What is the price of gulping down water every time you are asked a tricky question, spewing facts only to further incriminate yourself, and spinning a dicey tale that has more holes in it than facts? According to Baby Reindeer’s self-proclaimed real Martha ⏤ i.e., Fiona Harvey ⏤ the number has quite a few zeroes in it.
The smash hit Netflix series, which bolded claims to be “a true story,” has acquired a life of its own in recent weeks after everyone and their mother has scrambled to the platform to see what all the fuss is about. Though creator and lead actor Richard Gadd has requested that fans not seek the identity of the real people depicted therein (after hardly doing the bare minimum to hide their identities himself), the real-life Martha was uncovered in what felt like minutes and has been looking for ways to milk the show’s fame in every possible way ever since.
Following her controversial interview on Piers Morgan’s Uncensored, Harvey revealed that she was only paid a measly £250 for the appearance. It was during this very interview that she first mocked Gadd, asking him to “get a life” and “a proper job,” only to mourn the fact that he has earned millions given the ongoing success of Baby Reindeer. Her jealousy was palpable, and while Harvey concocted ambitious plans to sue Netflix and Gadd for their “defamatory” and “career-damaging story” — after inadvertently confirming that a lot of what happened in the series was actually true — she has now turned her attention to what she presumes is an easier target: Piers Morgan himself.
How much money does Fiona Harvey want for the Piers Morgan interview?
In a chat with Daily Record, Harvey once again claimed that she was only offered the small amount to sit in the hot seat and bear Morgan’s rapid-fire questions:
“They offered me £250 [$315] and I asked if that was what they paid everyone and, if so, I wanted to see documentation to that effect. That documentation has not been forthcoming. I have not signed a contract for the interview and I will be seeking far more than a piddling £250.”
What Harvey now has in mind is to “settle for a million (British pounds).” That’s right ⏤ a million British pounds, which is $1.25 million in U.S. dollars. Is she telling the truth, or is this like her assertion that she has never received a restraining order or saw the police on her doorsteps? Because the last one crumbled like a house of cards.
If Morgan is to be believed, then Harvey was paid fairly and given the same compensation almost everyone who appears on his show gets. During his appearance on ITV’s Lorraine, he refuted Harvey’s accusations after batting away the usual criticisms aimed at his decision to interview her in the first place.
“We gave her the same amount, I want to say, 95% of our guests. We don’t discuss that but we paid for her to have a nice haircut, a car, and everything else. I think we’ve performed our duty of care and we’ve stayed in touch with her since.”
So far, just like Harvey’s threat to sue everyone involved in the making of Baby Reindeer, her efforts to get more money from Morgan have only involved bragging about it to anyone who will listen and she’s no richer than she was yesterday.