A woman who has been accused of being the "real" Martha from Netflix's Baby Reindeer has spoken out about the reception she's received since Richard Gadd's drama hit the streaming service.
Gadd wrote and starred in Baby Reindeer after bringing his real-life experiences of being stalked and sexually abused to screens having previously told the tale on stage in a widely acclaimed one-man show.
Gadd plays a fictionalised version of himself named Donny who crosses paths with soon-to-be stalker Martha (played by Jessica Gunning) after offering her a cup of tea while working in a pub.
What follows in Baby Reindeer is a complex and dark rollercoaster of a relationship that Martha and Donny embark on as the former becomes obsessed and infiltrates every aspect of her subject's life.
Donny finds himself struggling to get his life back on the rails as he too faces an obsession of his own with Martha while simultaneously having to confront the trauma of his past sexual assault at the hands of a TV exec named Darrien, portrayed by Tom Goodman-Hill in the show.
Following the drama's release and despite pleas from both Gadd and Gunning, armchair detectives have been scouring the web to work out who the real people who inspired Baby Reindeer's characters are.
Richard Gadd wrote and starred in Baby Reindeer
NETFLIX
And the woman who sleuths claim to have inspired Martha has found herself the subject of threats from viewers who've identified her.
The Scottish 58-year-old has now spoken publicly, telling the Daily Record: "I'm the victim here, not Richard Gadd. 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."
The unnamed woman also claimed to have received death threats following Baby Reindeer's release and has been surviving off of "two hours sleep" a night.
She claims not to have watched Baby Reindeer but added to the publication: "I have seen various things.
"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."
She went on to slam Gunning's depiction of herself, telling the outlet that she doesn't "think I look like that woman actress playing Martha".
The "real" Martha's public verdict on the series comes just days after both Gadd and Gunning urged viewers not to try and work out the identities of the characters in Gadd's story.
Gadd wrote on his Instagram earlier this week: "People I love, have worked with, and admire (including Sean Foley) are unfairly caught up in speculation.
"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." (sic)
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Jessica Gunning plays Martha in Baby Reindeer
NETFLIX
Gunning echoed this in an interview with Glamour where she insisted: "I didn’t know that was happening. I would urge people not to be doing that. I think if that is happening, I think it’s a real, real shame, because it shows that they haven’t watched the show properly.
"That’s not the point of it in any way. Netflix and Richard [Gadd] went to extreme lengths to try and make sure that the identities were kept private for a reason.
"I think they should try and watch the show again, and really see what the point of it was – it definitely wasn’t that. I deliberately didn’t want to do an impersonation of somebody; I wanted to do an interpretation of this character."
GB News has contacted Netflix and Gadd's representatives for comment on the Daily Record's interview.
