Dan Wootton's ex-boyfriend holds key details about his ongoing scandal: Who is Alex Truby?

TW: Mentions of suicide, bullying, harassment, emotional abuse

Since 17 July, Dan Wootton has been the subject of a series of articles published by the independent publication Byline Times. Two former colleagues of Wootton, Tom Latchem and Dan Evans are leading the investigation and penning the story.

In their first instalment they revealed that GBNews presenter Dan Wootton was accused of ‘catfishing’ former colleagues for explicit sexual content. On his TV show, Wootton strongly denied the allegations saying:

the criminal allegations made against me are simply untrue.

In the same segment made on TV on 18 July, Dan Wootton takes the time to point the finger at an ex-partner of his who he believes is ‘on a campaign’ to destroy his life. This ex is Alex Truby who, prior to the first article published by the Byline, published a long and damning Twitter thread.

Those tweets were published on 12 July and now, on 25 July, the allegations made by Truby are coming back into the spotlight.

Here's a look into Alex Truby’s claims and the relationship between him and Dan Wootton.

Read more:Dan Wootton scandal: What is The Byline Times? The publication who aims to shake the British media

The Byline and Alex Truby concur

The third part of the investigative pieces from the Byline Times was released in the evening of 24 July. While the first two focused on setting up the context and the extent of the allegations against Dan Wootton, this third piece is centered around one victim.

If you have been following the scandal, you will know that Dan Wootton has been accused of using an alias, ‘Martin Branning’, in order to get ‘revealing compromising sexual material.’ The Byline also alleges that Wootton is behind another alias, ‘Maria Joseph.’

Alex Truby’s Twitter thread

But the name 'Martin Branning' first surfaced on 12 July when Alex Truby released a thread of tweets talking about his ‘MIND BLOWING’ findings on Dan Wootton.

In his thread he talks about how, one day, he found an external hard-drive ‘stuffed down the back of the washing machine.’

Truby writes:

On it I found a video of one of Dan’s supposed friends - a sun employee - having sex with his boyfriend.

According to Truby the video was obviously recorded in secret. But that isn’t all.

In the next tweet, Truby mentions an ‘MSN conversation’ between the partner of a colleague of Wootton’s which was also on the hard drive. In this conversation, Truby uncovered the name ‘Martin Branning’:

an arrangement was indeed made to make the sex tape in secret, without his colleague’s knowledge in exchange for £500.

Truby’s thread carries on much longer and he explains that after he broke up with Wootton, he discovered how big the Martin Branning problem was. Moreover, according to Truby’s thread, this isn’t the first time he mustered up the courage to expose Dan Wootton.

Indeed, he says that in 2020, he first tweeted about the catfishing scandal but was intimidated into deleting his tweets. However, he then shares a message coming from a former colleague of Wootton who had seen his tweets before he deleted them.

In the text, which you can find below, this former colleague shares that they were also contacted by ‘Martin Branning’ for ‘private work’ and to ‘pose nude.’ In the same text, this person advances the idea that there are several other people who have been targeted by ‘Martin Branning.’

Read more: Huw Edwards: The BBC presenter deletes social media account amid new video scandal

The Byline has gotten in touch with the person in the video

While, at first, Truby’s comments could seem like what Dan Wootton called ‘a campaign’ by an ex-partner, the article published on 24 July by the Byline seems to prove otherwise.

Indeed, the Byline has managed to find and interview the victim and person in the video found by Truby. This allows the publication to go into further details about their previous allegations.

In the article, the victim, who is unnamed, used to be the partner of a colleague of Dan Wootton. The victim says that they were approached by ‘Martin Branning’ and that within the course of 10 years they were led to think about ending their life because of the ‘anonymous coercion.’

He says:

The fall-out from this went on for years. I literally quit my London life; I lost everything. I went into the depths of depression

In the article, the victim goes deep into how the whole scheme worked. They begin by explaining how they were contacted by ‘Branning’ shortly after meeting Wootton in 2008. Very quickly, fake talent agent ‘Branning’ asked the victim for pictures offering up to £5000. The email, published by Byline includes:

Basically, he said you were an open-minded guy who is always looking for ways to make more £, which sounded perfect to me! I do a whole range of modelling and that sort of work which I’d like to see if you might be up for

We understand, from the article released by the Byline, that the victim first consented to producing sexual content for ‘Branning’ while they were still in a relationship with a former colleague of Wootton.

Martin Branning’s guidance

In the article we learn that ‘Branning’ would not only ask for content but that he would also guide how it was made. Tailoring or producing it even.

For instance, the victim explains that they would receive a camera by courrier and that the video would be collected in the same way.

According to the victim, ‘Branning’ also gave ‘instructions’ as to what he wanted included in the videos and on how to convince people to participate. In an email from 2008, you can read:

You make it a really horny idea with whoever you’re seeing. All you need to say is ‘I’d love you to film me as you f**k me’. It works with all guys. trust me! Anyway, just keep me informed with your progress.”

The victim also alleges that ‘Branning’ would ‘dictate’ the type of men in the videos and locate them on gay dating apps.

The end of the abuse for this victim

The victim then ends by explaining that this whole thing came to a halt when ‘Branning’ asked them to make a video with their partner who we understand to be a former colleague of Wootton.

The victim explains that their partner at the time refused and upon said refusal, ‘Branning’ became threatening. They explain:

if you don’t get this footage, then there are consequences and you don’t want your employer to find out or your friends and family to know what you’ve been doing.

The victim then says that all this abuse led them to secretly record him and his partner during an intimate moment. And that is the video Alex Truby mentions in his thread.

The abuse done by ‘Branning’ to this alleged victim, did not stopthere as even after they complied with ‘Branning’s’ demands, the partner of the victim still received ‘footage of every person’ he’d been with.

So far, Dan Wootton has not denied any links between himself and ‘Martin Branning’ but instead commented on what he believes to be a vendetta orchestrated by his ex-partner in collaboration with the Byline.

Who is Alex Truby?

The allegations put forward against Dan Wootton by Alex Truby on 12 July do require a look into who he is. Indeed, it would be easy to take his Twitter thread as the revenge of an angry ex, which is the narrative Dan Wootton himself is building.

In his statement on GBNews on 18 July, he calls Truby a ‘psychopath’ and confesses with what appears to be emotion that he was ‘previously abused by’ him.Truby happens to also say the same thing about Dan Wootton.

Truby and Wootton dated between 2009 and 2013. According to LinkedIn, Truby is a ‘strategic digital marketing professional.’ Not much is known about his private life except that he used to date the TV presenter. His Instagram account is private and his Twitter activity is mostly about causes he believes in.

Since the 12 July, Dan Wootton and Alex Turby’s recollection of events differ. They both claim that they were abused by the other. Following Wootton’s statement on GBNews, Truby has denied the allegations made against him.

Moreover, both claim to have contacted police about said abuse but so far no statement by the MET has been released concerning this story.

The story about Dan Wootton will continue to unfold in the coming days and weeks and the Byline has already increased the amount they are crowdfunding for in order to keep investigating.

Sources:

Twitter

GBNews on Twitter

Byline Times: ‘Martin Branning’ – His First Victim

Byline Times: GB News Star Dan Wootton Unmasked in Cash-for-Sexual Images Catfishing Scandal

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