Heidi Hepworth, 44, pictured at the ITV studios for Loose Women today, left her husband in England for a man in Gambia
The husband of a woman who left him and their nine children for a Gambian toyboy she met online has branded her an ‘idiot’ after she appeared on Loose Women today – and claimed she has a tattoo of his name on her backside.
Andy Hepworth, from Houghton-le-Spring, County Durham, was deserted by Heidi, his wife of 23 years, last year after she ran off to be with Mamadou ‘Salieu’ Jallow, 32.
He has now branded the 44-year-old a ‘buffoon’ after she appeared on the ITV show defending her decision to leave her family.
He said: ‘It’s become a joke now, she’s an idiot and has apparently got his name on her backside – she’s in cloud cuckoo land, that’s where she’s at.
‘The last time she went away I mopped her mess up and she’s bringing it up again.
‘She’s wanting money to get over there again. I think that’s why she’s on the telly, it’s the money.’
Mr Hepworth claimed that despite his wife’s denials her lover was with her for the money he had found evidence she had given him cash.
‘We found a receipt from moneygram where she’s sent him money from. It was in her bag, it was £65 in one week. That was when she was still with me. She must have started hiding them after that.
‘She’s in denial over everything. Everyone knows the truth.’
Mr Hepworth said his wife now drives around wearing a hijab and was converting to Islam.
He also said he had been contacted by other people who claim to have been fleeced by the toy boy.
‘People have contacted us saying he’s fleeced other women. Four different people, we know he’s already fleeced, contacted us over it.’
Before his wife left, Mr Hepworth said he created a fake profile, pretending to be a widow whose husband had left her a haulage business and spoke to Mr Jallow.
He said: ‘He told me he was 24, I know that for a 100% fact. He said he always wanted to come over here and get a job off me and everything.’
Mrs Hepworth, who flew out to be with him in Banjul despite never going abroad before, defended the relationship when questioned on Loose Women today.
She was asked: ‘Do you believe this is true love then?’ and replied: ‘Yeah, I’ve got his photograph on me bank card.’
Mrs Hepworth left her husband for Gambian man Mamadou ‘Salieu’ Jallow (pictured together)
Ruth Langsford (left) and Nadia Sawalha (centre) speak to Mrs Hepworth (right) on ITV today
Mrs Hepworth told the ITV programme: ‘I’ve got three children that were under 16. The holiday was planned for three months. They’re all 28 to six.
‘There were only three of them left behind who I would have loved to take. They were left with my older daughter, she’s 28. I went for a month. They went to school from home and stayed in their own home. It was planned for months.’
She said her former partner knew she was going to meet Mr Jallow and drove her to the airport and put her on a plane, telling her: ‘Just be careful, be safe’.
Mrs Hepworth added: ‘We fell in love. I met him on Facebook. Salieu contacted me out of the blue. We got talking, just chit chat. Just a friend request.
‘We just chatted for three or four months. My marriage was over. The marriage had many, many turns in the road as it went down that straight, as marriages do, you separate. It went stale.
‘When I first started talking to Salieu, we (my husband and I) were together. We were friends. But then I made the decision to leave and then things progressed between me and Salieu.
‘He was like a confidant, he was easy to talk to. And if you had a problem, he’d try and solve it for you. He’s 32. I’m 44. I started talking to him in January, left Andrew in May and I went out to visit him in October.’
Asked about what it was like to visit Mr Jallow, she said: ‘It was daunting at first. I got on the plane and thought ‘Oh my God, what have I done?’.
‘But then I got there, and he met us off the plane with his brother and friend, and it was alright. It was magical.
‘He doesn’t want nothing (from me). He has three businesses. He has his own passport, his own visa – why would he ask me for a visa if he’s got one.
(From left) Langsford and Sawalha question Mrs Hepworth with Janet Street-Porter and Stacey Solomon on the programme this afternoon
Mrs Hepworth (left) speaks to Street-Porter and Solomon on ITV’s Loose Women today
‘He comes regularly to England to visit his brother’s son. His brother had a wife here who’s tragically died. And they come regularly.’
She said they don’t yet have plans to move to Africa or England, but their relationship is working long-distance.
Speaking about her children, Mrs Hepworth added: ‘Salieu video chats to them every day to them. They love him. He’s always sending them little presents via video chat, like little dolls and stuff like that. It works.
‘The older children, there’s only two – one lives with their father, one lives with her husband – there’s only them two that disagree.
‘There was a broadcaster here and he reported back to Gambia, and it was all over the radio, TV, with my picture and everything. It was devastating, but I did go to Gambia on my own free will.
Mrs Hepworth, of South Tyneside, left her husband Andrew (pictured on their wedding day)
Mrs Hepworth (pictured) left her children to fly to Banjul despite never going abroad before
‘He’s never asked me for anything. I am going back. I’ve got his photograph on my bank card. Time will tell. I don’t care what people think. I’m 44 years old, I’m not a child. And the most important thing to me is my children, and Salieu knows that.’
Many viewers commented on the interview on Twitter, with some accusing Mrs Hepworth of being ‘deluded’ and sharing concern for her children.
One said: ‘Never accept these friend requests. There is only one thing they are after, and if she didn’t reply, some other woman would. Those poor children.’
Another added: ‘I’m sorry, but what mother goes away for a month and leaves three young children, even if it is with their daughter? He messaged her through Facebook, wake up!’
Mr Hepworth, also 44, previously said the ordeal had been difficult for their children, as young as six, and accused Mr Jallow of brainwashing her.
Many viewers commented on the interview on Twitter, with some accusing Mrs Hepworth of being ‘deluded’ and sharing concern for her children
He said: ‘A caring mum wouldn’t go off gallivanting around Africa with her new boyfriend. The person she has become is horrible. She was a loving, caring mum.’
The couple have six children together and Mr Hepworth has raised the three children she had from a previous marriage as his own.
After she went to Banjul concerns were raised about the three youngest – aged six, nine and 11 – by a neighbour because her absence was so unusual.
But police later found them staying legally with their 29-year-old sister. Nearly half of Gambia’s population live in poverty, and the average income is £8 per week.