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Sky has commissioned a documentary about The Salt Path and the scandal that has overshadowed the bestselling book about terminal illness, financial ruin and healing through nature.
The Salt Path, a heartwarming 2018 memoir about a couple who undertake a 630-mile trek of England’s southern coast after being left homeless, financially destitute, and with a potentially fatal medical diagnosis, sold two million copies and was adapted into a 2024 film starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs.
However, an investigation by The Observer’s Chloe Hadjimatheou earlier this year found apparent inconsistencies in the book, including an allegation that the couple lost the property after Winn defrauded her employer of £64,000, which she attempted to repay after taking out a loan from a relative. It also expressed doubts about Winn’s husband, Moth, and the severity of his corticobasal degeneration (CBD/S) condition.
Now, a new documentary, which has a working title of The Real Salt Path, hosted by Hadjimatheou and produced by Candour Productions, will investigate the allegations further.
In a press release, Sky said “new whistleblowers come forward with their own versions of events” in the documentary, which will address the accusations.
Hayley Reynolds, acting director of Sky Documentaries, added: “This film brings together world-class journalism and filmmaking to explore one of Britain’s most remarkable modern-day literary phenomena – and the truth that lies beneath it.
Raynor and Moth Winn with Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs at a London screening of ‘The Salt Path’ (Getty Images)
“At Sky Documentaries, we’re always drawn to stories that challenge perceptions and ask difficult questions, so there couldn’t be a better opportunity for us to partner with The Observer and reunite with the award-winning team behind Libby, Are You Home Yet?”
The three-part Sky series, Libby Are You Home Yet?, told the story of how a 21-year-old student was abducted and murdered while walking home from a club in her university city of Hull in 2019. It was awarded the best factual series prize at the 2023 Bafta TV awards.
Winn has strongly denied the allegations against her, stating at the time: “[The] Observer article is highly misleading. We are taking legal advice and won’t be making any further comments at this time.
“The Salt Path lays bare the physical and spiritual journey Moth and I shared, an experience that transformed us completely and altered the course of our lives. This is the true story of our journey.”
Winn also called the investigation “grotesquely unfair” and shared photographs of redacted clinic letters, addressed to her husband, that appear to show that he was “treated for CBD/S and has been for many years”.
The fourth instalment of her series, On Winter Hill, was due to be released on 23 October, but has now been delayed until next year. The Salt Path was the first in a series of books by Winn withThe Wild Silence following in 2020 and then Landlines in 2022.
The Salt Path’s publisher Penguin said that it “undertook all the necessary due diligence” before publishing Winn’s book in 2018.
Producers of a film adaptation starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs, released in the UK earlier this year, have said they had no knowledge of the concerns.
The Independent has contacted Raynor Winn’s representatives for comment.
The Real Salt Path will air on Sky Documentaries and streaming service Now TV in December.