Steph McGovern reveals chilling act from deranged stalker that forced her to call security
The television star, 43, appeared on today's This Morning and revealed her stalker experience has influenced part of her debut novel, Deadline.
Telling hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley about her ordeal, Steph explained that the man never caused her harm but his delusions became increasingly concerning.
The man fell in love with her, believing she was addressing him directly through the TV screen whenever she was speaking to viewers in general.
It all got too much when he somehow got hold of her parents' address and wrote to her dad asking for permission to marry her.
She explained: "My dad rang me and said, 'Steph, who's this fella you're seeing?'
"He talked to my dad about being in a relationship with me and he kind of asked for my hand in marriage."
When Ben revealed his surprise that the man had managed to get the address, Steph continued: "That's what freaked me out. At that point it's very different from having someone being there at broadcasting things to finding your parents address and writing to them.
"That panicked me because I thought my mum and dad are going to be dead worried here.
"That's when it all kicked in and the BBC security team did their thing."
No charges were ever brought against the stalker.
Steph has been busy ever since Channel 4 axed her daytime show, Steph's Packed Lunch, in December 2023.
Watch the moment Bear Hunt star Shirley Ballas furiously clashes with Mel B in heated row
Not only has she written a novel, she also starred in Bear Grylls ' hit Netflix reality show, Celebrity Bear Hunt.
It pushed her to the limit and in one terrifying incident she ended up bashing her face off a cliff face.
Medics scrambled to help her as she helplessly hung from her safety harness while host Holly Willoughby watched on with concern.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun earlier this year, Steph said: "We had these amazing medics and everything. There was a moment where I literally fell off a cliff and smashed into a wall.
"You will see, it was pretty scary. When I got pulled back off the cliff, I saw everyone's face and I thought, 'oh', and then Holly is like, 'Oh my goodness'.
"I was just hanging there looking at... There was blood dripping off my face.
"I didn't overthink it. I just thought, they're not going to let me die.
"It was fine, it wasn't a big deal, it wasn't broken. They were just kind of checking me that I didn't have a concussion. I was a bit mad. You know these things sometimes that look more dramatic than they actually are?"
In difficult-to-watch moments, Steph fell from a ledge during a challenge and swung towards the sheer rockface.
The impact was heavy and she repeatedly shouted "Ow!".
Co-star Big Zuu could be heard asking if she was alright as Holly reassured him medics were on their way to help.
2
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
14 minutes ago
- Telegraph
What midlife men should wear to an Oasis gig (the second time around)
You've bought the tickets. Planned the reunion with your gig-going pals of old. It's nearly time to wave your lighter – ahem iPhone – in the air more to the strains of Wonderwall. But the question remains: what to wear to the Oasis reunion tour? Does donning a bucket come with an expiry date? Do's Consider a plaid shirt; discreetly Liam-coded but not as obvious as an Adidas track top. Switch up your denim, older men should steer towards more structured, straight-leg selvedge denim rather than the stonewashed, distressed varieties of the 1990s. Haul out your old tour T-shirts if you have them, to show you're an OG fan. Don'ts Let your hair become a cringe factor. Even Liam's tidied up the shaggy barnet in recent years. You've got a mortgage and a favourite chair now. Actually, please step away from a Stone Island jacket. It's not quite the message a man with responsibilities wants to convey. Forget that deep down, you're still that young guy who was awestruck at Knebworth. Let him out for one night only and go mad fer it. As any Oasis fan knows, style matters. The Mancunian supernovas were never solely a musical phenomenon (Definitely Maybe became the fastest-selling debut album in UK history), the band had an unmistakable sartorial aesthetic. And few could argue that Liam and Noel haven't had a sustained impact on menswear in the intervening 30 years. The Oasis look was rooted in British working-class fashion, 1960s mod culture (parkas) and terrace casualwear, labels like Adidas, Stone Island, CP Company, Fred Perry and Clarks, accessorised with round tinted sunglasses and shaggy mop-tops, the look came to define Britpop. 'They were honest about their influences and they were completely unedited,' says stylist Catherine Hayward. 'It's accessible and seductive, isn't it? If you're a fan it's not expensive to get a military green parka and a Wallabee-type shoe… and you've got the look. Although maybe you can't do the hair. Because the hair does look a bit silly after a certain age.' Whatever one may think of Oasis's motivations to get the show back on the road, you can't deny the timing of their reunion is impeccable in style terms. 'In fashion, we're going back to the 1990s now,' says photographer Paul Shard, whose exhibition Oasis Fans 1994-1997, co-curated by the British Cultural Archive, opened this week and runs at the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel in Manchester until August 31. 'Haircuts, jackets, everyone is looking like that again.' Brands have not been slow to notice. Liam has recently fronted campaigns for Stone Island and Berghaus. Last month Adidas unveiled its multi-million-pound Oasis Live '25 official clothing range tie-in. On Tuesday I got an email from the retail service Klarna saying that sales of bucket hats were up 89 per cent in the last three months, Harrington jackets were up 71 per cent and polo shirts were up 24 per cent. Sales of tambourines are apparently up 155 per cent. Dress code: style that's gonna live forever When the tour kicks off in Cardiff this Friday, expect to see a lot more fans of all ages dressed the same way this time round. It's a relatively easy mode of dressing for guys in their 40s, 50s and 60s thanks to the fact that its various components can be broken down to incorporate into looks that don't look try-hard: the Adidas trainers with a suit, the track tops with sports kit, the parkas with just about anything (and actually looks pretty Burberry-esque atop a suit). As for the iconic textured Liam mod cut? As Hayward suggests, the hair's a bit of a push for older guys now – what once was roguishly bedraggled is now just shaggy and unkempt on most of us (if you've still got hair, that is). I'd also recommend a swerve away from the bucket hat and the rimless glasses that have been so adopted by Gen Z: a baseball cap if you must is less obviously 'in tribute', and classic black Ray-Bans tend to hide the dad-bags under the eyes better. If you are thinking of recreating the Aran knit jumper look that Liam famously wore for their legendary 1996 Knebworth gig (borrowed from his then fiancée Patsy Kensit), well, it might be a bit warm for summer 2025. You could possibly track down some Pretty Green online, the label run by Liam, which indulges in his paisley period and, yes, those military jackets. As for the eyebrows, it's likely by now they're as shaggy as Noel's and Liam's anyway.
The Sun
15 minutes ago
- The Sun
Inside Wimbledon star Sonay Kartal's life from relationship with bodybuilder to meanings behind tattoos
SONAY KARTAL is enjoying an ink-redible Wimbledon and is rising up the rankings. The 23-year-old was down at No.259 ahead of last year's tournament at the All England Club after a health battle left her hospitalised. 6 6 6 6 But a fantastic year in which she has won her first ever WTA Tour title and made at least the third round of Wimbledon will see Kartal climb into the world's top 50. Off the court, she has been in a relationship with bodybuilder Luke Ogbourn. He bought her flowers after she made the first round at SW19 last year. Though it is unclear whether they are still an item as Ogbourn has not been spotted at Wimbledon this year and traces of their relationship have disappeared from social media. Kartal was born in London but grew up in Brighton alongside her sister and brother. She is of Turkish descent and her dad used to own a "kebab takeaway" and "sit down restaurant" serving food from his country. Kartal boasts an incredible tattoo collection and she has lifted the lid on their meanings. She told SunSport: "I got a bee. I kind of left it to my sister. She was like, 'will you get matching tattoo with me?' JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS "I went and played my match and she came back like, 'I've got one.' Didn't tell me what it was and I kind of had to get bee. "My most special one is my first dog, a golden retriever. When he passed away I got doggy ink and did his paw print downsized. "The eagle is because Kartal means eagle in Turkish. "The date, it says 2022, I did all the four Grand Slams, my first time. "The knuckle ones just trying to be stylish maybe. "The snake, I was just scrolling through my phone and saw that one as well." 6 Wimbledon 2025 LIVE - follow all the latest scores and updates from a thrilling fortnight at SW19 She also has quotes "the show must go on" and "time is everything we have and don't" inked onto her body. Kartal explained: "It's just a quote I like to live by. Sometimes I think I can get a bit stressy and stuff, so for me, it kind of just tells me to calm down and just to be in the moment a little bit." Asked if a Wimbledon tattoo could be next, she replied: "I'm pretty open to maybe. "Not a strawberry, but I'd get something that is not so obvious that means Wimbledon but something that if you know Wimbledon, you'd know what it is. "Growing up, I was the type of person I'm never going to get a tattoo. I never really liked them. "And then I got one when I was on holiday. Now I've got like 14." Kartal grew up training alongside Emma Raducanu.
The Sun
21 minutes ago
- The Sun
Ferne McCann's jailed acid attacker ex dumped by Love Island beauty after eight month romance
FERNE McCann's jailed acid attacker ex Arthur Collins has been dumped by ex-Love Island beauty Amelia Peters. 5 5 He was said to have wooed her from behind bars - sending Amelia bouquets of flowers and her visiting him in prison regularly. But a friend of the former reality star has told The Sun: "Amelia has called off her romance with Arthur. "Some members of her family only found out about her romance after reading about it in the Sun and urged her to dump him especially after seeing the pictures of him injecting himself with steroids from behind bars." But concerned family members are said to be worried that it's only a matter of time before she gives Collins a second chance. "They've told Amelia he's 'bad news' and she shouldn't put her life on hold for him," they continued. "They are worried Collins has a hold over her. "Amelia has told her family she has dumped him for good but her friends believe it won't be long before she starts seeing him again because of the hold he has over her." The Sun has reached out to Amelia's rep for comment. Just last week The Sun revealed shamed acid attacker Collins' new romance. A source said at the time: 'They talk all the time — despite the fact he's in jail. " He's got a phone they speak on and he's sent her flowers a number of times.' Possessing a phone in jail is an offence and can lead to a loss of privileges or a longer sentence. Collins got an extra eight months in 2018 for smuggling a phone into jail. His fresh antics emerged after The Sun on Sunday revealed that scheming lag Collins had a 'steroid' injected into his bottom in his cell. He was dating Towie's Ferne McCann in 2017 when he threw acid in the Mangle E8 club in Dalston, East London — leaving 16 people with chemical burns. Collins planned to marry Annie Bull in 2022 after romancing her from his cell. He proposed during a visit, after which she had his name tattooed under her boobs. Amelia, on Love Island in 2017, had fallen under his spell. On his birthday last month, she posted on her Instagram an image of red roses with the letter 'A' above them. She wrote: 'Happy birthday to the most handsome pain in the arse, Love you x.' Our source went on: ' Amelia has made no secret of her relationship with Arthur and has told her friends she's mad about him and thinks he's the one. 'She says she thinks Arthur is a changed man. "Some of her mates are worried about her getting involved with him but Amelia won't listen.' Another source, close to Amelia, tried to downplay talk of a romance and said: 'She's visited Arthur but he is a family friend.' Meanwhile, Collins has been transferred from The Mount Prison in Herts — where the injection footage was taken — amid fears he was scheming to import drugs using drones. An anti-corruption team has found illicit items at his new home, HMP Buckley Hall, near Rochdale. A source said: 'He's in trouble constantly and doesn't seem to care. "He goes around like the big 'I am' as if he rules the roost.' 5
