My big fake wedding: uncovering an outlandish deception
An extravagant love affair turned into a trail of deception when Benita Alexander discovered her fiancé was not who she thought he was.
A fake wedding, a double life and forged documents. In 2013 investigative journalist Benita Alexander was making a documentary about 'super surgeon' Paolo Macchiarini and his pioneering synthetic organ transplants. The pair quickly fell in love and Benita was swept into a whirlwind romance. Paolo proposed, but the fairytale soon began to unravel when she discovered that the extravagant star-studded wedding he told her he was planning was all a lie. But the fake wedding was just the beginning...
Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com
Presenter: Andrea Kennedy
Producer: Mariana Des Forges
Picture: Paolo Macchiarini and Benita Alexander
Credit: Courtesy Benita Alexander, Instagram @loveconned
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- Sat 29 May 202108:32GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Sat 29 May 202117:32GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Sun 30 May 202108:32GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Sun 30 May 202122:32GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
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