For most, reuniting with a long-lost mother would be an emotional and joyful experience. But for Graham Hornigold, it quickly spiralled into a nightmare—one that left him thousands of pounds poorer and questioning everything he thought he knew.
Now, his extraordinary and chilling ordeal has been turned into a gripping Netflix documentary, Con Mum, revealing the shocking truth behind a woman who claimed to be his biological mother while simultaneously orchestrating a devastating financial and emotional scam.
A chef’s dream reunion turns dark
Hornigold, a celebrated pastry chef known for his appearances on MasterChef: The Professionals and work in some of London’s finest restaurants, had never known his mother. Born in 1974 on a British Army base in Germany, he was raised in the UK by his father, with no knowledge of his maternal side.
His life was on a steady path—having spent nearly three decades in the hospitality industry, he had successfully launched a gourmet doughnut business, Longboys, alongside his partner, Heather Kaniuk. In 2020, as the couple prepared to welcome their first child, everything changed with a single email.
“We received an email on the 4th of July 2020,” Hornigold recalls. “It said there was a woman who knew my name.”
The woman, named Dionne, claimed to be his biological mother. Naturally sceptical, Hornigold posed a series of personal questions—his middle name, his exact birthplace—things only his real mother could know. Dionne answered them all correctly.
Encouraged by the apparent truth, Hornigold and Heather travelled to meet her for the first time at a hotel, where she greeted them with champagne and warmth. The connection was immediate.
A lifetime of questions—and a web of lies
“It’s like a yearning,” Hornigold explains. “People who have known their mums all their lives don’t realise—when you’ve never had that, there’s this deep longing to understand who you are and where you come from.”
Dionne quickly embedded herself in his life, sharing incredible claims: she was an illegitimate child of the Sultan of Brunei, she was terminally ill with brain and bone marrow cancer, and she had only six months to live. More astonishingly, she was immensely wealthy—able to buy him luxury gifts, including a Range Rover.
Looking back, the warning signs were there, but at the time, Hornigold was blinded by emotion. “From the outside, it looks like love bombing,” he admits. “But when you’ve just met your mother after 45 years, it doesn’t feel like that—it feels like making up for lost time.”
A master manipulator
Shortly after Heather gave birth, Dionne called Hornigold, desperately needing help. He rushed to her side and, in an act of compassion, brought her to live with him, Heather, and their newborn son.
Balancing new fatherhood, running a business, and caring for his supposedly dying mother was overwhelming. But things took a sinister turn when Dionne insisted that she and Hornigold travel to Zurich to settle her financial affairs so he could inherit her vast fortune.
He expected a brief trip, but weeks turned into months, with Dionne finding endless reasons to delay their return. Each time Hornigold tried to leave, she guilted him, making him feel as though he was abandoning his dying mother.
Meanwhile, Dionne claimed her bank accounts were frozen, leading Hornigold to fund her extravagant lifestyle. He covered hotel stays, travel, and personal expenses, all with the promise of reimbursement once her affairs were settled.
By the time he realised he was trapped in a scam, he was £300,000 in debt.
The breaking point
Heather and Hornigold’s friends had long suspected something was wrong. They urged him to question Dionne’s story. Was she even his real mother?
Desperate for answers, Hornigold searched her hotel room, uncovering a jar of red food colouring—evidence that she had been faking symptoms of her supposed illness. None of her medications were related to cancer treatment. The truth was devastating: Dionne was a fraud.
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Confronted with undeniable proof, she vanished. Hornigold was left in ruins—financially, emotionally, and personally estranged from Heather, who later moved to New Zealand with their son.
A chilling twist
Even after her disappearance, one question remained unanswered: was Dionne truly his mother?
A DNA test finally revealed the shocking truth—she was, with 99.99% accuracy.
Despite everything, Hornigold says he no longer feels anything towards her. “She played on a need—an unhealed wound that allowed her in, as it would with anyone.”
Lessons from the ordeal
Hornigold’s experience highlights the devastating power of psychological manipulation. He speaks openly about the emotional toll it took, even alluding to dark moments of despair.
“80% of suicide rates are men,” he reflects. “It’s important to talk, to reach out to friends, to know that there is always a way back.”
His story serves as a sobering warning about the dangers of trust misplaced, even in the most personal of relationships. Con Mum lays bare the shocking reality behind his ordeal—a reminder that sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction.
