BBC presenter Anne McAlpine has said she was left feeling “vulnerable” and “exposed” after being stalked by a 71-year-old man over a four-year period.
Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Monday, the 39-year-old journalist opened up about her stalking ordeal, which left her questioning her career in television.
Anne’s stalking ordeal
Anne, who is best known for presenting the BBC shows Reporting Scotland and Landward, was tormented by a pensioner named Robert Green. Earlier this month, Green was sentenced to two years’ supervision and received a lifetime non-harassment order after being found guilty of engaging in a course of conduct which left Anne in fear and alarm between February 2021 to November 2024.
Speaking to hosts Kate Garraway and Richard Madeley, Anne revealed that the ordeal began when she started to receive love letters at BBC Scotland’s headquarters in Glasgow. “I didn’t think a huge amount of them at the time, I didn’t find them particularly threatening,” said the Scottish broadcaster.
“Unpleasant and uncomfortable certainly, but a lot of the time, these letters would end up in the bin depending on where I was when I read them.”
When Anne got engaged in 2021, the “tone of the letters shifted”. “This person seemed to think we were in some sort of relationship. They thought I was giving subliminal messages through the television,” said Anne, explaining that when she began wearing her engagement ring on-screen, Green seemed upset and said he would stop sending letters.
© BBC Scotland/BBC StudiosHowever, in September 2024, Anne returned home after a late-shift to find Green outside of her house. “He approached the car and held eye contact, he was walking towards me quite slowly. Something was off,” Anne recalled. “He didn’t look friendly, he didn’t look like he was looking for directions or was going to speak, even. He came up to the passenger side of the car and looked in. We locked the doors and drove off.”
The impact of Anne’s ordeal
Anne revealed that the stalking ordeal left her questioning her career in television. “There is a lot of frustration that comes with this sort of situation,” she explained. “It was one of those things where you start to question everything. I’ve worked in television for a long time, I don’t know any different. That’s been my life and 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? But 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,” continued Anne.
© @Anne McAlpine/InstagramThe presenter said that despite being “uncomfortable” talking about her experience in public, she hopes that by using her platform, others in similar situations will be encouraged to speak out.
“I know that there will be a lot of people who are afraid to speak out for fear of making the situation worse. They might know who the person is that they’re dealing with,” she said.
“If I can help even just one person to find the courage to speak out, then it’s definitely worth me using my voice and my platform, as uncomfortable as I’m finding being vulnerable so publicly. It’s been tough.”
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