Benedict Cumberbatch has hit out at the "obsessive, deluded and scary" behaviour some of his fans indulge in, saying it's "stalking".
The Sherlock star has a loyal legion of fans who have dubbed themselves "Cumberb****es", however the actor has criticised some conspiracy theorists for believing that his wife and child are merely "a PR stunt".
The 40-year-old actor married theatre director Sophie Hunter on Valentine's Day last year and the newlyweds welcomed son Christopher 'Kit' Carlton four months later.
Speaking to Vanity Fair, he said: "There are people who believe that my wife is a PR stunt and my child is a PR stunt. I think really it's to do with the idea that the 'Internet's boyfriend' can't actually belong to anyone else but the Internet.”
"'It's impossible he belongs to anyone but me'. And that's what stalking is. That's what obsessive, deluded, really scary behaviour is."
Benedict Cumberbatch criticises fans for believing wife and son are a PR stunt
However, the British star does see the funny side of some of his other hardcore fans' online comments, including sharing fantasies about him with one another.
He was quoted one such example by the magazine: "Sometimes when I'm sad I picture a shirtless Benedict Cumberbatch slowly eating an apple fritter. Try it!"
"It wouldn't work for me," the actor joked. "I'm glad I'm bringing a ray of sunshine to an otherwise dull day, being imagined eating fritters shirtless. But, I don't know, it makes me giggle."
Cumberbatch returning as Sherlock next year
Cumberbatch recently hinted the next series of his hit BBC series Sherlock could be the last. A fourth instalment of the hit BBC drama, starring Cumberbatch as the eponymous detective and Martin Freeman as his sidekick Doctor Watson, is expected to air early next year.
