Gail from Sale is appearing in tonight’s episode of First Dates and said ex-partner Nick’s constant lying and alcoholism led to her house getting repossessed
A MUM has revealed how her conman ex-husband’s constant lying and alcoholism left her penniless and homeless with two young kids.
Gail, 65, who is on her first date in 20 years tonight's First Dates, told how her former husband pretended to be a pilot throughout their relationship – when in fact he was unemployed.
Gail, from Sale in Greater Manchester, first met the dashing Nick, which later turned out to be a false name, when he walked into a pub with a mutual friend when she was in her mid thirties.
At the time he was wearing a pilot’s uniform and Gail, who worked as a fashion buyer, was instantly smitten.
Speaking to the Sun Online, she said: “We started talking and I thought he was a very attractive guy and we organised a date.
“I remember thinking ‘oh my goodness I wish I washed my hair this morning’. He was dressed in the uniform so you didn’t really have to ask what he did.”
Gail was still reeling from the breakdown of her first marriage so was pleasantly surprised when they hit it off and he took her out for drinks for their first date.
Gail called it “love at first sight” and Nick moved into her house a month later.
For some shifts, the fashion buyer would drop Nick off at Heathrow Airport in his uniform and pick him up “after work” hours later.
In fact, former marine Nick would simply hang out around the airport and kill time waiting for her to reappear, before telling tales of the private company he claimed he worked for.
Gail said: “He had his own car so goodness knows where he went, but it wasn’t Barbados.
“He just used to put his uniform on, which was in fact a costume as he was playing a part."
While money certainly didn’t seem to be flowing in, Gail said that she was so blinded by being in love to notice the cracks in their relationship.
Their first son Harry followed a year later and they tied the knot after the birth of their daughter, Lucy, who came 13 months after Harry.
There were signs that money wasn’t coming in. I chose to ignore it. We were dating and I was in love and I had been through a heartbreak from my previous marriage.
First Dates star Gail
During her pregnancy with Harry, Gail started to suspect that he was lying about being a pilot.
She said: “The suspicions started to ring some alarm bells as we were living off my income and there was nothing coming from him.
“He was then saying he was going to get money transferred from an off-shore account, but the money never came.
“By then I was pregnant and it was then a case of thinking 'well we don’t need to go skiing every year and we can live within our means.'
“But with a baby I couldn’t work the hours I used to work, so it became tight and began to spiral. Any savings we had just started to disappear.”
Gail never got to the bottom of the reason for his lies.
She said: “I don’t have the full story about why he came out of the marines, whether it was PTSD, but he never worked while I was with him. It was a pretence.
“It wasn’t just me he lied to, he became a Walter Mitty in everything he did.”
Despite his lies, it was his alcoholism that caused the most serious problems.
She said: “I was utterly devastated and thinking that I would be able to change him because there wasn't just me, we had two children. Surely he could stop drinking or telling lies for the sake of the kids.
“It was a very difficult time, protecting the children and not knowing what state he would be in.
“I couldn’t have people back at the house in case he was drunk. It was tough but we got through it. It makes you stronger.”
Eventually the house was repossessed and they moved in with Nick’s mum.
Gail said: “I thought maybe I’d get support from her to help with his drinking and lies but it was disastrous.
“My mother-in-law was in denial about her son’s drinking and the fact he was lying. We had nothing really. Riches to rags in a short time.”
It was a very difficult time, protecting the children and not knowing what state he would be in. I couldn’t have people back at the house in case he was drunk. It was tough but we got through it. It makes you stronger.
Gail said that their mother-in-law eventually kicked them out after it “became a bit too much for her” having the family-of-four under her roof.
Gail added: “We were homeless. We literally lived in a hostel with the drug addicts, fortunately not very long.”
Gail worked hard to turn her life around, securing a job as a manager in the fashion part of a department store.
Meanwhile, Nick said he had found work and would travel away to bring some money in.
Gail said: “He was then supposedly working somewhere else but was just disappearing, and it turns out he was having an affair with someone else.
“By then there were too many important things like the children and finding somewhere for us to live, that the upset of him having an affair was the least of my problems.
“Shortly after that that we separated. I then realised I couldn’t rely on him to bring in any income.”
After splitting with Nick, Gail managed to get a mortgage and her life took an upturn.
She decided to dedicate her life to looking after her family and hasn’t been on a date for 20 years since splitting with Nick, who eventually drank himself to death.
However, love could be on the horizon for the brave mum-of-two after her son recently sent off an application for her to do First Dates.
On tonight’s show, Gail will meet 60-year-old Adrian, who's also from Sale, and is looking for a partner in his dad-dancing escapades.
Speaking of her time on the show, Gail said: “It was great. Some of it was a bit raw as they opened up questions about my past which I put in a drawer and closed.
“So it opened up a few raw emotions. Suddenly you felt really special again."
First Dates is on Mondays at 10pm on Channel 4.
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