Warped love rats exposed - 5 husbands, £200k con and bigamist busted on live TV
Valentine's Day is all about true love - but the reality of romance isn't always a fairytale.
Bigamy, the act of marrying more than one spouse, is illegal in the UK and carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. But, despite it being a criminal offence, it hasn't stopped fraudsters from lying about their love lives and tying the knot for a second time - even third, fourth and fifth - in secret.
On average, 70 people in the UK are charged with bigamy every year, and it can be hugely devastating for victims and their families to discover they've been deceived. Here, we take a look at some of the most shocking and calculated bigamists in recent times - from a Saturday Night Takeaway surprise to the woman who had five husbands.
Saturday Night Takeaway surprise
Helen spotted her husband Daniel on Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway attending a wedding with his new wife (ITV)A bigamist was caught out live on Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway with his second wife.
Daniel Gundry, 39, was busted after his first wife spotted him on TV with his other woman while watching the ITV show with her daughter Daisy and son Alex. Until then, Helen Gundry had no idea her husband had married Susan Brooker - until they appeared together during a surprise wedding for another couple on the programme.
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Gundry, of Ashford, Surrey, initially denied he had married Susan but later admitted bigamy and was jailed for six months in September 2023. Magistrates in Warrington said that he was guilty of deceiving both women and causing them 'humiliation'.
"He has been lying for a long time so I'm just glad that finally he's been found out," Helen said after the sentencing. Daniel and Helen married in 1998 and split in 2010, before giving it another go in 2016. Sue and Dan got together in between and he married her in the Seychelles by forging documents.
Helen and Susan served him the ultimate revenge and became friends (Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)Speaking to the Mirror in 2016, Helen said: "There was never a divorce. We were separated until a year ago when he convinced me to get back together. Daisy and I were set to move to Dubai to live with Dan in June. Now the thought's crossed my mind that he wanted two lives out there, me and Sue.
"I wouldn't put anything past him. Dan told me he had split up with Sue last year. The year before that, I saw a picture of their Seychelles wedding online and asked him what he was playing at as we were still married. He told me it was just a blessing and I believed him."
His lies unravelled when he appeared on Ant and Dec's programme - Helen's favourite TV show. "There was a secret wedding. All of a sudden I though no, it can't be. Dan was walking off a coach with Sue. I think I choked," Helen said. Daniel dodged questions and portrayed Helen to Susan as a crazy ex.
But Helen posted on Facebook and the truth quickly came out - leaving both women's lives in tatters. Each reported him separately to the police and now they have found the ultimate revenge by meeting up and becoming friends. Gundry is now believed to be back in the UK.
Holiday Inn wedding
Hayley's jaw 'hit the floor' when her friend sent her Holiday Inn's social media post of Mark's third weddingA 'charmer' wed a woman at the Holiday Inn - despite still being married to his second wife.
Three times married Mark Rowlands, 47, married Kerry Adams at the hotel in June 2021, whilst still in a legal marriage with his second wife, Hayley Brown. Hayley stumbled across his wedding photos and reported it to police.
Mum-of-three Hayley, 36, said last year: "I reported Mark because what he did was wrong. It is not a nice way to treat people. In court, he said he'd instructed a firm of solicitors about our divorce, but I knew nothing about that. I think that is just another one of his lies. He can't help himself. Hopefully, now he has been publicly shamed, he will learn his lesson."
Hayley and Mark met in 2010 in Southport, after he had dated one of her pals. "Mark was a real charmer, he had the gift of the gab. It was a whirlwind romance and we moved in together after about a month," Hayley said. She fell pregnant with the couple's first child in 2012 and they married soon after. "I was head over heels in love," she said.
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After she fell pregnant with their second child, she suspected he was cheating. Mark didn't come to the birth and met his child only once. He lost contact with Hayley and their children. "I struggled financially after Mark left. I had a toddler and a new baby and a lot of debts. I had to move house and start again. I did ask him for a divorce, but at that time, I couldn't afford it," she said.
In February 2020, Hayley's friend forwarded her a social media post from the Holiday Inn hotel - containing a photo of Mark's wedding. "My jaw hit the floor. He was still married to me! I couldn't believe it," Hayley said. Rowlands later pleaded guilty to bigamy at Chester Magistrates Court in June 2023 and was fined £456.
Britain's 'worst female bigamist'
Emily Horne was dubbed the 'Bigamist Bride' on a Channel 4 documentary (SWNS.com)
Her ex-boyfriend Wayne Harper claimed she cheated on him when the doc aired (newsteam.co.uk)A woman who had five husbands was dubbed 'Britain's worst female bigamist' after lying to them all.
Former glamour model Emily Horne was the subject of a Channel 4 documentary, The Bigamist Bride: My Five Husbands, in 2009, after marrying five men and serving time for bigamy. She was 18 when she married her first husband, Paul Rigby, in 1996, but they went their separate ways after just three months.
Three years later and not divorced from Paul, she married Sean Cunningham, but soon dumped him for his friend Simon Thrope, who had given her away at her and Sean's wedding. The pair got engaged, but she went off and married two other men, Chris Barrett and James Matthews.
When Emily went to live with one of James's friends, James called the police and her bigamy was exposed. She was sentenced to six months in prison in 2004. Then she married Ashley Baker, her fifth husband. Not long after, she met an IT worker called Stuart Allen and the pair decided to wed.
But when Emily went away for a few days, Stuart found out she'd actually flown to America to marry policeman Fred Miller. The relationship ended just a few days after their honeymoon and Emily returned to the UK. In 2012, she 'married' Craig Hadwin in a bogus ceremony in Scotland.
In 2022, Emily's ex-boyfriend Wayne Harper spoke out about his experience being in a relationship with the bigamist. He told The Sun: "I split up with her, it was my doing because I found out she was cheating on me. I was only with her for 18 months and it was not a happy ending. I have nothing left of her in my life, no pictures, nothing." Emily is understood to have changed her name by deed poll in 2010 and is now Max Accastes Quiberon.
Conned out of £200,000
Mary was conned out of £200,000 by her husband who pretended he was in the CIA (supplied)A woman was conned out of £200,000 over six years while married to a man who had multiple wives and children behind her back.
Mary Turner Thomson, from Scotland, first met American man William Allen Jordan online back in 2000 and had a fairytale relationship. But in 2006, her whole world came crashing down when she received a call from "the other Mrs Jordan".
At that point, it was revealed that Jordan had three 'wives', who he had duped into believing he was a CIA agent in order to explain his absence - when he was actually an IT contractor. By the time Mary found out, she had been scammed out of nearly a quarter of a million pounds.
Jordan pleaded guilty to bigamy, obtaining funds through deception and failing to register as a sex offender. He served two and a half years in jail in the UK before being deported back to New Jersey. Mary released her book, The Bigamist, and her story was told on an ITV documentary last year.
Speaking to the Daily Record back in 2018, Mary said: "I met William online when I was a single mum with a nine-month-old baby. He was very charming. We started dating and he actually asked me to marry him within two weeks of meeting – I said, 'No', but we did eventually get engaged then we were married for four years.
"After six months of being together, I fell pregnant, which was a huge surprise because he told me he was infertile." Jordan told her he was away on CIA "missions" while he was, in fact, spending time with his other families. He even managed to get her to hand over cash to "blackmailers" who he said were threatening to kidnap her children.
He showed her proof of his job, including wage slips. She said Jordan persuaded her to sell "everything she had" - including her flat - by leading her to believe her children's lives were at risk. She said: "I thought if we didn't give them money, they would kill the kids. I was living in abject error."
Found out on Facebook
Jason Hayter lived a double life and started two families without telling both wives (No credit)A former soldier met two women on dating websites and lied to them both at the altar.
Jason Hayter, 48, lived a double life with two separate families until his lies were exposed on Facebook. In 2010, he married Tracey Larkcombe when she was pregnant with their first child, after meeting online. They had another child in 2015.
At the same time, he was also seeing Sara Hayter, with whom he had a child in 2014. He then married Sara Hayter in 2016 and started a family, despite not divorcing Tracey. His deceit was discovered when his daughter from his second marriage messaged his first wife on social media. After learning the truth, Sara contacted the police.
Hayter pleaded guilty to bigamy at Norwich Magistrates Court in September 2023 and was given an eight-week sentence, suspended for a year. The court heard that Hayter's actions had devastated two families, including his five children. "I believe everything he said to me is a lie. I don't think he knows the truth anymore," Sara told the court.
His lawyer said: "There is deep regret on his behalf, particularly towards the children. This has been a very salutary lesson to him." Judge Katharine Moore told Hayter he'd "comprehensively deceived" those he purported to love. She said: "You hid your previous marriage and lied during the ceremony of marriage to Sarah Hayter, rendering meaningless what should have been meaningful. You perpetrated a cruel deception, one that strikes at the heart of marriage, eroded trust and devastated families."
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