I'm a psychiatrist and I do not believe Fiona Harvey was lying to Piers Morgan ... trends now
For the first 20 minutes of her interview with Piers Morgan, I believed every word that 58-year-old Fiona Harvey said.
She was bright, articulate and engaged. She answered all the questions directly and calmly. She held eye contact with Morgan throughout.
Could it really be that the real-life inspiration for ‘Martha’ in the Netflix hit Baby Reindeer was, after all, as innocent as she claimed? Had the damage to her reputation resulting from comedian Richard Gadd’s show been a gross injustice?
After weeks of speculation, Fiona – a woman whose alleged behaviour has brought her the unenviable accolade of the country’s most famous stalker – broke cover.
On Thursday, her landmark interview with Piers Morgan was broadcast on his Uncensored YouTube show. He says the pre-taped 60-minute exchange has been watched by more than 3.5 million. The Mail, which had chosen not to name her in recent weeks, has now done so.
After weeks of speculation, Fiona Harvey - a woman whose alleged behaviour has brought her the unenviable accolade of the country’s most talked about stalker - broke cover
Piers Morgan with Fiona Harvey, the inspiration for Baby Reindeer's character Martha, who came forward after she said her portrayal by actress Jessica Gunning was ‘taking over her life’
So why did she do it? Well, in her own words, her astonishing portrayal by actress Jessica Gunning in the show was ‘taking over her life’. She said she had been ‘hounded’ online. This was her chance to set the record straight.
And at least to begin with, her claims to have been wronged by the show’s writer and creator, Richard Gadd, seem entirely convincing. But as the interview went on, the cracks began to appear and her story crumbled piece by piece.
Ms Harvey claimed to possess a photographic memory. So why, for example, could she not recall the class she received for her supposed law degree?
She fast became evasive. Where once there was eye contact, she now looked down to the ground and out around the studio like a fox caught in a trap.
As a psychiatrist, medical ethics rules prevent me from suggesting any kind of diagnosis without speaking to her myself, so I am must be clear that I am not providing one.
Ms Harvey denied stalking Richard Gadd; she denied sending him 41,000 emails, 350 hours of voice messages, 744 tweets, 48 Facebook messages and 106 letters
Fiona's landmark interview with Piers Morgan was viewed by more than 3.5 million people on his Uncensored YouTube show
But I have frequently worked with patients with the type of ‘delusional disorder’ that Martha (the character which is seemingly based on Harvey) suffers. And the pattern is often the same. Their story
