A series of tweets from Rutherford followed, implying he had withdrawn from the SPOTY awards before the BBC applied pressure to convince him to stay on.
"I have opinions, of which I was privately clear. I DID pull out of Spoty, on Sunday I wrote to the BBC requesting removal," he wrote.
"Throughout the next 2 days the Spoty team asked me to stay on. Also, I realised my nomination meant so much to my family.
"I then asked myself, do I really want to disappoint my own family just because of a bigot's views? The answer was no.
"Next thing I know, someone leaks my withdrawal request and the private decision I've made suddenly changes to something much bigger.
"So, I will still attend Spoty, to make my family proud and to thank them for the support in my career, and that's what I plan to do.
"AND, I'm mega keen to meet Tyson Fury's riveting, personality-filled little toe."
The BBC has come in for criticism for adding Fury to the shortlist, with director, Tony Hall, expected to face questioning over the controversial boxer's nomination by the culture, media and sport select committee next Wednesday.
The BBC had previously defended Fury's nomination, saying: "Tyson Fury's victory and subsequent crowning as world heavyweight champion was widely covered by media outlets and his inclusion on the shortlist is similarly recognition of his sporting achievement - it is not about endorsing his personal views. It will be for the public to decide who will be crowned the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2015."
Fury, who yesterday was stripped of his IBF title after signing on to fight Klitschko in a rematch, later addressed Rutherford's concerns via Twitter, posting: "All this talk of@GregRutherford_ who is he exactly?????"
Last week, the 27-year-old addressed the furore over his nomination, tweeting: "Hopefully I don't win @BBCSPOTY as I'm not the best roll model [sic] in the world for the kids, give it to someone who would appreciate it".
