Richard Gadd asks Baby Reindeer fans to stop ‘speculating’ on who the real people could be

After Baby Reindeer was released on Netflix fans of the series have gone wild trying to find the real people his characters portray including Martha and Darrien O’Connor, which creator Richard Gadd has now asked people to please stop “speculating.”

On TikTok, fans think they have found the original Martha’s Facebook account and have even speculated about who the real Darrien O’Connor might be, bringing attention to both of them. And now in a new message on his Instagram story, Baby Reindeer creator and actor Richard Gadd has reached out to fans about their speculations.

He wrote: “Hi everyone, people I love, have worked with, and admire (including Sean Foley) are unfairly getting 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.”

Via Instagram @mrrichardgadd

The Sean Foley Richard Gadd brings up in his plea recently stepped down as Birmingham Rep’s artistic director, leading to a train of fans believing that he was the original Darrien O’Connor.

Richard Gadd has previously spoken about how he deliberately tried to make the characters in Baby Reindeer as different as he could from their real life counterparts, and has even explained the empathy he feels for Martha.

Talking to The Independent, Richard discussed how he sometimes thought if he deserved the experience and at times felt like he “egged the situation on.” He explained: “I certainly egged the situation on before I realised that it was as dangerous as it was. I behaved like a prick at times.”

I can’t emphasise enough how much of a victim she is in all this,” he said. “When we think of stalkers, we always think of films like Misery and Fatal Attraction, where the stalker is a monstrous figure in the night down an alleyway. But usually, it’s a prior relationship or someone you know or a work colleague.” He also said that her behaviour was due to mental illness and said: “It would have been wrong to paint her as a monster, because she’s unwell, and the system’s failed her.”

Baby Reindeer is available on Netflix now. For more like this article, and all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Inside Baby Reindeer star Richard Gadd’s life: The real man who the show is also based on

• Here’s where to watch Richard Gadd next if you’re obsessed with Netflix’s Baby Reindeer

•  Okay, we finally know whether Martha’s emails in Baby Reindeer were actually real

Featured image via Instagram.