Glee creator Ryan Murphy was bombarded with death threats from angry fans after ending the lesbian relationship between Naya Rivera and Heather Morris' characters on the hit Tv show.

Rivera's Santana Lopez began dating her MCKinley High School classmate and best friend Brittany Pierce, played by Morris, after officially 'coming out' in season three, but the characters called off their romance during an episode in last year's (12) fourth season.

The onscreen break-up left diehard followers of the musical drama heartbroken and they made their fury known by sending threatening messages to writer/producer Murphy - and Rivera can understand why impressionable youths were so worked up about the love split.

She tells Complex magazine, "Having gay characters makes a difference, especially when you are a teenager and you need people to look up to.

"Your world feels so small. The tiniest thing can make you think, 'I'm gonna die!' I'm glad Glee is around for people dealing with something that big in such a small world. It's important." (Mt/Cx)