A woman contacted Graham claiming to be his mother. It was the only thing she wasn't lying about.

What happens when the mother you've longed for your entire life finally reaches out?

Netflix's new documentary, Con Mum explores just that. The true story behind the tragic reunion of British pastry chef, Graham Hornigold and his biological mother. A reunion that would alter the course of his entire life.

In 2020, Graham Hornigold was riding high. His culinary career was flourishing, and he was about to embrace fatherhood with his partner, Heather Kaniuk.

Then, an unexpected email arrived.

"Hi Graham, I'm not sure if this is going to reach you as I've been searching for a way to contact you and found this email," the message read. "My name's Dionne, formerly known as Theresa... Graham was born in Germany before being taken away from me to England."

Watch the trailer for Con Mum. Article continues after video. 

Graham had never met his birth mother before. As he'd endured a difficult childhood with a strict, abusive father, this email represented the possibility of answers to questions that had haunted him his entire life.

His mother's name had been on his birth certificate, but previous attempts to find her had led nowhere.

Suspicious but hopeful, Graham tested her with questions only his mother would know: What was his middle name? Where exactly was he born? Dionne answered them all correctly.

Soon after, Graham and his pregnant partner Heather drove to Liverpool to meet Dionne at a hotel. The emotional reunion was everything Graham had dreamed of — finally, the missing piece of his life had arrived.

Dionne quickly wove herself into Graham's life with extraordinary tales and generous gifts. She claimed to be immensely wealthy — an illegitimate child of the Sultan of Brunei — and showered Graham with luxury: a Range Rover, stays in five-star hotels, and lavish dining experiences.

But shortly after they met, Dionne delivered some devastating news: she had a terminal illness with only months to live.

The mother Graham never knew, who he had only just reunited with, would be gone again in a matter of months. This revelation made Graham even more adamant on, not only getting to know his mother, but fulfilling her dying wishes as best he could.

Image: Netflix. 

"If I die soon... you are a multi-millionaire. That's all I can tell you. I'll put everything in your name," Dionne told Graham during a phone conversation documented in the film.

Dionne's lifestyle certainly suggested wealth. She stayed in luxury hotels, dined at expensive restaurants, and made lavish purchases — including cars for Graham and Heather. But there was a disturbing reality lurking beneath the surface: Graham was unknowingly funding it all.

How did this happen?

Well, shortly after Heather gave birth to their son, Dionne called Graham asking for help. Without hesitation, he left his partner's side to collect his mother and brought her to live with his young family.

What began as a heartwarming family reunion soon turned manipulative. Dionne convinced Graham to travel to Switzerland with her, supposedly to arrange her affairs so he could inherit her fortune. What was meant to be a short trip stretched into months, with Dionne inventing new reasons for him to stay whenever he tried to leave.

Image: Netflix. 

The result? Graham missed precious early months with his newborn son.

Meanwhile, Dionne claimed to have "lost access" to her wealth due to banking complications. Graham, believing he would soon inherit millions, began funding her extravagant lifestyle — slowly falling deeper into debt.

As weeks turned into months, Graham's life began revolving around mysterious meetings with lawyers that never resulted in concrete progress regarding his supposed inheritance. Meanwhile, the expenses mounted, with Dionne consistently borrowing money she never repaid.

It was Heather who first sensed something was wrong. Beyond the financial strain, she noticed Dionne's attempts to manipulate their family dynamics, even trying to drive a wedge between Heather and Graham. The final pieces fell into place when Graham's friend Juan revealed that Dionne had attempted to borrow money from him with empty promises of repayment.

The most shocking discovery came when Graham found a bottle of red dye amongst his mother's belongings — she had been faking the symptoms of her terminal illness all along.

Image: Netflix. 

Then one day, Dionne disappeared without a trace. Graham had lost all communication with her, but by that point, the damage was catastrophic. He had accumulated approximately £300,000 in debt.

It was all fake. The wealth, the royal connections, the inheritance — all fabricated. But amongst all her lies, only one thing was real.

DNA testing confirmed a cruel irony: Dionne truly was Graham's biological mother. But her motivation for reconnecting wasn't maternal love — it was to target him as her next victim in a long history of cons spanning four decades.

More than a year later, Graham received an unexpected call from Dionne, who offered an apology and claimed to love him. But the damage was irreparable. The emotional and financial stress had taken its toll on Graham's relationship with Heather. They eventually separated, with their son remaining with Heather.

Dionne, who has used multiple names over the years, including Dionne Marie Hannah and Theresa Haton Mahmud, declined to participate in the Netflix documentary.

Despite Graham and Heather reporting her to authorities, police determined that Dionne's relationship to Graham disqualified her activities as fraud, and she has never faced criminal charges for these allegations.

In his quest to find his mother, Graham lost not only his savings but also the stability of his new family. Perhaps most heartbreaking of all is the loss of what might have been — the relationship with the mother he had longed for throughout his life.

Feature Image: Netflix.