Patrick Bennet 
A husband whose wife made the decision to leave him and their nine kids and run away to Gambia to live with a much younger man she found online, said she was behaving like an idiot after her appearance on the notorious TV show Loose Women. It was revealed that the woman even got a tattoo with the Gambian man’s name on the backside of her body.
Andy and Heidi Hepworth were married for 23 years and lived in the Durham County area. It all fell apart when met Mamadou “Salieu” Jallow on the Internet in 2017. Andy said that she had completely lost it when she decided to publicly defend her decision. The man says she is most likely out of her mind (he referred to her as a buffoon), stating that this was not the first time she wanted to flee, but her previous attempt did not became a publicity stunt; that time, Andy managed to set things straight.
According to him, his wife participated in the show to get money and go back to Gambia. She denies that her younger lover is with her for the money, but Andy found a money transfer receipt for 65 pounds in her bag. Heidi reportedly wears a hijab now, and she is also preparing to convert to Islam. Imagine that! And what is worse, Andy already knows that the same man has deceived women before and there are four proven cases that he knows of.
The husband even managed to create a fake profile and contacted his wife’s new “crush”. When he pretended to be a widow with a business that was left to her after her husband’s death, the Gambian man replied that he was 24-years-old and that he wanted to travel to the United Kingdom and work there.
Mrs. Hepworth claimed that the relationship was real, and it was revealed that she had never been to another country before she took off to Banjul last year to meet Mr. Jallow. When asked during the TV broadcast is this was true love, she said that she kept his photo on her bank card.
The woman explained that three out her nine kids were under the age of sixteen and they stayed with her oldest daughter, who was 28. During the whole month she had been abroad, the kids went to school regularly and that the whole thing was planned for a long time before she actually flew to Gambia. She also said that her husband drove her to the airport, knowing exactly where she was going, and told her to be careful and stay safe.
She claims that they fell in love. Mr. Jallow contacted her via Facebook and a conversation was initiated.
The online chat continued for a few months and she knew that her marriage would come to an end soon, despite that she and her husband had a friendly relationship and were still together. When she decided to end it all, the relationship with the Gambian man started to evolve, at least according to her. Their conversation online began in January, and by May she had already decided to leave her husband. She went to Gambia in October and despite her initial worries, she claims that as soon as she met him she felt amazing.
Mrs. Hepworth said that her lover did not want anything from her—he had a few different businesses and his own visa to travel abroad, so that is not something he need or wanted from her.
She added that he travels to England quite often to see his brother’s son, as the mother of the boy passed away. The new couple does not have any specific plans about living together in Africa or England, but they keep their relationship healthy—even though they’re separated by a long distance. As far as most of her children are concerned, she said that Mr. Jallow and all of them are on the video chat daily and that they adore him and he shows them the little presents he has prepared for them.
Her oldest two children are the ones who did not agree, according to Mrs. Hepworth. Apparently a reporter learned about her story and soon it was on the TV and radio, and her pictures started circulating, which devastated her—but after all, it was her own decision to fly to Gambia.
She is more than certain that she will go back to Africa, despite what everyone thought about the whole thing. She also insists that her children are still the most important thing and that her new lover was aware of that.
After the TV interview, a lot of the viewers shared their opinion on Tweete,r and understandably many of them said she had been deceived and even deluded. There were a lot of concerns about the children.
Andy Hepworth also thinks that his wife was brainwashed by Mr. Jallow and that the whole situation is very difficult for their children, especially the little ones—the youngest among them is only six years old. According to him, there is no way that a parent who cares for his offspring would randomly run away to Africa to meet some guy who she met online. He added that she used to take good care of her family, but she transformed into a completely different person.
Six of their children were born between them, and the three other (from her previous marriage) were accepted by Mr. Hepworth, and he raised them as his own. During Heidi Hepworth’s stay in Africa, the three youngest kids—aged 6, 9 and 11—stayed with their oldest sister, as police found out after a concerned neighbor called them, because their mother’s absence was quite unusual.
Almost half of the Gambian people would be considered quite poor—the average income is roughly eight pounds per week.
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