RTE star Miriam O’Callaghan has revealed she was once stalked by a “sad and lonely” individual.
The Prime Time presenter admitted she was forced to call in RTE security after being targeted by the crazed fan a number of years ago.
And Miriam said women on TV must constantly “be aware” of the threat, after it colleague Sharon Ni Bheolain was also stalked.
She said: “There was an issue a few years back, but it was dealt with. I didn’t talk about it at the time because it got resolved and it went away.
“To be fair, it’s often people who are sad and lonely in their own lives… I don’t think it’s just in RTE.
“I remember I was in the BBC when, God forbid, Jill Dando, lost her life. I do think when you’re a female on screen you have to be very careful.
“Most of the time it’s absolutely fine, but there can be people who develop obsessions and you have to tread softly and sensitively. You have to be aware of that.
Brave: Sharon Ni Bheolain was stalked recently
But Miriam revealed that unlike Sharon she was not forced to call in the gardai to investigate.
Asked if she went to RTE bosses, she said: “Yes, and the head of security. Ni I felt enormous empathy in a way, to be honest, and it eventually went away.”
And Miriam revealed she felt for Sharon, who went on Liveline last week to complain about tabloid intrusion into her life.
She said: “I’m incredible fond of Sharon, she’s a good friend of mine and I’ve no intention of being critical of her.
“I really like her, I think you can never judge other people. She was very upset, she has been in a difficult situation with that stalker and I completely understand why she was so upset.
Meanwhile, speaking at the launch of BeLonG’s campaign against homophobic bullying, Miriam admitted the Prime Time team was oblivious to a technical problem on the show on Monday.
Viewers saw a loop of the phrase “Irish Ukrainians, not Russians” repeated for more than 10 minutes.
But Miriam said: “The people who were working on the programme weren’t aware the fault was happening because in studio you couldn’t hear it.
“Although I love live TV that must be a very, very stressful situation for anyone to be in.”
