A security guard assembled a kit of tools to help him abduct, rape and murder TV personality Holly Willoughby, a court heard.
Gavin Plumb, 37, is alleged to have plotted “sexually motivated” violence against the former This Morning presenter in 2023.
Mr Plumb, from Harlow, Essex, is on trial at Chelmsford Crown Court and denies soliciting murder, inciting kidnap and inciting rape.
“It was not just the ramblings of a fantasist; the defendant had carefully planned what he would do,” prosecutor Alison Morgan KC said.
He had a “real intention” to kidnap the broadcaster from her home, “take her to a location where she would be raped repeatedly” and then murder her, Ms Morgan said.
The prosecutor added that Mr Plumb was arrested after he revealed his plot to an undercover police officer from the US, who he had been talking to online.
The court was told that Ms Willoughby had waived her right to anonymity during the trial.
Mr Plumb wore a grey sweater and sat in the dock as proceedings opened earlier.