Bride and Prejudice star’s shock claim after being declared ‘dead’

Bride and Prejudice star Dannii Erskine has spoken out after being declared “dead” in widespread reports – and revealed who she believes the culprit is.

Bride and Prejudice star Dannii Erskine has spoken out after it was wrongfully claimed that she had died in a “horrible tragedy”, saying she was “shocked” and “disgusted” by the hoax – which she blamed on an obsessed “stalker”.

It was first reported on So Dramatic that the 28-year-old – who featured on the Channel 7 show in 2019 with her then-fiance Denton Ansley – had been killed in a car crash in North Melbourne on April 29.

She later personally denied the story to the publication, adding that she had been in a car accident – but that it had occurred in September last year.

Speaking to Sunrise’s David “Kochie” Koch and Natalie Barr about the ordeal on Tuesday, Erskine claimed that the baffling claim had emerged after her Instagram was hacked by a stalker.

“I’ve been under a lot of stress. I was told to essentially switch off from it all and focus on recovery and it’s been extremely hard to do that when this is all been happening,” Erskine told Seven’s breakfast program.

“I’m quite shocked with what’s happened. I’m quite disgusted.

“It just makes me feel sick because, as we all know, people lose their lives every day. It’s just one of those things that really makes you sick to the stomach.”

The reality TV star appeared on Sunrise with David ‘Kochie’ Koch on Tuesday. Picture: Seven

Erskine went on to claim that she suspected the culprit was “a well-known stalker” of hers, although she couldn’t “confirm any sort of names”.

“Unfortunately, I thought things had passed but clearly they haven’t passed,” she said.

“So it is being investigated and hopefully justice will come soon and someone will be charged for this.”

Erskine added that her family had been left traumatised.

“My poor family were inundated with so many phone calls. This whole experience has just been awful,” she said.

“That’s scary, you poor thing. Thanks for speaking to us, for clearing that up,” Koch responded.

“It’s a great warning for everyone out there and horrific to put families in this situation.”

The furore began earlier this month with reports of Erskine’s death, which it was alleged was the result of a horror car crash on April 29.

Someone claiming to be her sister Dee told the So Dramatic! podcast, hosted by entertainment journalist Megan Pustetto, that Erskine’s car was T-boned on the way home from the shops in North Melbourne.

“Dee” said that Erskine had sustained catastrophic injuries when her head impacted the airbag and she later died in hospital.

There also appeared to be a post from her family to her Instagram page, stating: “REST IN PEACE Dannii Erskine. 1995-2023.”

The social media account was shortly after deleted.

The death notice posted to social media.

However, there were soon rumblings that she might be alive after all.

Pustetto said that several listeners who knew Erskine had got in touch to say they had received strange, garbled text messages from the funeral home about the ceremony which aroused their suspicions.

Pustetto said she had called the funeral home, where the text messages had reportedly come from, to be told there were no funerals for that date or any listed under Erskine’s name.

Victoria Police said there had been no major accidents in the location where the reality star supposedly perished while the coroner’s office had no records of her death.

Dannii Erskine responds

Amid the drama, Erskine re-emerged, sending a statement to So Dramatic.

“On the 29th of April, 2023, my Instagram account was hacked,” she said.

“I spoke to the police over the phone and they’re going to look into it … I also reported it to Google.”

Erskine said a notification on her phone said it had been logged into in Geelong the day before she was reported as having died. She lives in the Mornington Peninsula area.

The former contestant insisted her sister Dee “never emailed” the podcast but rather it was “sent from someone who hacked my account”.

“I have no idea who emailed So Dramatic! and to be honest I don’t really care.”

Erskine said she had indeed been in a car accident – but that was in September last year.

“For the last six months I have been home-bound due to an injury in my ankle. I was in hospital for many months including rehab.”

She said she had been in hospital “all week” getting her ankle reconstructed and doctors said she should focus on her recovery.

“I haven’t had time to deal with this.”

Originally published as Bride and Prejudice star’s shock claim after being declared ‘dead’