BABY Reindeer star and creator Richard Gadd came under fire from Loose Women’s Brenda Edwards as she addressed his horror stalking ordeal portrayed on the TV show.
The opinionated ITV star, 55, told how she had binged the latest Netflix must-watch, based on Richard‘s real-life experiences.
For viewers not familiar with the plotline, Baby Reindeer follows the story of struggling comedian Donny Dunn who juggles his side-hustle with a job at a London pub.
When he offers a fellow Scot, Martha – played by Jessica Gunning, 38 – a free cup of tea at the bar, she swiftly becomes obsessed with him.
Donny initially appreciates the attention he’s getting from Martha and flirts with her.
However, she soon crosses the boundary from friend to stalker, which brings to light Donny’s past trauma of sexual abuse.
The ‘real life Martha’ has now been unmasked as Fiona Harvey– a Scots woman who moved to London, while fans have also tracked down the real Camden boozer which sparked the whole storyline off.
Giving her take on the show as it played out, Brenda talked of Richard’s character Donny and admitted of the 34-year-old: “I was very surprised at the way he had researched … it seemed like he was encouraging her [Martha.]
“Because he researched her, had seen the red flags, yet wanted more of the attention.
“So, again, I felt sorry for him at first but then when I saw him encouraging more, it was like, you have brought this on yourself.”
True story
Last week, the woman accused of being the real life Martha insisted: “I am the victim here.”
She spoke to The Daily Record and told how she had received death threats from Baby Reindeer fans.
She said: “I’m the victim here, not Richard Gadd.
“I’ve had death threats as a result of his show despite the fact that a lot of the things he claimed are just not true.
“Someone online said, ‘If I find you I will kill you’. A guy in North Carolina said that he and other people were going to stalk me
like I am supposed to have stalked Gadd.
“I got two hours’ sleep last night. I thought, what if his supporters really do things like that?”
Baby Reindeer by numbers
The Netflix series has become quite the breakout smash hit...
- 7 Number of episodes in the series
- 30 Number of countries the series has topped the Netflix chart in
- 64 Percentage increase in viewers the show earned in its second week, compared to its first
- 97 The show’s percentage score on industry bible Rotten Tomatoes
- 41,071 Amount of emails Richard claims he was sent by the real life Martha
- 13.3 million Number of viewers who tuned into the show during its first week
Yet she has also not held back in taking a swipe at show creator Richard himself, arguing on social media: “He’s angry he never got me in bed.”
We also exclusively told of Fiona’s threats to streaming service Netflix since the story unfolded.
She recently told the Scottish Sun: “I have a claim against Netflix as this is being billed as part of a true story.
“I’m a highly competent lawyer. I’d have to do it myself. I’m very good.
“I have a photographic memory and can memorise huge files. I was top in my school at everything.”
Meanwhile, for his part, Richard claimed he went to great lengths to mask her identity and begged fans not to search for her on social media.
