Anita Barker, a 54-year-old operations manager and star of Married at First Sight (MAFS), thought she’d found love on Tinder, only to uncover a chilling deception that would rival any Netflix thriller. For three months, she dated a charismatic fraudster who spun a web of lies so convincing it left her trust in tatters and led her to seek the vetted safety of MAFS. “It was horrific,” Anita recalls. “It shattered my trust. That’s why I went on Married at First Sight—people were going to be checked and vetted.”
Now paired with groom Paul Richardson, 60, on the hit reality show, Anita’s journey to find genuine love has been anything but smooth. Viewers have watched her struggle in her marriage, admitting to feeling “drained” and refusing to move into their shared apartment. But her current challenges pale in comparison to the betrayal she endured at the hands of a conman who swindled £1.24 million from his victims.
A Royal Deception
Anita’s nightmare began when she met a man who claimed to be a close family friend of Princess Anne, boasting about their supposed clay pigeon shooting outings. His charm was magnetic, his stories grandiose. He even invited Anita to a shooting event, casually dropping, “Don’t be surprised if Princess Anne shows up.” But Anita wasn’t easily swayed. Her son, a former Scots Guard who had protected Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace, and Windsor Castle, gave her a unique insight into the royal circle. The fraudster’s claims didn’t add up, and alarm bells began to ring.
“I thought, ‘This is getting strange,’” Anita recalls. Her gut instinct told her something was terribly wrong. Determined to protect her family, she introduced the man to them on Boxing Day, hoping to solidify their bond before things got too serious. But her daughter and daughter-in-law’s online searches yielded no trace of him—a red flag that couldn’t be ignored. “We were struggling to find anything about him,” Anita says. “My gut was saying something was wrong.”
Unmasking a Walter Mitty
Anita took her concerns to the police, citing her need to ensure her grandchildren’s safety. Using Clare’s and Sarah’s Laws, authorities confirmed the man wasn’t a registered domestic violence perpetrator or child sex offender. However, a quick 15-minute search revealed a string of addresses linked to him, painting the picture of a “Walter Mitty” character—a compulsive liar living a fabricated life. Though police couldn’t disclose more due to his rights, Anita didn’t need further convincing. “I just ended it,” she says.
Four months later, a pencil-written letter arrived at her home, its opening line leaving her in tears. “I was gobsmacked,” Anita says. “I couldn’t read past the first line.” The letter was a confession: the man’s name wasn’t what he’d told her. He was incarcerated in Durham prison for fraud, having stolen £1.24 million from friends and, after his marriage collapsed, defrauded two women out of £66,000 through a sugar daddy website. His charm offensive with Anita was part of a calculated plan to rob her, starting with a seemingly innocent request to borrow £500—a sum she wisely declined.
Police later warned that the £500 would likely have been repaid to build her trust, paving the way for larger sums. Even the confessional letter was a manipulation, as Anita learned he’d sent a similar one to another victim, hoping to secure an early prison release by using their addresses. “He took me to the same cinema, the same hotel in Edinburgh, the same adventure treehouse as another woman he conned,” Anita reveals, shaken by the eerie parallels.
A Life Rebuilt, A Heart on Guard
The betrayal capped a devastating period for Anita. Just seven months earlier, in late 2022, her 17-year relationship ended abruptly at Christmas, days after she was made redundant. The death of her mother on Bonfire Night added to her grief, and Anita believes the fraudster targeted her in hopes of claiming a share of her family’s home, which was up for sale. “I was in a sad bubble,” she admits.
But Anita refused to stay down. She learned fire eating, got a bold tattoo on her left thigh, and danced the night away at a superclub in Ibiza. When her daughter teased that she was having a breakdown, Anita laughed it off, calling it a “canny cool breakdown.” Determined to reclaim her life, she added a new ambition to her list: finding a genuine partner. That’s when she applied for MAFS, seeking the security of a vetted match. “I’d had someone in my house who I didn’t even know,” she says. “I wanted them checked.”
Struggles on MAFS
On MAFS, Anita was paired with Paul Richardson, but their marriage has been rocky. Viewers have seen her frustration mount as Paul struggled to remember her children’s names and suggested it could take six years to develop a romantic connection. “I’d spent 18 months finding myself,” Anita says. “I haven’t got time to wait six years.” In a heated moment on Thursday’s episode, she demanded clarity, telling Paul, “I’m at a point in my life where I need to know where I stand. I haven’t got time to waste.”
Anita’s journey—from surviving a conman’s betrayal to navigating the highs and lows of a televised marriage—shows her resilience and determination to find authentic love. Her story is a stark reminder of the dangers lurking behind charming facades and the strength it takes to rebuild after trust is shattered.