When he released Baby Reindeer into the world, Richard Gadd tried to hide the identities of the real-life people at the heart of the story. The show has been a smash-hit since it debuted on Netflix last month, with it recounting a dramatised version of Gadd’s own experience with a stalker, who is named Martha in the show.
The comedian, who also starred in the Netflix series, has said he changed key facts about his alleged real-life stalker. In April, he told GQ that he “went to such lengths to disguise her that I doubt she would recognise herself in the show.”
Gadd also took to Instagram after people began speculating on who Martha could be. “Please don’t speculate on who any of the real life people could be,” he wrote. “That’s not the point of our show.”
However, that of course did little to stop internet sleuths attempting to uncover Martha’s identity.
After several women were accused by TikTokers and Twitter users of being the “real-life” Martha, a woman named Fiona Harvey came forward to identify herself as such. However, Fiona claims the story panned out quite differently to the Netflix series. In May, Harvey finally shared her side of the story in an interview with Piers Morgan.
Ahead, everything of note that Harvey revealed in her interview.
Is Baby Reindeer Actually a True Story?
It is not entirely clear exactly how much of Baby Reindeer is based in fact, how much is dramatised and how much is made up. However, it is worth noting that Netflix billed it as being “a captivating true story” on its posters, as opposed to being “based on a true story.”
Netflix has stood by the series.
Furthermore, per Forbes, Netflix’s Policy Chief Benjamin King told a UK Parliament that the streamer and its producer had taken, “every reasonable precaution in disguising the real-life identities of the people involved in that story.”
“We didn’t want to anonymise that or make it generic to the point where it was no longer [Gadd’s] story because that would undermine the intent behind the show,” King added.
However, Harvey called Gadd “a liar” and said that the show is “a work of fiction” and “completely untrue.”
Gadd has not commented, nor has he confirmed whether Harvey was actually the inspiration for the character of Martha.
What Did Fiona Harvey Say About Baby Reindeer?
In her interview with Morgan, Harvey confirmed that she did, in fact, know Gadd. However, she claimed she had only met him “two or three times,” but later changed that to “five or six.”
She also said that while the pair did meet in a Camden pub, Gadd actually approached her by interrupting a conversation she was having with someone else, as opposed to the other way around.
Harvey also denied stalking Gadd, assaulting his parents and attacking his girlfriend, per the series’ depiction. She also said she had not sent him 41,000 emails, 106 letters and/or hundreds of voicemails, as Martha did in the show. She told Morgan: “I mean, my point is, though, even if that were true, I didn’t lunge at him across the bar. I didn’t sexual[ly] assault him in a canal. I didn’t go to jail.”
The end of the series sees Martha arrested and charged, receiving a nine-month prison sentence and five-year restraining order. Harvey said she has never been charged or been to prison over stalking offences.
However, she did admit to owning a toy reindeer she once joked resembled Gadd.
Harvey said she plans to take legal action against both Gadd and Netflix.
