Real-life Martha from ‘Baby Reindeer’ claims Netflix story is “rubbish”

The woman that Baby Reindeer’s Martha was allegedly based on has labelled the show “a load of rubbish” and has threatened to take legal action.

The hit Netflix series was created by Richard Gadd, and claims to tell the true story of his experience of being obsessively stalked by a woman called Martha after he befriends her in the pub he works in.

In the final episode of the show, Martha, who had already served a four-and-a-half year sentence for a previous stalking conviction, is jailed for nine months.

Now, the woman – who has been identified as Fiona Harvey – has told the Daily Record: “None of this happened. It’s a load of rubbish.”

It is the first time that she has given her consent to be named in the press, saying that she has made the decision “because people have to know what is going on.”

She went on to tell the newspaper that she has not been to prison, adding: “I don’t know where the four-and-a-half years and nine months comes in.”

Threatening legal action against Gadd and Netflix, she said: “Gadd needs to prove I went to jail which just didn’t happen. I’ve never been sent to jail. That is blatantly obvious.

“Police at your door would be the first thing, then you’d be charged, then you would have a trial. Then you’d be fined or something or go to prison.

“This is all made up and hyperbole. There are no restraining orders, injunctions or interdicts anywhere. There’s just no way. I’ve not had the police at my door about any of these things.

“It’s a load of rubbish. I don’t have any money but I’m a perfectly capable lawyer so I will represent myself.”

NME have approached Gadd and Netflix for comment.

Last month, the woman said she had received death threats as a result of the show. “I’m the victim here, not Richard Gadd,” she told the Daily Record.

“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.”

She went on to say that she had been getting by on “two hours sleep” per night since the show had been released, which she said she had not watched.

“I was in Richard Gadd’s company on occasions but I didn’t stalk him like he claims. His story is that this is a gross intrusion into my privacy. I haven’t seen him for 12 years.

“I read that he had written that show for the festival four or five years ago and I thought, ‘Oh my God’. This weekend I Googled and stories about Richard Gadd and Baby Reindeer were all over the place in flashing lights.”

Gadd and Jessica Gunning, who plays Martha in the show, have both urged viewers not to try to work out the identities of the characters in the story.

“People I love, have worked with, and admire (including Sean Foley) are unfairly caught up in speculation,” Gadd wrote. “Please don’t speculate on who any of the real-life people could be. That’s not the point of our show. Lots of love, Richard x X.”

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