As many think that she might she might have been brainwashed or hypnotized, a mother-of-nine who left her children and husband for a toyboy has said he is determined to marry him.
Heidi and her toyboy (left) and her wedded husband (right)
A 44-year-old mother-of-nine, Heidi Hepworth, who left her children and husband of 23-years for a toyboy who is 12 years her junior, has said that he is determined to marry him.
Mrs Hepworth who left her husband Andy for a 30-year-old Mamadou Jallow from Gambia after a 'mid-life crisis', had never been abroad before, but abandoned her nine children to fly out to be with him in the Gambian capital, Banjul.
The woman's 44-year-old husband, Mr Hepworth, who says the ordeal has been difficult for their children, as young as six, is convinced his wife's lover has brainwashed her.
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.'
But Mrs Hepworth defended her actions, telling The Sun: 'I don't have a single regret. I'm not a terrible parent. It was really hard for me to leave my kids, but they couldn't come with me so I had no choice.
'We are in love and nothing will stop me from marrying him. If other people don't like that they will just have to lump it.'
The couple have six children together and Mr Hepworth has raised the three children she had from a previous marriage as his own.