Matthew Wright has revealed that watching Baby Reindeer has brought back memories of his own traumatic stalking experience.
Michelle Ranicar was granted a restraining order in December 2020 after harassing the TV host, 58, and his wife Amelia between 2018 and 2019.
The so-called ‘superfan’ is said to have repeatedly visited Matthew’s home in Primrose Hill, London, bringing gifts and messages declaring her love for him and taunted his wife about the stillbirths and threatened to take their son away from her.
And after the success of the Netflix phenomenon Baby Reindeer, the National Stalking Helpline reported that there has been a 47% increase in the number of calls to stalking helplines.
Speaking about his terrifying experience with the stalker and the increase in calls to the helpline, Matthew told Lorraine on Wednesday: ‘I have mixed feelings about this program. But that’s positive.
Matthew Wright has revealed that Baby Reindeer has brought back memories of his own bullying experience as he recalled the terrifying moment during an episode of Lorraine on Wednesday.
Following the success of the Netflix phenomenon Baby Reindeer, the National Stalking Helpline has reported that there has been a 47% increase in the number of calls to stalking helplines.
“I’m not saying that the positive justifies the negative, but it is positive and shows patterns of behavior from both men towards women and women towards men.”
While talking about the difference between Richard’s story and her own, she continued: “Because he is very much a stalker of hers… 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 blur in Baby Reindeer.’
Revealing how difficult it was to watch the show after having her own experiences with bullying, she said: “The first moment it was real (hitting the hand) was in episode 2 or 3, which was when he was doing his comedy act and she suddenly appeared in the audience.
“I did some charity fashion awards locally for my community center and everyone was dressed up and this woman (was in the crowd) and I didn’t even recognize her because there was this person I used to see on my TV show and around my neighborhood but she was very glamorous, she had all her hair combed and my wife said “no, that’s her.”
At the time Matthew was being harassed, he and his wife had just welcomed a baby and were unable to enjoy the newborn stage because they were distrustful of the situation.
Matthew’s stalker was arrested after showing up at the Wright home and telling his wife: “Amelia, I want to see the baby.”
In October 2018, the distraught couple told how they were mocked for being stillborn when Amelia was pregnant with their daughter, Cassady, and said the “hysterical” Michelle even threatened to “snatch” their child.
He explained: ‘I was looking over my shoulder. Every time we walked out the front door, you wondered what you were going to find.
Speaking of his terrifying experience as a stalker, Matthew told Lorraine: ‘I was looking over your shoulder. Every time we walked out the front door, you wondered what you were going to find.’
He continued, “She had imagined herself as my partner, which is kind of like what happened in Baby Reindeer, but obviously I wasn’t responding in any way.”
Speaking of the police response, he said: “With our stalker initially the police response was inadequate, but as things multiplied, the police became much more involved after we started having home visits and very, very measures were taken. quickly”.
In October 2018, the distraught couple told how they were mocked for being stillborn when Amelia was pregnant with their daughter, Cassady, and said the “hysterical” Michelle even threatened to “snatch” their child (the family in the photo from November 2022).
‘She would show up at the mailbox when we had just had the baby. She was banging on the door, trying to take pictures through the mailbox demanding we introduce her to the baby. Amelia received a lot of abuse.
“She had imagined herself as my partner, which is pretty much what happened in Baby Reindeer, but obviously I wasn’t responding in any way.”
In Baby Reindeer, things get complicated as, while Martha (played by Jessica Gunning) has clearly formed a romantic bond with Donny (Richard Gadd), the comedian doesn’t always talk Martha down and even follows her back to her house one evening.
Speaking about the police response to harassment complaints, Lorraine said: “I think the police and authorities are taking it a lot more seriously now, but what is your advice to anyone going through this?
Matthew responded: “At first the police response was inadequate to our stalker, but as things snowballed the police became much more involved after we started having home visits and action was taken very, very quickly. “.
He added: “At first we didn’t want our stalker to be sent to prison, we wanted her to receive medical help.” But getting help for mental health is very difficult and there simply wasn’t any support available.
In Baby Reindeer, things get complicated as, while Martha (played by Jessica Gunning) has clearly formed a romantic bond with Donny (Richard Gadd), the comedian doesn’t always talk Martha down and even follows her back to her house one evening.
Giving his opinion on the show, Matthew added: “He’s written it all and I think it’s a wonderful thing to do, but I’m not sure it was him to choose to put it on Netflix and sell it.” the world’
“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 him and she didn’t go to prison and that’s all good. But I’m not sure she got the help she needed.
Sharing his thoughts on the series, he said: “Richard Gadd takes a chance with his show and said he wrote it as a kind of therapy, reconciling the abuse he suffered and his experience with the stalker.
“He’s written it all and I think it’s a wonderful thing to do, but I’m not sure if I were him I would choose to put it on Netflix and sell it around the world.
“It’s your truth, it’s your story, but you’re bringing other people into your truth and we can already see people trying to guess who’s who and I’m not sure that’s very helpful either.”
Watch Lorraine weekdays from 9am on ITV1 and ITVX