Fiona Harvey: Baby Reindeer’s real-life Martha ‘going blind due to stress from Netflix show’

Fiona Harvey — the woman who inspired the character Martha in the hit Netflix show Baby Reindeer — claims she is going blind.

The 59-year-old, who is embroiled in a multi-million dollar defamation lawsuit with the streaming giant, told Daily Record that she’s been diagnosed with background retinopathy.

“I’m going blind and it’s not surprising with the stress I have been under as a result of Baby Reindeer,” she told the media outlet.

“I am diabetic and had always been able to keep my blood sugars under control, but my blood sugars have been wild ever since Richard Gadd’s show aired.

“I am not sleeping properly, I’m not able to eat properly, I’m not able to get proper exercise because I’m virtually a prisoner in my own home.”

Background retinopathy is the initial stage of diabetic retinopathy where blood vessels in the retina change due to high blood sugar levels.

The law graduate is suing Netflix for $170 million after Richard Gadd based a series on his experience being stalked by a woman — who was later identified as being Ms Harvey.

The series opened with the line “This is a true story”, which encouraged the viewer to perceive the entire story and its events as fact.

However, last year a judge ruled that the Netflix show was not entirely a true story.

Judge Gary Klausner found that Martha’s behaviour on the show was portrayed significantly worse than what is accused of Ms Harvey in real life.

The series sees Martha jailed twice for her actions, however Ms Harvey has never been sent to jail.

Netflix attempted to have the lawsuit dismissed, saying the alleged defamatory claims are actually “substantially true” but its motion was rejected.

The hearing for the case will likely be heard next year.