Heartbroken MasterChef judge reveals how he lost everything after reunion with his lost birth mum was a sick con

WHEN a jet-setting multimillionaire claimed to be Graham Hornigold’s long-lost mother he could never have imagined the catastrophic price he’d pay for trusting her.

Opening his emails, the MasterChef star couldn’t believe his eyes as he read the message he’d been waiting for his whole life.

It was from a woman called Dionne, saying she was searching for the child who had been taken away from her at two years old – and she believed Graham, now 50, was her son. Showing his partner Heather, he asked: “Is this a joke?”;

It wasn’t – Dionne was indeed his biological mother, but practically everything else she’d go on to tell him over the next 18 months would prove to be a web of lies.

Claiming she was a multimillionaire with six months to live, she conned Graham out of almost £100,000, leaving him with an additional £180,000 to £200,000 of debt from a finance agreement, ruined his relationship and left his life in tatters.

“I believed she was who she said she was,”; says the Michelin-starred executive pastry chef and consultant, whose jaw-dropping story is the subject of upcoming Netflix documentary Con Mum.

“But she lied and I made life-changing decisions based on that.”;

Growing up, Graham knew scant details about his early years, other than he had been fostered aged two, before going back to his dad and stepmother, aged four.

His father, who he is now estranged from, never spoke about his biological mother and Graham felt unable to ask. He never saw a photo of her, and only knew her name from his birth certificate.

“I fantasised about who she might be,”; says Graham. “But it was something I didn’t dare to think too much about, because it was painful not knowing your mum.”;

As the years passed, Graham built a hugely successful career in the food industry while becoming a judge on MasterChef: The Professionals and finding love with Heather after meeting through work.

“I had the perfect life,”; he says. “But you realise you just can’t escape your past.”;

In July 2020, he received the email that changed everything.

“I asked Dionne outright, ‘Is this a scam?’”; Graham says. “She reassured me it wasn’t and told me information nobody else could have known, like I didn’t have a middle name and where I was born.”;

After several phone and video calls, Dionne explained she was visiting the UK from her home in Thailand and had found his email address on the internet.

Graham and Heather agreed to meet Dionne on July 25, 2020, at the hotel where she was staying in Liverpool.

“It dawned on me that I was actually going to meet my mum, which is massive,”; he says. “I’d waited 45 years. It’s essentially the missing part of the puzzle to your whole life.

“I felt a rollercoaster of emotions as I saw her for the first time. It gave me a sense of belonging.”;

I’d waited 45 years. It’s essentially the missing part of the puzzle to your whole life

Graham Hornigold

During that first meeting, Dionne – in her 80s and using a wheelchair – explained she had been forced to give Graham up as a baby, but did not elaborate.

When asked why she hadn’t got in contact before, she brushed off the question, and did the same when Graham asked for a DNA test, saying: “You either believe me or you don’t.”;

Still, Graham had no doubt. “I could see from the resemblance that she was my mum, and Heather said our mannerisms were the same,”; he explains.

Then Dionne delivered a bombshell: she had a brain tumour and bone marrow cancer – and just six months to live. She explained this was in part why she’d contacted him.

“My mind was shot,”; says Graham. “You’ve only got six months with her, so you have to make the most of it, don’t you?”;

After their initial meeting, the pair met and spoke regularly, with Dionne revealing she’d lived in Singapore, had businesses all over the world and could speak 18 languages, while Graham shared the news that he and Heather were expecting a baby.

Ecstatic about becoming a grandmother, Dionne came to London to visit them, booking a room at the luxurious five-star Dorchester Hotel, where staff all knew her and said she was one of their favourite guests.

Sipping Champagne, Dionne explained her wealth was the result of her business acumen, and because she was the illegitimate child of the former Sultan of Brunei – one of the world’s richest men – who had given her money.

Graham says: “I thought, ‘You could be, or you might not be. It doesn’t make a difference in the sense that you’re my mum and you’ve got six months to live.’”;

Then Dionne began buying gifts for Graham, including suits, bags and designer clothes costing more than £5,000.

‘All over the place'

She also purchased cars for both him and Heather, which she asked him to sign the finance agreements for, promising she’d cover it.

Graham also lent her £25,000 towards her hotel bills.

Two months after their reunion, Heather and Graham’s son was born. Meanwhile, Dionne revealed she was getting sicker.

“Mum told me we had to go to Zurich to get her affairs in order before she died, so she could pass them over to me,”; says Graham.

“She said, ‘If I die soon, you’re a multimillionaire, that’s all I can tell you.’”;

In Zurich, Graham and Dionne checked into another five-star hotel, then attended meetings with her lawyers and bankers. Graham’s main concern, however, was simply spending time with his mum while he still could, and making sure she was OK.

“Every parent can pass on things. But when you find out that they’re sick, anybody will tell you that the last thing on their mind is what they’re going to get [in the will],”; he says.

On good days, Dionne would be the life and soul, ordering Champagne and making friends with other wealthy hotel guests. On bad days, she would go out on the balcony and say she wanted to end it all.

“It made me worried she’d do something when she was left alone,”; Graham says.

A few weeks into their trip, Dionne asked to borrow more money for her hotel bill, explaining she had to wait for a transfer of funds. Still not suspecting anything was amiss, Graham paid around £25,000 on his credit card.

Meanwhile, Dionne’s business meetings and calls rumbled on with no end in sight.

Back in the UK caring for their newborn, Heather was growing frustrated. But any time Graham mentioned going home to Dionne, she would beg him to stay.

After two months in Switzerland he finally flew back to the UK for Christmas.

“Heather and I had a massive argument, with her saying Mum was driving a wedge between us. I told her she was mad,”; he says.

“Graham was really upset and emotionally all over the place,”; Heather said in the documentary.

“He was convinced his mum was going to die. He was trying to make up for all that trauma, wanting his mum’s love and doing anything to get that love back.”;

I was scared of who this woman was and how deeply entrenched she was [with] my partner and how much control she had over him

Heather

On January 26, 2021, Heather flew with their son to her native New Zealand to visit family, while Graham remained in the UK to support Dionne.

With just months supposedly left to live, she flew back to London, where she rented a fancy apartment in which to spend her “final weeks”;.

In February, while looking at their accounts from New Zealand, Heather discovered the credit cards Graham had taken out to cover his mum’s expenses.

He’d spent a further £20,000 after their return to London, and ploughed thousands more into “investments”; at her behest. By then, the debts totalled between £80,000 and £100,000.

“I realised then he’d been fully manipulated,”; Heather said.

Though Graham reassured her that Dionne would pay him back, Heather contacted UK police, only to be told they wouldn’t see it as fraud because Dionne was his mother.

Shortly afterwards, Graham realised Dionne had stopped paying the finance agreement for the two cars she had “gifted”; to them, leaving him liable for an additional £180,000-£200,000.

He says: “She promised she’d pay and I still wanted to believe her.”;

But Heather did not, saying: “I was so f**king angry. I was scared of who this woman was and how deeply entrenched she was [with] my partner and how much control she had over him.”;

With Heather and their son still in New Zealand, Graham and his mother began to argue.

She destroyed her child’s life, with no remorse

Heather

“Mum was constantly questioning me about the amount of time I was talking to my family and checking my data usage. And I was pushing back.

“I was feeling resentful, because [Heather and his son] are in New Zealand and I’m dealing with somebody who’s now becoming invasive.

“Your friends and Heather are telling you she’s not who she says she is – I didn’t want that to be true. All of those things are playing in my head.”;

Then, Graham got a call from a man named Peng. During their stay in Zurich, Dionne had allegedly “borrowed”; €150,000 from him, as well as €100,000 from a couple whose business she’d agreed to invest €2million in.

‘Regain control'

When she’d failed to repay the money, Peng did some digging, which confirmed Dionne had no connection to the Sultan of Brunei, and he contacted Graham to warn him.

“I realise then that Dionne is not who she says she is,”; says Graham. “I have been played.”;

After confronting Dionne, who insisted she had not been lying, Graham demanded a DNA test. Dionne agreed, and the results confirmed she was indeed his mother.

But it was little comfort for Graham, who knew now that the mother he’d longed for was a conwoman who had scammed up to £100,000 from her own child, and left him liable for up to £200,000 more.

“It’s the hardest thing to understand,”; he says. “Why did you do it to your son?”;

Shortly afterwards, Dionne disappeared from London, and Graham’s many calls went unanswered.

Heather decided to stay in New Zealand with their son, and the pair split. Faced with financial ruin and his family in tatters, Graham felt as though his life was over. At times, he says, he no longer wanted to be here.

Almost a year later, Dionne called him, saying she loved him and was sorry for what she’d done. Graham ended the call and has had no contact with her since.

“It goes against everything a mum should do,”; Heather told the documentary.

“She destroyed her child’s life, with no remorse.”;

Five years on, Graham has finally rebuilt his life – though he is still paying off the debt.

He is in regular contact with Heather and their son, whose life he is actively involved in, and has no idea where his mum is, or if she is even still alive.

Dionne did not respond to Netflix’s attempts to contact her.

“I’ve come to terms with what she is and how she’s operated. It’s not like it’s a one-off, she’s got proper tradecraft in that sense,”; he says.

“It’s not about forgiveness for her, it’s so that I can regain control of my own mind and life. Ultimately, I don’t want anything to do with her now. There’s nothing more to say.”;

• Watch Con Mum on Netflix from Tuesday.