Zara McDermott gets intense psychological training for stalker show ordeal

Fresh from investigating the drug gangs of Ibiza, Zara McDermott has undergone intense psychological training from the BBC for her next documentary.

The former Love Islander is spending months with stalking victims, so she can immerse herself in their lives in an attempt to experience what they go through on a daily basis, while police investigate. “There’s a lot of documentaries that look at retrospective storytelling, but the best way for society to relate to the victim is to walk in their shoes and experience it with them,” she tells the Mirror.

“It’s important to get into the heads of people going through it. It’s a very sensitive programme. The people we are dealing with are in contact with the police – it’s all ongoing cases.

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“You’re dealing with contributors who are going through a lot.” Zara, who has already been filming for several months, has been given training so she is mentally ready for the dangers that she faces. “You need to be prepared,” she said, speaking at the Glamour Women of the Year awards at Raffles hotel in London, adding the BBC production team had been given similar training.

Zara has now set up a support network to discuss the issue of stalking with other victims. She announced the upcoming series earlier this week, explaining: “I want to understand as much as I can how this can affect someone’s life, day in day out.”