Nicola Bulley’s partner Paul Ansell says social media ‘became a monster’

The family of Nicola Bulley have revealed how social media ‘became a monster’ for them after there was intense speculation over her disappearance.

The mother-of-two vanished on January 27 last year while walking her dog Willow along the River Wyre in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire, shortly after dropping her daughters off at school.

Her disappearance became one of the most high-profile modern missing person searches and after a three-week search which threatened to be derailed by internet sleuths, her body was found by a member of the public on February 19.

Now, Paul Ansell, Ms Bulley’s partner of 12 years and father to their two children, has revealed how he was subjected to a barrage of unfounded online conspiracies online.

Discussing the impact social media had, he said: ‘It wasn’t a huge part of our lives. But yeah, when you experience something like this, you realise what a huge monster it can be, I guess.’

Paul Ansell, pictured in the BBC’s new documentary, has shed light on how social media ‘became a monster’ for him and his family

Paul (L), Nicola’s partner, will appear in BBC documentary The Search For Nicola Bulley 

The mysterious disappearance of Nicola Bulley gripped the nation for months in 2023, as both speculation and scrutiny surrounded the case of the missing mother

Ms Bulley’s sister, Louise Cunningham, fights back tears as she relives her sister’s disappearance

Speaking in a clip from a BBC documentary, he went on to say: ‘I was getting direct messages from people that I’ve never met. They don’t know me, they don’t know us, they don’t know Nikki. They know nothing about us. 

‘Just messages like ‘you b******’. ‘We know what you did’. ‘You know you can’t hide Paul’, that kind of stuff. 

‘There was some that I felt like replying to, but then if you reply to that, they’ll just screenshot your reply, if that’ll end up on social media. And so you’re literally silenced, and you can’t do anything about it.’  

On top of dealing with social media abuse, Paul said he had to remain strong in the search for Ms Bulley for the sake of his two daughters.

He added: ‘The nights were the hardest. In the morning the hope would be strong. It used to go dark at like 4pm. It used to get to about 3pm and then I’d start panicking that I knew it would start going dark in an hour. So we had an hour to find her.

‘And then obviously I’d have the girls. The first they’d do when they came out of school was run over and say ‘have we found mummy?’

Friends of the couple were even forced to beg online trolls to stop making ‘disgusting allegations’ and ‘vile theories’ online. 

Ms Bulley’s sister, Louise Cunningham, along with her parents Ernest and Dorothy Bulley and partner Paul Ansell all participated in the documentary as they reveal the impact of the public scrutiny on their lives. 

Ring doorbell footage shows Ms Bulley, her partner Paul and their children outside their home on the morning of her disappearance

Ms Bulley’s sister, Louise (L), participated in the documentary along with her parents Ernest and Dorothy Bulley

Friends and family of the couple were forced to beg online trolls to stop making ‘disgusting allegations’ and ‘vile theories’ online

Nicola Bulley’s partner Paul Ansell speaks to the media during the search for the mother-of-two

Reliving the moment the family was informed about Nicola’s body being found, Louise said: “I’ll never forget dad coming into the kitchen. Just, like, completely breaking down and Paul being out in the garden. Just in a complete state.” 

Discussing online ‘detectives’, she added: ‘It doesn’t always have to be something sinister linked to something that happens.

‘Sometimes bad things just happen. I just wish it didn’t happen to us. We’re just a normal family. We’ve had a really tough time.’

The Search For Nicola Bulley will air on BBC1 on October 3 and digs deep into Ms Bulley’s disappearance and tragic death. The family said it was ’emotionally draining’ to film the documentary, but did it to ‘ensure she has the legacy she deserves’. 

Rachel Lob-levyt, the director behind the BBC documentary, said it was ‘nerve-racking’ to put the partner of the Lancashire mother back into public focus, but she felt it was ‘the right thing to do’.

She added: ‘We had a viewing with the family. It was difficult – obviously emotional for them. They feel the documentary really honours their experience, and honours Nikki.

‘At the time she went missing, Paul was subject to a really difficult level of scrutiny.

‘The idea of putting himself back in the public eye is nerve-racking but ultimately, he thought it the right thing to do.

‘The social media sleuths felt entitled to say whatever they wanted. In the past we’d have talked about these things in the pub, whereas now people broadcast it online and everything is accelerated. Opinion takes on similar weight to verified information.’

Paul Ansell has agreed to the documentary to tackle ‘entitled’ social media sleuths, its director has suggested

Candles are lit around a photo of Nicola Bulley (left) and her partner Paul Ansell on an altar at St Michael’s Church in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire

Paul Ansell, (right) visiting the riverside with Peter Faulding, the underwater search expert called in by the family to help with the search in the River Wyre

A coroner recorded Ms Bulley’s death as accidental, and said she fell into the river and suffered ‘cold water shock’, and there was ‘no evidence’ to suggest suicide. 

Police had accused ‘TikTokers’ of ‘playing private detectives’ in the area amid her disappearance, and said they were ‘inundated with false information, accusations and rumours’ relating to the case.

People on social media made false accusations about their being third-party involvement, and rumours were spread about a derelict house on the other side of the River Wyre, a red van in the area, a fisherman seen nearby and a glove belonging to Ms Bulley, which were all dismissed by police.

Her family have previously hit out at ‘wildly inaccurate speculation’ after the 45-year-old’s death.

An independent College of Policing review of the investigation into her disappearance found the relationship between police and the media ‘to be fractured’, and urged for it to be rebuilt.

It also criticised the disclosure of personal information about Ms Bulley’s health struggles as ‘avoidable and unnecessary’.

Ms Bulley’s body was found in the River Wyre on February 19, about a mile from where she vanished.