Piers Morgan wanted YouTube views from Baby Reindeer's 'real Martha' interview

Watch Piers Morgan wanted the clicks from Baby Reindeer's 'real Martha' interview

What did you miss?

Piers Morgan's interview with Fiona Harvey who claims to be the "real" Martha from Baby Reindeer divided viewers.

On Tuesday, Morgan made an unexpected return to ITV to chat with Lorraine Kelly about his YouTube interview. Never one to shy away from controversy, the TV presenter has defended his explosive 50-minute interview on his channel Piers Uncensored.

Speaking out, the former ITV star doesn't mind admitting why he really did the interview with the "real" Martha. One of the reasons included wanting clicks because it is the show everyone is talking about.

Baby Reindeer tells the chilling story of Martha (Jessica Gunning) who stalks Donny (Richard Gadd) and ironically the whole world has become obsessed with it. It is the show on everyone's lips and we all want to know: what is the true story behind Baby Reindeer? Morgan said he wanted to try and "get to the truth" in his interview with Harvey.

What, how and why?

He said: "Well I have a YouTube channel called Piers Morgan Uncensored and I want people to click on it. Shock horror. You do a show for ratings. That's the game we are in. I want people to watch. That's not why I did the interview."

However, Morgan freely admitted he had no idea how big the interview would be and it was his team who persuaded him to do it.

He told Kelly: "I didn't even realise anywhere near how big scale was. I had to be persuaded by my team and thank god they persuaded me. It's a phenomenon now. This Baby Reindeer has been one of the biggest things I've been involved in. When you watch the series, it's gripping television. Richard Gadd, I saw him on your show here, he's done an amazing job telling the story."

Watching Baby Reindeer left Morgan with questions. He said: "The key question after watching the series and watching my interview, is it actually a true story? The key part of that, is did she go to prison? Is she a convicted stalker? As I sit here Lorraine, there is no actual evidence so far she's ever been in court. So we have to wait and see."

The outspoken star also said he found the "real" Martha to be "relatively normal" and not someone he deemed to be "mentally ill" but he does think she sent all those messages to Gadd and that she has an "obsessive" streak.

However, he has no plans on giving the "real" Martha one million pounds. She made the huge demand following her interview with Morgan but he has a better idea. "No she’s not going to get a million pound. What she wants is an agent," he said. "We’ve stayed in touch with her since and when she came to the studio, she was actually relatively normal."

He added: "I didn’t get any sign of anyone who I thought was mentally unwell but I do think she sent all these messages and I do think that shows she has an obsessive streak, certainly in relation to Richard Gadd. I also think by his own admission, he himself is a pretty damaged individual and he admits to leading her on. So it’s a very messy, human interest story at the heart of this."

He said: "I have interviewed serial killers, psychopaths - I have interviewed people who have done really terrible things and she is not one of those. I have had far scarier environments by where I have interviewed people.

"I felt it was important that she was allowed to have her say as she had already been revealed by the media as the real life Martha but she had no ability to tell her story… I think I was fair with her. I tried to be very fair and balanced. I tried to get to the truth. I think she lied to me a lot in the interview."

And of course, now Morgan wants to chat to Gadd. Will he give his side of the story to Morgan?

Yahoo has reached out to Netflix and Richard Gadd for further comment.

Piers Morgan's faced backlash for interview with 'real' Martha

Social media was divided over Morgan's hotly-anticipated interview with Harvey. Some viewers were horrified and claimed it was "unethical". "Time to watch Piers Morgan conducting one of the most unethical interviews ever. #PiersMorgan," one person wrote.

Another added: "Part of me doesn’t want to watch the interview but I can’t stop watching #BabyReindeer #PiersMorgan."

Morgan addressed viewers' concerns on his YouTube show following the bombshell interview. He defended the decision to interview Harvey.

He said: "Obviously we gave it a lot of thought before we interviewed Fiona Harvey, because I, like many millions of people around the world had watched the Netflix series, and it was a very harrowing series, very funny in parts.

"It’s shocking, moving, it’s all of those things, it’s very honest if you believe that Netflix when they say, “This is a true story”, are telling the truth."

Why does 'real' Martha want a million pounds?

Harvey has made no secret that she wants one million pounds from Morgan after their interview went viral.

She told The Daily Record: "They offered me £250 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... I’d settle for a million."

Watch Lorraine every week day at 9am on ITV.

Read more:

• The true story behind Netflix series Baby Reindeer

• Baby Reindeer's real 'Martha' set to speak out in first TV interview

• What's all the fuss about Baby Reindeer, Netflix and Piers Morgan?