Emily Atack hits back at vile trolls after she attracted “sexually aggressive” attention for stripping naked on a TV show

Emily Atack has hit back at online trolls after receiving negative attention from viewers of her new TV series Rivals.

Rivals is a fast-paced new series starring David Tennant, Katherine Parkinson, Danny Dyer and Aidan Turner, launching on Disney Plus on Friday, October 18th.

Based on the hot Jilly Cooper novel of the same name, the show has been described as a “crazy bonk-fest” with fans completely obsessed with the new comedy-drama.

Emily, 34, stars in the series as Sarah Stratton, the wife of a local MP who has a penchant for having affairs with men who work at the local TV station.

In one memorable scene, which also features a completely naked Alex Hassel with his penis fully extended, Emily's character played tennis naked.

The star covered herself with a strategically placed tennis racket and tennis balls, and fans applauded the saucy scene.

However, Emily revealed that she received quite a lot of “sexually aggressive” comments and criticism from those who saw the scene.

“I knew something like this would happen, just not so quickly,” she said in an interview with The Sunday Times.

“I'm at work, I'm playing a role, this scene is an integral part of the book.” “I'm exactly where I need to be.”

She added that she works and should be able to do a scene like this without receiving terrible comments.

“I can't control people's sexually aggressive behavior, but I can continue my campaign and fight for women's freedom.” I should be able to film a scene like this without receiving negative attention. “The two should not go hand in hand,” she said.

Then she recalled an alarming anecdote: “A woman said to me on Instagram the other day, “Choose a lane. You can't play such a suggestive role, take off your clothes and expect not to get any messages. Why would you take on this role?”

“And I wanted to say to her, ‘Are you telling me to quit my job?’ Why should I?

“Women have to change clothes; We have to change our route home. I am a professional. “I’ll never please everyone,” she concluded.

Ahead of the show's release, Emily told metro She was excited to take on the role and was so comfortable on set that she could relax “with her breasts out.”

“Sometimes you're actually so relaxed that you sit there with your breasts out and think, 'Oh, sure, okay, God, I forgot to put my robe on.'”

Speaking about the tennis scene, she also said, “I thought, 'Oh God, do I really need to know how to play tennis?'” Funny how that was my concern and not the nudity.”

The star has been abused since she first found fame playing the role of Charlotte Hinchcliffe in The Inbetweeners, the object of desire for every man on the show.

In 2020, she made a BBC documentary called “Asking for It?”, in which she highlighted the extent of the abuse she suffered and talked about how abusers assume she wants to receive what they want send her.

She also told The Times in 2023 that online abuse directed at her had increased during the lockdown.

“It feels like a sexual assault – and I've been sexually assaulted, so I know what that feels like. 'I feel like I'm being sexually assaulted hundreds of times a day.'

“There were so many other things going on. People died. People in nursing homes had to wave to their loved ones through the windows. I didn't feel like I could come out and say, 'Can you stop sending me pictures of your cock?' So I bottled it up.”

Rivals is available to stream on Disney Plus.

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