TV personality Dr Christian Jessen says he is broke and a crowd funding campaign to pay his legal bills has raised less than £5,000.
Dr Jessen is raising money to appeal against a court ruling which ordered him to pay £125,000 in damages to Arlene Foster for posting an "outrageous" defamatory tweet.
Dr Jessen, best known for presenting Channel Four's Embarrassing Bodies, has said he only has £20,000 in savings and feared he may go bankrupt.
A fundraiser he set up has so far reached more than £4,600 of its intended £150,000 total.
Mrs Foster sued the Harley Street doctor after he tweeted an unfounded claim on December 23 2019 that the then DUP leader had been having an affair with her close protection officer.
The £125,000 award for damages, which was made at the High Court in Belfast last week, is the highest-ever made in Britain or Ireland over a defamatory tweet.
It is understood Dr Jessen faces a bill of more than £250,000, including Mrs Foster's legal costs as well as his own.
He said he is considering appealing the court's decision.
"I gave evidence to the court about my mental health and personal circumstances over the last year but was ordered to pay libel damages and full indemnity legal costs incurred by her, which are substantial," he said.
"I am considering an appeal and I am seeking to raise funds to help me to fight what is a most unfair situation."
In an interview with the Sunday Life, he said he fears for his mental health.
The 44-year-old said he "deeply regrets" sending the tweet.
“I'm down to my last £20,000 and that won't last long,” he said.
“I don't have the money, so if the crowdfunding doesn't work, I may have to declare myself bankrupt.”
He hit out at the libel penalty, saying he believes it to be “harsh”.
“The punishment does not fit the crime,” he said.
