Reality TV star Hughie Maughan has said he was physically and verbally attacked by a group of teenagers this week.
The former Big Brother runner-up and Dancing with the Stars contestant, 26, was walking in Ballymun on Monday when the teens started throwing glass bottles and shouting homophobic slurs at him from across the road.
He admitted that the encounter brought back memories of similar abuse he endured growing up, having contemplated suicide at the age of 16.
Maughan told the Irish Mirror: ‘I was out on a walk and a group of teenagers were throwing glass bottles at me, sticks, and calling me every name under the sun, and calling me the most disgusting homophobic and derogatory names you could think of.
‘It was literally a hate crime,’ he added.
‘They are from the travelling community also. There were about 10 to 15 of them. And I was just thinking, imagine there was some kid in my position. How frightened they’d be.’
Maughan said the group followed and continued to taunt him for a mile and that they even called him a ‘paedophile’ and a ‘child molester’.
He managed to record the incident and send videos to the gardai, but and although he now feels equipped to handle abuse, it saddens him to think of somebody else suffering similar hatred.
‘Maybe I sought out fame because I never got any positive attention in my life. Maybe so, when I sit down and think about it. It made me think of that yesterday,’ he said.
‘It’s strange how you block some stuff out in your life, but I thought of that yesterday.’
Maughan came out during Big Brother in 2016, and will this week appear on Virgin Media’s Eating with the Enemy to discuss issues such as religion, sexuality and generational differences within the Traveller community.
