermott speaks about trolling with expert Professor Kesi Mahendran from The Open University.

After rocketing to fame on Love Island in 2018, the TV star has spoken up for herself and she has even fired back at some trolls who have criticised her on social media.

From reality TV to documentary maker

She may have originally started out as a reality TV star but McDermott has been recreating herself as a documentary maker in more recent times. Her BBC documentaries tackle serious topics from murder to revenge porn and eating disorders.

While her glittering TV career has been mostly moving away from the reality TV circles, McDermott isn't ashamed of her Love Island stint that initially made her famous. The documentary maker also made history as the first Love Island star to compete on Strictly Come Dancing last year, at the same time her other half Sam Thompson was competing on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here in Australia and later was crowned king of the jungle.

Read More: Sam Thompson And Zara McDermott Address Rumours Of ‘Crisis Talks’

Previously, she told The Sun of doing reality TV: "My background of reality TV isn’t something I’m ashamed of at all – I’m proud of where I’ve come from. There is some stigma around reality television, and I’ve never quite understood it. You should never judge a young person for grabbing an opportunity.

"It was amazing and all those experiences have brought me to this point. I’ve worked hard to get where I am. Ten days on Love Island doesn’t compare to the documentaries that have taken years and years to make. I definitely feel like I’ve proven myself."

Watch BBC Morning Live week days from 9.30am.