FIONA Harvey, who’s been dubbed the real Martha from Baby Reindeer, has given her side of the story in a Piers Morgan Uncensored interview.
Here we take an in-depth look at what she had to say about the hit Netflix show and its writer.
What did Fiona Harvey say on Piers Morgan’s Uncensored YouTube show?
Fiona has opened up in a wide-ranging interview with Piers Morgan, but the woman who inspired Baby Reindeer took a swipe at The Sun columnist just hours before their chat was due to air.
She wrote online: “Piers is a twerp, but we already know this.
“You will see in my interview.”
Hoping to set the record straight, Fiona accuses the show’s writer Richard Gadd of “making money out of untrue facts”.
As Fiona said on Piers Morgan Uncensored: “We’ve had no apologies from Netflix or him, nothing. I mean, for someone who says he feels sorry for me, I’ve had no apology.
“My character seems to have smashed up a bar, sexually assaulted him in a canal, been to prison. There are a number of other allegations, and… That’s not true.”
On being ‘outed’ as the ‘real-life Martha’ online within hours of the show dropping Netflix, she told Piers: “On the internet, sleuths tracked me down and hounded me and gave me death threats. So it wasn’t really a choice. I was forced into this situation.”
I find [Baby Reindeer] quite obscene. I find it horrifying, misogynistic
Fiona Harvey to Piers Morgan
When Piers asked Fiona if she’d watched Baby Reindeer, she replied: “Not at all. I’ve heard about the court scene, about the jail sentences and all this sort of stuff… I haven’t watched any of it.”
“You’re not curious, too?” Piers added.
“No, I think I’d be sick. It’s taken over enough of my life. I find it quite obscene. I find it horrifying, misogynistic.
“Some of the death threats have been really terrible online. People phoning me up. You know, it’s been absolutely horrendous.
“I wouldn’t give credence to something like that and it’s not really my kind of drama.”
I just generally think [Gadd’s] got extreme psychiatric problems
Fiona Harvey to Piers Morgan
Fiona told Piers she only found out about the show being picked up on Netflix two weeks ago.
On Gadd, she said to Piers: “I just generally think he’s got extreme psychiatric problems… It’s a work of fiction. It’s a work of hyperbole, as I’ve always said.
“And there are two true facts in that. His name is Richard Gadd, and he works as a jobbing barman on benefits in the Hawley Arms. And we met, two or three times…”
Asked by Piers whether she told Gadd he looked like a baby reindeer toy she had as a child, Fiona answered: “I had a toy reindeer and he’d shaved his head, that bit is true, and there were reindeers in the shops because it was Christmas time or something. It was a joke. So I have inadvertently penned the name of the show.”
When Piers pressed her on the 41,000 emails, 350 hours of voice messages, 744 tweets, 48 Facebook messages, and 106 letters she allegedly sent Gadd, she replied: “That’s simply not true. If somebody was sending somebody 41,000 emails or something, they’d be doing how many a day? Lots.”
Pushed further by Piers, she admitted there “may have been a couple of emails… A handful, if that… Less than ten” — and went on to reveal she’d also sent him one letter.
And in relation to the number of times she allegedly tweeted Gadd, she told Piers: “I may have done years and years ago… No, it wasn’t numerous. It’s about 18 tweets.”
Piers asked Fiona if she’d ever attacked one of Gadd’s girlfriends during a jealous rage, to which she replied:“No, I don’t think he had a girlfriend. I think he’s, say, homosexual.
This is a fictional character. Hyperbole, exaggeration. This is a fiction. It’s based on his imagination
Fiona Harvey to Piers Morgan
“But no, I have never been to his house or attacked any girlfriend or anything like that.”
When Piers asked her about how true scenes depicting Martha sitting at a bus stop for hours on end were, and whether she’d ever done that, Fiona replied: “No, I don’t know, I don’t know where he lived. No. Absolutely no… This is a fictional character. Hyperbole, exaggeration. This is a fiction. It’s based on his imagination.”
I’m not a stalker. I’ve not been to jail, I’ve not got injunctions, interdicts This is just complete nonsense.
Fiona Harvey to Piers Morgan
She also denied ever contacting his parents.
During the interview Fiona and Piers watched a clip showing Martha pleading guilty to intimidating Gadd’s character Donny and being sentenced to nine months in prison.
Piers then asked Fiona whether she’d ever been charged or spent time in prison.
She replied “no” to both questions before adding: “That’s completely untrue. Very, very defamatory to me, very career damaging.
He asked me to sleep with him with a big green spot on his face one day. I said no, I’m sorry, I’m not interested
Fiona Harvey to Piers Morgan
“And I wanted to rebut that completely on this show. I’m not a stalker. I’ve not been to jail, I’ve not got injunctions, interdicts. This is just complete nonsense.”
When the Uncensored host asked if she was ever in love with Gadd, she responded: “Piers. Is that a serious question? No… I gave him the brush off.
“He asked me to sleep with him with a big green spot on his face one day. I said no, I’m sorry, I’m not interested.
She added: “I’ve got a boyfriend’. I gave him the brush off big time, I think, you know, subtly so.
“But the bottom line is.. No, I don’t fancy little boys without jobs. That sounds awful. That sounds really, really callous. But, you know.”
Turning the tables on the host, Fiona asked Piers how much she thinks Gadd has made out of the hit Netflix show, to which he replied that it could be “several millions”.
In response to this, Fiona said: “I think he’s done bloody well out of defaming me… He’s making money out of untrue facts. He’s been the ultimate misogynist.”
Fiona was also asked by Piers what message she had for Gadd if he was watching, and she replied: “Leave me alone, please. Get a life, get a proper job. I am horrified at what you’ve done. “
When Piers asked Fiona in the Uncensored interview whether she would take legal action against Gadd, she answered: “Absolutely. Against both him and Netflix.
How to watch Piers Morgan’s interview with Fiona Harvey?
To watch the full interview tune in to the Piers Morgan Uncensored YouTube channel.
Promoting the must-see TV, the host told fans: “Reindeer breaks cover and gives me her first TV interview about the smash hit Netflix show.
“Fiona Harvey wants to have her say & ‘set the record straight.’
“Is she a psycho stalker? Find out tomorrow on Piers Morgan Uncensored.”
While Fiona wrote online: “Everything about Gadd will not be talked about now until after my TV show.
“I hope you all tune in. The explosive real truth about Gadd is finally out.
She added: “I’m very nervous about my TV appearance.”