There's nothing like a new Netflix documentary to get us hooked. Con Mum is the latest show to detail a shocking true story that the internet is obsessed with.
Con Mum tells the story of Graham Hornigold, a UK chef whose life was turned upside down by a woman called Dionne claiming to be his mother. As a result, Graham, whose impressive career includes appearing on MasterChef, was a judge on Junior Bake Off, was conned out of tens of thousands of pounds, ruining his life and his relationship.
The synopsis of the show on Netflix reads 'A chef's life is upended when a jet-setting, champagne-sipping, hotel-hopping woman claims to be his long-lost mother. This documentary reveals the untold story.'
Naturally, this means lots of people are interested in the true story behind Con Mum and the real Dionne.
Who is Dionne?
The documentary reveals that Dionne, who was born in Malaysia, emigrated to the UK in 1971. It is thought that Dionne got stuck in the UK after the country went into lockdown, and on discovering Graham’s lucrative career, decided to contact him.
Graham and Dionne reconnected in a hotel in Liverpool. She was also able to answer questions about Graham that only his birth mother could have known. However, Dionne told Graham that she had a brain tumour and bone marrow cancer and had six months to live. During the meeting, Dionne offered Graham champagne and, over time, appeared to be a wealthy woman with a lavish lifestyle. She claimed her wealth was derived from the Sultan of Brunei, as she was one of his illegitimate children.
'It was a bit bittersweet,' Graham told The Guardian. 'I’d just had her come into my life; now she was being taken away again.'
Things escalated from there. In a web of deception and lies, Dionne persuaded Graham to go to Switzerland and sign paperwork that would allow him to inherit her wealth. Dionne also asked Graham to transfer money to her each month and even set up credit cards in his name, which she said would be reimbursed - although these never were. Heartbreakingly, Graham even missed crucial months of his newborns son's life while he spent so much time in Switzerland.
Graham found himself £300,000 in debt funding her Dionne's lifestyle. When Graham's partner Heather grew suspicious and began to investigate Dionne, she discovered some shocking truths. Dionne was not who she seemed - she'd gone under several aliases over the years and had been married three times. Each marriage certificate showed a different name, birth date, and father's name.
Dionne had also allegedly committed offences in the UK, including shoplifting, obtaining property by deception and convincing a man to pay $40,000 for a hajj pilgrimage to Mecca that never happened. Graham later discovered that Dionne's terminal illness had been a lie when he realised that none of her medications were related to cancer treatment.
After the truth was discovered, Dionne vanished, leaving Graham with nothing but debt.
Is Dionne Graham's biological mother?
This is where the twist comes in. The documentary reveals that Dionne is Graham's biological mother, with a DNA test showing 99.99 per cent accuracy. This makes sense, given that Graham was taken to the UK by his father shortly after being born on a British Army base in Germany in 1974. He’d had no contact with his biological mother since his birth. However, Graham reveals in an interview his feelings towards Dionne remain unchanged.
'I have none,' he told The Guardian. 'She played upon a need, an unhealed wound which manifested itself into my personality and allowed her in, which it would do anybody. The one person who's supposed to come into your life and be your protector. Those are the ones that are supposed to be there. That's how I had it in my head. And to come in and eliminate everything… all the trust and everything like that, that's a difficult scar.'
Where is Dionne now?
After everything that's happened, it's unsurprising that Dionne is choosing to keep a low profile. When Graham last heard from his mother, she was in Malaysia. The producers of the documentary contacted Dionne for additional comment, but she declined.
The documentary reveals that Dionne has 'never faced criminal charges for the allegations made in this documentary.' It's unclear whether Dionne is still living in Malaysia.