Reality TV star Hughie Maughan says he had bottles and a piece of wood thrown at him in a homophobic attack this week.
The former 'Big Brother' and 'Dancing with the Stars' contestant is also a member of the Traveller community.
He told Lunchtime Live that 15 or so young teenagers surrounded him.
"I was just out for a walk on Monday - I always go for a walk or a jog or whatever, I'm quite active.
"This group of kids were the other side of the road, it's quite a busy road, and started kind of alerting me, calling me.
"They said 'Oh are you Hughie Maughan?' and I said 'Yeah' and then automatically they started taunting me, laughing, joking, throwing stones, saying really derogatory stuff - it was disgusting.
"It didn't upset me or anything - I did kind of worry 'Jesus Christ [they] could split me open with a glass bottle or something' cause that's what they were throwing.
"I'm quite a confident adult so I don't get intimated so easily like that - but it just made me very sad and worried if there was a teenager out there, if I'd been young, how would I have felt in that situation?"
"There was literally about 15 of them, they were like a swarm of bees around me.
"One of them comes over and picks up a plank of wood to go to throw it at me, they did actually end up throwing it - but I said 'Do not hit me with that' or whatever.
"They were running all around me, so I was scared of getting hit with something so I was watching what I was doing.
"It's just sad [that] when you're your own person and somebody does something like that - you're just out minding your own business in your local area where you've grown up your entire life and you're doing nothing to no one.
"They followed me for over a mile".
'It's none of their business'
Hughie said he just continued on walking, while videoing the incident.
"I then ended up getting a few videos, and they were aware - they were looking at me with my phone and stuff.
"They told me if I put anything online they were going to do this and that to me - I was like 'Oh just go away, I'm reporting you to the police'".
He added that he is used to tying to be pigeonholed.
"I've constantly been backed up against a wall my whole life, and told 'prove yourself'.
"My entire life you're judged - 'why can't you be like this person, why can't you be like that person'.
"My whole entire life I always felt that way, so it's water off a ducks back for me now that I'm older and I've come out - and I don't care what they think.
"It doesn't matter, it's none of their business".
