Matthew Wright shares ordeal of stalker who threatened to ‘snatch’ young daughter: ‘Give me the baby’
‘I’m going to find the maternity ward and wait outside for you,' Wright’s wife was told
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Your support makes all the difference.Matthew Wright has shared his experience of being stalked by a fan who was convinced they had a "relationship".
The TV host appeared alongside his wife Amelia on Lorraine Kelly's ITV series where the couple revealed the extent of their ordeal.
Wright explained that the situation intensified over time, but began after the fan kept showing up in the audience of The Wright Stuff, the Channel 5 show he quit in 2018.
“I was friendly to everybody in the audience, but I was unaware that she started to develop notions that we had a relationship,” he said.
“Then a newspaper ran an interview with her and she said something like, ‘I don’t like the way our relationship is going’ and I thought, ‘I’ve never had a relationship with you!’”
After the stalker was banned from attending Wright's show, she would show up at public events he was due to be at.
One incident saw her approach a then-pregnant Amelia to tell her: “Women your age are more likely to have a stillbirth.”
She then started showing up at the couple's house where she threatened their unborn baby.
One instance saw her shout through the letterbox: “I’m going to find the maternity ward where you are and I’m going to wait outside for you and the baby.”
After the birth of their daughter, Cassady, in January 2019, the woman showed up on their doorstep and begged to hold her.
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"She was trying to push her hand through the letterbox saying, ‘I want the baby, I want the baby. Give me the baby,'" Amelia said. “Can you imagine what that would do to a new mum?”
Wright said that getting the police involved “didn't seem to do any good”, but praised them for the way they handled the situation.
He said: “I think Amelia has had a much harder time reconciling it than I have. Being subjected to it while you are alone in the house when you are heavily pregnant or with a little baby is a very different experience.”
“That being said, women harassing men is still a problem and we shouldn’t treat it lightly… these things are not a joke.”
Amelia added: "I didn't want to go out the house because said she wanted to snatch the baby."
“It’s cast a long shadow over me, I am still shaken by the whole thing and feel upset. Obviously, I hope help is given but it’s left me emotionally scarred.”
You can contact the Samaritans helpline by calling 116 123. The helpline is free and open 24 hours a day every day of the year.
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