When Marcello Marino appeared on Channel 4's daytime cookery competition Come Dine With Me in March 2011, he became a (very minor) TV baddie.
But three years on, the joke is over, and Marino has pleaded with Channel 4 to stop showing the show on repeat because he's been getting death threats.
please C4 stop repeat my episode I get death threats every time it’s aired. it's TV not real life, nobody deserves this
After receiving a string of physical threats, the 44-year-old hairdresser said enough is enough.
The Mail reported that among the messages he's received via Facebook, one person told him: "If I see you in the street I'm going to punch you until you are lying on the ground."
An anonymous texter said: "You are a cretin. I'd love to see you dead – you really are a slimy toad and if I ever see you in the street I'll sort you out."
Marino said, according to the Mail: 'I didn't sign up to this and I just want them to stop repeating the shows I was in. Every time it's on I go out and am always looking over my shoulder. I asked C4 to stop putting it on because one day I'll be killed and it will be the show's fault."
Among the tactful things Marino told his fellow contestants were "You've got a terrible haircut" and "Are you a transvestite? You look like it."
He told a female competitor she "looked like she'd never have a bath", and complained that her meal looked like "sick in a bag".
Police visited his home in Kent last week to answer a report of harassment.
Despite this, Channel 4 has no plans to stop the repeats, and told the Mail: "We were saddened to hear Marcello had been receiving threats as he was a great contributor on Come Dine with Me which is a fun and light-hearted show.
"The programme makers have been in touch with Marcello to offer support and advice and both we and the programme makers would urge any contributor receiving threats to contact the police immediately."