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Entertainment
Catherine Addison-Swan

Vicky Pattison to host new BBC podcast investigating 'astonishing' true story of North East conman

Vicky Pattison is set to front a new BBC podcast exploring the true story of a serial cheater - just in time for Valentine's Day.

The former Geordie Shore star will host Love-Bombed, a series investigating the story of 'James Greenwood' - a man who maintained a relationship with a woman he met online while living with his wife and three children for over two years. The podcast follows Vicky as she heads home to the North East to meet the women who were deceived by the cheater.

Vicky meets Coleen Greenwood, the woman 'James' met online, to hear her side of the story - and how the man she thought she could trust would eventually go on to take tens of thousands of pounds from her sister, supposedly as investments in his various property businesses, and defraud multiple companies on Tyneside.

READ MORE: Vicky Pattison admits being 'bag of nerves' ahead of appearance in Parliament for new charity role

Vicky also speaks to the man's ex-wife about how he managed to keep her in the dark while he was away with Coleen, sometimes for days at a time. ChronicleLive reported the story in 2020 of James - real name Greg Wilson - who was jailed for six years at Newcastle Crown Court for a series of frauds on several victims including Coleen, who was his fiancée at the time.

With exclusive access to police files, Vicky sets out to uncover the answers behind the unbelievable true crime tale. She said: "I've been engaged three times and had more than enough dating disasters, but this puts anything I've been through into perspective.

"I've never seen anything this outlandish on the telly - it's that crazy," she added. "But it did happen and that's why I'm so fascinated".

The podcast’s producer Jon Douglas added: "This fraud went on for years and the main motivation does not seem to have been money. It's only when you hear the lengths this man went to in order to create and maintain his illusion, that you can appreciate how so many perfectly intelligent people were taken in".

Local audio commissioning controller Chris Burns described the podcast as "an astonishing tale from across Tyneside and Teesside." The full series will be available on BBC sounds from Valentine's Day, Tuesday February 14, and will also be serialised on BBC Radio Newcastle and BBC Radio Tees.

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