Benedict Cumberbatch has taken aim at the more devoted section of his loyal ‘Cumberb****es’ fanbase, calling some of them “obsessive and deluded” in a new interview.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, the 40 year old ‘Sherlock’ actor vented about some of his fans who maintain that his marriage to his wife, Sophie Hunter, and the existence of their 16 month old son Christopher are ‘PR stunts’.

Cumberbatch married Sophie, a theatre and opera director, in a ceremony on Valentine’s Day in 2015 and, later that year, welcomed their first child into the world. However, some comments about his family life seem to particularly bother him, even though he’s used to being in the spotlight of ultra-fandom.

Benedict CumberbatchBenedict Cumberbatch and his wife Sophie Hunter in 2015

“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.”

More: Benedict Cumberbatch joins David Gilmour onstage to sing ‘Comfortably Numb’

“’It's impossible he belongs to anyone but me’. And that's what stalking is. That's what obsessive, deluded, really scary behaviour is.”

On the other hand, the new star of Marvel’s upcoming Doctor Strange also spoke rather more light-heartedly about some of the other antics of the ‘Cumberb****es’, such as their slightly strange erotic fantasies about him that they often share with each other online.

Quoting an example, he told 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 star sniggered. “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.”

More: Benedict Cumberbatch interviews Tom Hiddleston, and thoughtfully avoids the Taylor Swift question