This Morning star says Baby Reindeer triggered memories of their own trauma
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
Up Next
This Morning star Matthew Wright has opened up about how Baby Reindeer has triggered his own memories of his stalking ordeal.
The harrowing Netflix series, created by and starring Richard Gadd, follows aspiring comedian Donny Dunn being stalked by a woman named Martha, after a seemingly friendly encounter turns sinister and obsessive.
Over the seven-part series, Dunn’s ordeal grows when Martha begins waiting outside his house, sending him thousands of emails, and even harassing his parents and turning violent towards his girlfriend.
Matthew, 58, has now spoken about his experiences saying the show has left him with ‘mixed feelings’ and how one scene in particular in Baby Reindeer reminded him of something he experienced.
In 2020, the woman stalking Matthew and sending his family messages demanding to look after his baby was banned from contacting them in the future, and handed a restraining order.
Michelle Ranicar was said to have repeatedly visited Matthew’s home in London, bearing gifts and messages declaring her love for him, after she was barred from being a guest in the audience of his chat show due to security concerns about her behaviour towards the presenter.
This Morning star Matthew Wright has opened up about his own stalking ordeal (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
Baby Reindeer follows the story of Donny Dunn being stalked by a woman named Martha (Picture: Ed Miller/Netflix)
Her seven-month stalking campaign was brought to an end in May 2019, when she was arrested after turning up at the Wrights’ home and telling his wife, new mother Amelia Wright: ‘Amelia, I want to see the baby.’
Talking about the horrific ordeal on Wednesday’s Lorraine, Matthew shared: ‘I have such mixed feelings about this show. But, that’s a positive.
‘I’m not saying that the positives justify the negatives but it is a positive and it shows patterns of behaviour from both men towards women and women towards men.’
He went on: ‘When I reflected on my stalking situation, I never wanted to go visit my stalker’s house, I didn’t want to buy my stalker a drink, I didn’t want to see this woman or have anything to do with her at all. And that’s where the lines are blurred in Baby Reindeer.’
He then recalled a scene from one of the early episodes of Baby Reindeer, when Martha attends one of Dunn’s comedy shows.
Jessica Gunning played Martha on Baby Reindeer (Picture: Ed Miller/Netflix / Avalon)
The Netflix series written by Richard Gadd has stormed the world (Picture: Ed Miller/Netflix / Avalon)
Matthew explained: ‘I did a charity fashion awards just locally for my community centre and everybody had glammed up… and this woman [was in the crowd] and I didn’t even recognise her because there was the person that I used to see around my TV show and around my neighbourhood but she was very glammed up, all her hair was done, she looked like a star and my wife said “no, that’s her”.’
Talking about the ordeal he and his wife, who were new parents at the time, faced, he went on: ‘It was looking over your shoulder. Every time we went out the front door, you wondered about what you were going to encounter.’
He added: ‘She would turn up at the letterbox when we had just had the baby. She was banging on the door, trying to take photos through the letterbox, demanding that we produced the baby. There was arguing, there was a lot of abuse to Amelia.
‘She had imagined herself as my partner which is kind of what happened in Baby Reindeer but obviously I wasn’t responding in any shape or form.’
Matthew and his wife Amelia, who married in 2010, became parents to daughter Cassady in January 2019, after trying for a baby for eight years and enduring six failed IVF attempts.
A woman stalked and approached Matthew’s family home while his wife was pregnant with their daughter (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX)
In court in 2020, it was said that Ranicar, who has autistic spectrum disorder and a mild learning disability, was a ‘regular’ on the set of Channel 5 show The Wright Stuff were her obsession with Matthew appeared to have began.
There, she would regularly try to speak to Matthew and sent him cards in which she declared her love for him.
In 2018, she first approached Amelia – who was pregnant at the time – at a charity event, and said: ‘Women your age with IVF babies are more likely to have stillbirths.’
The court also heard how Ranicar discovered where Matthew lived, and would turn up at his home unannounced, once shouting through the letterbox: ‘When is the baby due? Which hospital? Let me look after her.’
The matter was reported to police, but the Wrights decided not to press charges following their child’s birth later that month, as they ‘felt sorry for her’, the court heard.
The woman stalking the Wright family was handed a restraining order (Picture: Piers Allardyce/Shutterstock)
But Ranicar reignited her stalking campaign a few months later, turning up at their family home and shouting: ‘Amelia I want to see the baby.’
She also tried to take a picture on her phone through the letterbox, the court heard.
Ranicar pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, and was handed a restraining order, and sentenced to a three-year community order with a rehabilitation requirement.
Matthew added on Wednesday’s Lorraine, according to MailOnline: ‘We didn’t want our stalker to be sent to prison originally, we wanted her to receive medical help. But getting mental health help is so difficult and there just wasn’t any support out there.
‘So we went from trying to get her help to needing the full extent of the law and she got a restraining order. She respected it and didn’t go to prison and all of that is good. But I am not sure she got the help that she required.’
Baby Reindeer is available to watch on Netflix.
Lorraine airs weekdays on ITV1 from 9am, followed by This Morning at 10am.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
Welcome to Billionaire Club Co LLC, your gateway to a brand-new social media experience! Sign up today and dive into over 10,000 fresh daily articles and videos curated just for your enjoyment. Enjoy the ad free experience, unlimited content interactions, and get that coveted blue check verification—all for just $1 a month!
Account Frozen
Your account is frozen. You can still view content but cannot interact with it.
Please go to your settings to update your account status.
Open Profile Settings