A British daytime television star, whose morning show usually discusses issues like infidelity or betrayal, is being blackmailed by a man demanding money and threatening to post fake porn images of her on the Internet unless she pays up, British media reported May 19.
Trisha Goddard was reported so frightened that she deputized her husband, Peter Gianfrancesco, to speak to authorities in the case, according to the Evening News. The Anglia TV talk show hostess was also forced to install extra security at her home and notify her children's schools.
The Evening News reported that the blackmailer wants ?5,000 in used banknotes and has also made security threats to her Norwich television studio, prompting Anglia TV to heighten security that had been increased already in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Police detectives have visited Goddard's home, the paper said, adding she told police she has no clue as to the blackmailer's identity. Police are working on the theory that the blackmailer is either a fan or a guest on her morning show. Goddard attracted controversy earlier in 2003, when she disparaged the intellect of Norfolk women and admitted taking Ecstasy to fight depression, the paper said.
