Australian Story Monday 14 March 2022 on ABC TV

Journalist Stephanie Wood will interview women who have been victims of romantic con men but have managed to restore their lives on next week’s Australian Story.

Stephanie Wood, a journalist, never intended to be the topic of her own narrative. But when she fell in love with a serial con artist, her entire life came crashing down around her.

“I discovered that almost nothing he said about himself was true, he’d created this completely false persona,” she says. “I knew of con artists in the financial world but this guy didn’t want money from me. Like, who does this?”

Stephanie published a book about her experiences with ‘Joe’ to warn others when she pieced together the entire depth of her former boyfriend’s falsehoods and deceptions. Hundreds of women – and a few males – startled her by sharing disturbingly similar assault stories.

“Even now, nearly two years later, I’m still getting messages,” she says. “I decided to reach out to some of the women who had contacted me.”

Australian Story follows Stephanie Wood as she interviews other women who fell prey to narcissistic fantasists. Their stories are heartbreaking and ultimately life-affirming as they explain how they survived relationships with romantic con men and rebuilt their lives.

And she meets clinical psychologist Elisabeth Shaw, who explains some of the personality disorders underpinning such behaviour and how online dating apps create havens for men to hide behind false personas.

“These women are not foolish or naive,” says Elisabeth Shaw. “It’s not as if they have just blindly stayed. They are being very actively played.”

“The strength comes from understanding what has happened. Knowing that you weren’t responsible. Knowing that you’re not the only one,” says Stephanie. “These women haven’t done anything wrong. They’ve just wanted to love and be loved.”

Producer: Olivia Rousset

Airdate: Monday 14 March 2022 at 8.00pm on ABC TV.