Alan Carr’s ex Paul Drayton says he was targeted by blackmailer over Grindr nudes
“When I first got a message and those pictures, my blood ran cold, it’s like your nervous system goes into high alert," Drayton said
By Callum Wells
Alan Carr‘s ex-husband Paul Drayton has revealed he was targeted by a blackmailer who threatened to release intimate photos he had sent on Grindr.
Drayton, who was married to the comedian from 2018 until 2022, first spoke about the incident on Instagram in June and has since shared further details about what happened.
On 24 June, Drayton said he had been contacted by an account that sent him one of his own intimate photographs, which he had “sent to somebody on Grindr”. The person then threatened to make the image public unless Drayton paid them.
“I have nothing to hide and am posting this to raise awareness on how this goes on” – Paul Drayton on his Grindr blackmail scare
The images had been sent using Grindr’s expiring-image feature, which allows users to send pictures that disappear after they have been viewed. Drayton believes the person who obtained the image used another phone to photograph it before it disappeared.
He initially appeared to brush off the threats, posting a video about the incident on Instagram with the caption: “Don’t send nudes kids!” and adding the hashtag “funny”.
Drayton was subsequently advised to report the blackmailer to police. He continued to document the messages he received, and on 5 August shared another post containing the threats and the images.
“I have nothing to hide and am posting this to raise awareness on how this goes on. I had no intention of paying him anything, I just tried to obtain as much info as possible,” he wrote.
“When I first got a message and those pictures, my blood ran cold, it’s like your nervous system goes into high alert” – Drayton to The Sun
Speaking to The Sun, Drayton has now described his reaction when he first received the message containing his photograph.
“When I first got a message and those pictures, my blood ran cold, it’s like your nervous system goes into high alert.”
According to Drayton, the person behind the blackmail attempt created several WhatsApp accounts and used profiles featuring photographs of men to contact him.
“It really is scary thinking that people are spying on you,” he said. “Obviously I’ve got a public Instagram account… but you still have to be careful.”
“We can confirm we are aware of this allegation and have engaged with the informant” – West Sussex Police spokesperson
The situation escalated when the blackmailer brought up the death of Drayton’s father, which he said “really fired [him] up”.
Despite the threats, Drayton refused to pay and instead told the person contacting him to “feel free” to publish the photographs.
He reported the incident to West Sussex Police and was later interviewed by officers. Sussex Police confirmed to The Sun that it is investigating the allegation.
“We can confirm we are aware of this allegation and have engaged with the informant,” a spokesperson said.