Baby Reindeer's Richard Gadd shares why he didn't reveal the 'real Martha' to co-star Jessica Gunn
After Richard Gadd came under fire from Baby Reindeer viewers who thought he didn't do enough to conceal the identity of his alleged stalker, he's said in a new interview that he didn't even reveal Martha's true identity to his co-star.
The hugely popular series dropped on Netflix back in April and told the harrowing true story of real life comic Richard Gadd - playing himself in the production - who says he was stalked relentlessly for a number of years by a woman he calls 'Martha' (played by Jessica Gunning).
Gadd claims she began repeatedly visiting the pub he worked at after he offered her a free cup of tea, during which she became convinced of a romantic connection between the two of them.
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For some time afterwards, he received over 40,000 emails, 740 tweets, 350 hours of voicemail, 100 pages of letters and 45 Facebook messages from the woman in question.
The adaptation of some of his darkest days has hit home with a multitude of viewers.
However, Baby Reindeer viewers have been intrigued by the people that inspired the story, leading some to try and identify the people involved themselves.
And despite Gadd having pleaded with fans not to ‘speculate on who any of the real-life people could be' - adding that all the speculation is 'quite sad' and was 'not the point of the show at all' - a handful of viewers came to the conclusion that the 'real life' Martha was a woman named Fiona Harvey.
The Scottish lawyer was found on Facebook, and after mass speculation, she sat down with Piers Morgan for his show Uncensored, to 'have her say' and provide her side of the story.
The attention on Fiona has led some people to criticise both Gadd and Netflix, with fans believing the appropriate steps to conceal her identity were not taken.
That said, however, Gadd is once again defending his case and claiming he never meant for the 'real life' people behind his show's characters to be identified.
So much so, that the comedian insists he never opened up to castmate Jessica Gunn about his real-life stalker.
Speaking to Variety, he claimed: "I didn’t share any real life voicemails or emails with Jessica. And she was also very good at being like, ‘I just need the script and that’s fine’."
The Wormit-born star went on to say that he hoped Martha's character would 'take on a life of its own', so as to prevent the actor playing the 'real' version to simply 'inhabit' her.
Jessica also told the publication: "Donny as a character and Martha as a character were just so clear to me, that I didn't want to muddy it by confusing it with any information about the real person.
"Because obviously, this is told through Donny's point of view and it's based on a true story that happened to Richard. But she's a character."
Topics: Baby Reindeer, TV And Film, Netflix, Crime, True Crime
Rhianna Benson