Today I'm joined by Lori Simons and Stephanie Rickman - two women who didn't know one another and had never met until an extraordinary situation brought them together.

Lori had re-entered the dating pool following an earlier divorce and time raising her son. After setting up a profile on a dating app, she met a man who "checked all the boxes" and after being together for four years felt that they would see out their lives together until a fateful day when Lori found him with another woman and things changed dramatically.

Stephanie had been dating and was in a relationship for five years. By her own admission she had "never loved a man as much as I loved him" and her kids adored him - things had progressed to a stage where Stephanie believed that she had found her person. However...

After Lori caught her boyfriend out, she went on the group 'Are We Dating The Same Guy' and posted a photo - it was at this point that Stephanie and others made the same connection and reached out, each with their own stories that spoke of their own relationships with this man and things then started to fall into place.

In an age of dating app culture and social media overreach, this story highlights the heartbreak, opportunity for manipulation and terrifying consequences of how someone with the motivation to deceive in this manner can easily make contact with someone and infiltrate their lives. While I firmly believe that the majority of people are well-intentioned, Lori and Stephanie's story serves as both a reminder that devious people exist but also that the power of friendship can help us rebuild.

Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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