News Anchor Speaks Out About Being Stalked by Man Who Thought She Was ‘Giving Subliminal Messages Through TV’

BBC news anchor Anne McAlpine opened up on Monday about being stalked for years by a man who thought she was sending “subliminal messages through the television.”

During an appearance on Good Morning Britain, McAlpine publicly addressed her case against 71-year-old Robert Green, who was convicted last week of stalking McAlpine and ordered to stay away from the news anchor for life.

McAlpine recalled that the stalking began with letters and gifts being delivered to her at work, including “declarations of love” and “poems.”

“Sometimes I would receive up to three or four in one week over the course of about eight to twelve months,” she said. “I didn’t think a huge amount of them at the time. I didn’t find them particularly threatening. Unpleasant and uncomfortable, certainly, yes, and a bit of a nuisance, but a lot of the time these letters would end up in the bin.”

The anchor continued, “This person seemed to think that we were in some sort of a relationship. They would comment on the clothes that I wore on TV, the way that I moved, the way I held my pen. They thought I was giving subliminal messages through the television.”

McAlpine explained that the letters eventually stopped after her engagement to her now-husband became public. However, after a break, the situation then intensified, with the stalker showing up outside her house in the middle of the night.

“I was getting dropped off by a friend and colleague after a late shift, so it was dark, and this man was standing in the middle of the road holding a carrier bag outside my home,” she said. “He approached the car. I was still in the car talking to my friend. He held eye contact, was walking towards me quite slowly, and something just felt really off. He didn’t look friendly. He didn’t look like he was looking for directions. He didn’t look like he was going to speak even. He came right up to the passenger side of the car, just looked in.”

McAlpine said that while they quickly locked the doors and drove off, the man continued to return to her house at night, even “trying to gain access” to her home.

“He would stand in the middle of the road, [and] just look up at the window,” she recalled. “Then he was sort of sitting on my steps waiting for me.”

Following a police investigation, Green was found guilty of stalking and sentenced to two years’ supervision. He was also ordered to stay away from McAlpine for the rest of his life.

“I’ve worked in television for a long time. I don’t know any different. That’s been my life and my work since I left university, but you start to question, do I even want to be on TV if I’m leaving myself vulnerable and exposed like this? Should I be moving house?” the news anchor concluded. “And then on the flip side of that, you’re thinking, well why on earth should I be having to consider these huge life changes because of somebody else’s actions? You just start to feel like it’s really unfair.”

Several news anchors and hosts have been targeted by stalkers in the past, including Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner and Newsmax anchor Greta Van Susteren.

Watch above via Good Morning Britain.

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