Hey, Betrayal fans, I have exciting news to share. Season three of Betrayal is now a docuseries on Hulu. It's the gripping story of Stacy Tyler and the doctor who betrayed them. See the voices you've come to know in Betrayal Under his Eye, streaming now on Hulu.
So we sat down and he was like, he doesn't believe in NDA, so he's not going to ask for one of them. And I was just like, what the hell is going on here? Like what is happening? And he was like, oh, do you know what? I think? I need to tell you a little bit about my family history.
I'm Andrea Gunning and this is Betrayal, a show about the people we trust the most and the deceptions that change everything. Today, I want to introduce you to Bernie Brown.
My entire life's being paycheck to paycheck. I'm just very clever with it. I've cut my own hair for the past twenty years and colored it because I'm like, well, if somebody else can do that, why can't I do that.
While growing up in London, Bernie experienced a difficult upbringing.
My childhood was very rough. My mum was extremely strong, but she was going through massive domestic violence with my dad at one point, very very seriously, we're talking like hospitalization.
Bernie witnessed his dad's violence at a young age.
I do remember one time walking into the kitchen and he had her up by a knife. I actually still remember to this day the layout of the room. I remember it very very vividly. She would be the punctioning bag to make or that we were never harmed.
His mom was a pillar of strength.
My mother. Everything I do and the person that I am now is because of who she was and what she showed me.
What Bernie remembers most about his mom was how she always made everyone feel at home.
She was always very house proud, always cleaning. When I hit school, my friends would come over to see her. She was very much an open door. The door was never locked, which was probably unsafe, but anyone knocked on the door, anyone who needed help, regardless of whether she had it or not, it would always be yes. And she was very very well known for that.
When Bernie came out as.
Gay, my family were lovely with I was very very very lucky that enabled me to actually be proud and celebrate it.
He began to explore the queer scene in London.
When you first come out as being gay, you've got the big clubs, you know, the Jyre Storia, which has closed down now. I spent many a happy even in there. Shall we say.
Bernie was living his best life. It was a fun and exciting time, but deep down he was looking for real partnership.
I really wanted to find somebody to settle down with. I just wanted that one on one connection. I don't remember actually witnessing a stable relationship, and I think that's why I so desperately needed one.
At age eighteen, Bernie found what he was looking for.
I met my first real boyfriend at the time in London. We moved to Newcastle, we bought a house, we had two dogs and two cars, and we had that life. I must have been twenty two twenty three, and it wasn't legal in the UK to get married at that point. So what we did we for a party and we legally changed our names, so we kind of had our little version of a wedding and it was just going amazingly.
He had everything he wanted and it was great for about eight years, but.
Then it just didn't work. When that failed. We were actually very close friends for about ten years after. I was best man at his wedding.
After their relationship ended, Bernie's mother's health started to decline. At the age of forty six, she died of heart failure.
We had that time to say goodbye, which rarely do people get. I could actually process it there and then, and we both said what we felt and you know what she wanted from us in life.
Now, Bernie felt truly out on his own. He was newly single and starting over in this city.
I was in London. Of course I had flings and you know all of them that come with it. But every single time I would never see somebody or sleep with somebody and instantly just disregard. There would always be an element of could disco further.
He was a romantic, but Bernie knew he had to prioritize himself and his career. After years of working in retail, Bernie wanted to start a brand of his own, so he started saving everything he could to start his own clothing brand.
I've never never had money at all, but I've always worked very, very hard for the money that I do have. I've always wanted to work for myself, not answer to any one. So I started a clothing T shirt business, like my own prints and sell them online. And I was like, it's my time. Let me build something that's my own.
Even though Bernie was working a lot, he still wanted to have a good time.
I don't need the relationship at the minute, but you know, you need the physical side of it.
So he went on Grinder, the dating app for gay men.
So I was using it happily. I'd actually met some quite good friends. Now. I actually do still remember the message come through because I had a glass of wine and I was sat with a glass of wine and I got the famous I remember that there was something intriguing. It was very well written and not the usual first opening message that you get on that kind of app in a forward. Do you know it's a nice breath of fresh air. There's nothing on her. I'll just entertain it.
His name was Leo, and Bernie had never seen him on the app before.
I've not seen you around here before, and it's like, no, I live in central London by Hyde Park, just around the corner from Harrod Toe and the other. Instantly I was like, well hold on there, like twenty pounds.
Bernie didn't know anyone with a house in Hyde Park. That was a completely different world.
Bearing in mind it's grinder. You instantly just think, okay, all right, this fictional whatever, so you entertain and I was like, oh, lovely fine.
Leo was quick to ask him on a date.
He was like, I'm not big talking on these apps. I'm around the corner. Why didn't you come over? Nothing untoward. It was like, just you know, let me cook you some dinner and we'll just have a glass off wine. And I then was like, oh, this is very sweet. He's very well spoken.
In addition to his apartment in London, Leo also had a luxury trailer, an airstream that he kept at a high end campground.
They've got their own unique garden and plots and all of these. It's beautiful. So I was like, okay, this is nice. And there's this big, beautiful white range Rover that was sat next to it. He was very articulate, and he did speak Queen's English. It's very smooth, that pronounces every word as intended by her Majesty the Queen. I was like, oh my god, I need to, like, you know, I need to up it a notch.
Leo made a delicious dinner.
Instantly, I was taken in just his charm. I've never met anybody with that smooth charm that isn't patronizing. It just was focused on me and we had an amazing meal.
Bernie was really enjoying himself. He liked talking to Leo and they bonded over cars.
He went through his picture gallery and he had all of these cars. We had the Bentley's, we had Aston Martin's, we had quite a few range Rovers, some old classics, and he was just flicking through and he was like, this is my pride and joy, I love cars and this and the other.
The pictures also showed that Leo had serious money, a lot of it.
You can kind of tell when somebody's got old money or new money. New money is very much the designer head to toe, and all of this old money is you can't really tell if they've got money. They're the chinos, the nice shirt, the neck tie, that kind and that's how he was.
But Bernie didn't understand why he asked him to come to his trailer instead of his London apartment.
At that point, he just said he was from a very influential family within the UK, and because of his family, he can't be out, he can't be gay, so to escape all of the craziness, he needs somewhere to get away. And he said, nobody knows about this caravan, like his family don't know, security doesn't know. So for him, it's just his little getaway to just be himself. So I was like, okay, fine, but at that point I didn't know who his family was.
Bernie ended up staying and hanging out with Leo for hours.
It got dark, it must have been around about eleven to twelve o'clock at night. It was like, oh, let's go inside, Let's go in the caravan, and we sat in the sofa area and just had a conversation were there's something very weird that happened. It was like, do you mind if I ask you to do something? Can you just undress in front of me. I won't touch, I won't do anything like that buried in way. I
probably had a bottle of wine. So I did and I got naked and he didn't and it was like just turn around for me and that was it, and I was like, okay, you can get dressed now. I was like what was all that about. It was just like, I've not been with many men, so I'm a little bit nervous. Instantly, I was like, oh, that's so sweet.
They kissed good night, and Bernie got a taxi home.
Next morning, I woke up and of course there was the most beautiful message that was on my phone and he was like, look, I really want to see you again. I can't get you out in my mind, this and the other, and we just had normal conversation through the day. I just started feeling a bit warm. I was just like, is this really happening.
They decided on a second date.
So again I went over. We had something to eat. The conversation was effortless, the subjects, it was just it was so smooth. It was as if I'd known him for years. It was so easy. And then we started kissing and this, that and the other. And then he I remember, he started coughing, and I was like, oh, is everything okay? And I was like, yeah, it's fine. I'm just I'm very, very nervous. So I was like, listen, let's just sit take it slow, and you know, see
where we go. Nothing has to happen. And then we went back to it and with things were happening, and then he kind of had a coughing fit and he actually got really serious that. I was like, I'll get you a glass of water. So I got in my glass of water and he would not stop coughing. So I was like, I'm just going to step outside because by this point he was bringing things up. It was not romantic at all. And I was outside for about about ten minutes and all you could hear was this
hacking up. And at that point I stood there and I was like, what do I do? Do I go do? I just like to leave, but then my car keys are in there. This is really awkward. So then he called me back in and we had this conversation and he just apologized. And that's when he said that he's got a few health issues and it's like he's getting them checked up and it's nothing too serious to worry about at the minute. And he was like so apologetic. I was like, honestly, it's fine, let's just watch something.
Calm down. I was like, it's generally not a big deal.
After Leo recovered from his coughing fit, Bernie stayed and they ended up having a really lovely evening.
We had a few dates at that point. It was like, can I come to yours? So I was like, do you know what, Yes, come to mine. I will cook us a nice meal. And then that's the first time that he came round and he brought the Bentley. This Bentley Continental white thing pulled up and I was like, what the hell is this.
Bernie had seen the pictures of Leo's cars, but he was skeptical that Leo really owned all of them.
All the way up until that point, and that was a few weeks in. I took everything with a pinch of salt. And then I think that was the first time when the Bentley pulled up, I'm like, but hold on, if this is true.
The Bentley was impressive.
I'd never even been close to a Bentley jorna ride, so I was like yes, I was like, come on, So I got in and we went for a drive and oh my god, it goes fast, beautiful car.
Later that night, when they were deep in conversation.
It slipped in and I was like, oh, I've got to go down to the Castle today for whatever event I have to. I'm being dragged down and I was like, Castle, what's this and it was like, oh, do you know what I think? I need to tell you a little bit about my family history.
Bernie was really enjoying getting to know Leo, a guy he met on Grinder. He knew Leo came from money, and after a few dates, he confided in Bernie about his family's backstory.
So he sat down and he was like, right, he doesn't believe in NDA, so he's not going to ask for one of them. And I was just like, what the hell is going on here?
Like what is happening a non disclosure agreement? Bernie wasn't following, but then.
He opened up with do you know who the Norfolks are? And I said no, I have no idea who that is. So then he went through the family history. So it was like, my dad's brother is the Duke of Norfolk. I didn't know who that was. He was like, the Duke of Norfolk is the highest peerage in the UK outside of the Royal family. So it's literally the royal family, then the estate of the Duke of Norfolk. They're bloodline royals, they're just not direct in line to the front. Obviously.
I had a little look on Google and you can see on his profile, who the Duke of Norfolk and the immense responsibility that he has within Britain. So I was like, okay, fine, so that's your dad's brother. He was like yeah.
And Leo's title.
He was Viscount Norfolk.
The second and the castle he'd mentioned offhand was a Rundel Castle, a thousand year old architectural masterpiece in the south of England.
And it was like, let me show you something, because at that point he'd brung an overyebag and he had this Cartier box, quite slim and opened. It was a crest with flower spikes all around it, circular shape with the Saint George's cross in the middle, then had some inscriptions on it and it had the House of Norfolk and fitz Allen, and he said, we have to carry this everywhere we go, badges and emblems and crests because if somebody passes they need it instantly for a sign
of respect and all this. I held it. It was so heavy and I was just like, what is going on in my life? Ride this minute in time? You know, I've got somebody here that is amazing and like so into me. But at the same time, also with the Bentley upfront and I'm sitting here holding this big royal crest.
Bernie couldn't wrap his mind around it, and I was.
Like, I don't know what to say. And it was like, it's fine, It's like, just ask any questions that you have and I was like, I literally don't have questions, Like my mind his blank.
This was really big. Leo came from a very important and complicated world. Bernie didn't know what it would mean for his relationship with Leo.
He was like, I want to keep us separate. You know that I have to do this with you. I want to do and he was like, until we figure out how or if we can mix this, let's just try it. So I was like, look, I'm fine with that. I'm not here and I never have been impressed by money. Obviously, I'm impressed by the Bentley, but I'm not here for anything other than you.
This was a pivotal moment. The conversation deepened their connection.
That was then the first day that he had opened up and he trusted me. He trusted me with his secret and his family and his line. I think that was the first time that I was like, yeah, he really likes me.
Leo let Bernie into his inner circle, but he made it clear privacy and discretion was critical.
The first few months after that, it was amazing. He really genuinely wanted to see me happy and to take care of me.
Bernie and Leo were spending more and more time with each other.
He pretty much moved in. I think that was about a month and a half in. I gave McKey and I literally just said, you know, use it whenever you want.
Leo never missed a moment to make Bernie feel loved.
If I was on a late shift, I would finish ten eleven o'clock at night, and then he would be there with dinner with flowers. At that minute in time, I had felt the happiest, settled and loved. Then I would probably say bar my mom than I had ever felt in my life.
Even though Leo came from a wealthy background, he worked hard and had a career he was passionate about.
He knew about watches, he was a horologist, he had been to Switzerland, studied at the best places. He absolutely knew everything. He had space to do a little studio. He was taking all of these rolexes apart and in front of me, putting them back together, and then he was like, I'm licensed by Rolex to do that.
It was a very competitive certification. But luxury watches were Leo's life.
He always had Rolex Flip on his arm.
Within a few months, they were spending almost every night together. They were exclusive. Bernie was starting to think that Leo could be the one. There was only one big concern, and that was Leo's health. It was there from the beginning, but Bernie was seeing his symptoms worsen. Leo wasn't just coughing, he was now throwing up.
He went silent for I want to say two days. Now. By that point, please realize that two days, when I am now fully into this, fully into the emotion, is like two weeks.
During those two days, Bernie was desperate to hear from Leo. While he waited, his mind began to spin.
What have I done? Have I said something? I went back through WhatsApps and this is only two days of no conversation. I went through WhatsApps to find out what I've said that he could possibly take offense with anyway. He eventually came back and basically apologized for not being in contact with me over the two days.
Leo had a good reason for being out of touch. He'd been in the hospital.
He was like, I can't say anything over the phone, but I just need to get out of London my family going into a panic, and try to keep this maintained, you know, make sure that it doesn't go to any press. He was like, can I just come to yourselves? Like absolutely. At that point, he told me that he was suffering from brain cancer and they've given him a year to live, and obviously he had a lot of process and that he needed to do.
Bernie was devastated. He wanted to be there for Leo any way he could.
I'm just going to sit here and be quiet. You talk to me, you vent me, you get your frustrations out, anything that is in your mind. I was like, you literally throw them at me. This is what I'm here to do. And he did, and he got upset, he got angry, he was crying, and then he got to the US conversation and he said, I can't really see you anymore.
Leo didn't want to be a burden.
He was like, look, I can't promise you anything. If this is how my life is going to end, there's bits may not be pretty, and I was like, look, I really don't care. I was like, if I have to be a complete secret, even if we have to break up, just I want to be your friend. It wasn't about any of the sex or the relationship for me. It was this person that was in front of me.
To Bernie's surprise, Leo even brought up as well.
He was like, obviously he can't change that because if he put my name in there, they all questions will come up with who. And I was like, I really do not care. I was like, I literally do not care about any of that. I was like, if you get to that point, I will be here as much as you need me to.
Leo couldn't come out to his family, so in order for Bernie to stay in his life, he suggested Bernie pretend to be his assistant or driver. It was the kind of arrangement Bernie wouldn't have agreed to under normal circumstances, but he was willing to do anything to make sure he could care for Leo.
So he agreed, and I meant it one hundred percent, not a second guess in my mind.
So Bernie immediately focused on helping Leo make sense of his diagnosis.
I went online. I researched the hell out of it down to all different methods, and I mean I did go crazy with it, to be honest. I was there for at least an entire twenty four hours googling research and what this meant experimental drugs, and like, I just went to town with everything that I could find out.
But Leo had already accepted that he didn't have much time left.
He was talking about that he might not actually go for chemo because he just wants to just end it on his terms in Switzerland. That was a conversation that we had. And then that's when we went onto a conversation about I think I need to start living my life while I've got it, and I was like, right, okay, so let's do that.
For Leo, living his life to the fullest meant finally launching his own watch restoration business that would be his legacy. He had a collection of incredible luxury watches and he couldn't take them with him.
One day he said to me, I've got all of these watches. I might just start selling them because I kind of like swap in a buying trade on this site. And He's like, I kind of want to build something, so instantly I kicked in. I was like, I can build you a website. Let's register this company, and I did.
We had quite a few business meetings on how the logo is going to look, what it's called, setting up all of the social media for it, and I sat on my little photoshop and I'd done the logo and the company was called The Vintage Crown.
Leo wanted Bernie to list all of his watches and post them online, so he brought his entire collection to Bernie's house.
We came up and he literally had about two three trunks of watches. I mean, I've got all the pictures on my phone. Still, there was countless Rolelexes. There was the tet Feliks, there was Van Kleef and Urpools. They were stunning. There must have been i'd say close to one hundred one hundred watches in my lounge on this table. And there was this very very old Rolex. The gloss, the watch face was quite rounded.
Bernie picked up the watch. It was heavy and ornate.
It was like, this is probably the most expensive watch that I own, and I was like, well, how much is it worth? It was like you check it out. So it's like, go on the Rolex website, turn the watch over. I typed in the cerial number and it came in at one point two million. At that point, I probably had aboute hundred pound in my bank account, so I'm like one point two million. It was just insane to think of the money that was sat right in front of me.
Leo had a staggering collection of luxury watches, and as Bernie helped Leo launch his new watch business, Bernie got a taste of that world. Like when Bernie came with him to run errands at high end London department.
Stores and whenever we walked into Harold's, they knew of him. They addressed him by his name, talking about previous purchases that he had made, and full conversations.
He even asked Bernie to go to Selfridges, another luxury department store in London for an exclusive event.
It's a private party of VIP, but it would be quite nice if you can come with me just to experience a bit of that lifestyle. And I was like, oh, like absolutely yeah, I'll come out. So we got dressed, made away into central London, walk into Selfridges and it was red carpet, all of that.
This event was a big deal, and Leo was a big deal. There. Everyone greeted him by name and immediately people were vying for his attention.
So he went into this private VIP area through the door.
Leo was there to look at a specific.
Watch, and then he sent me a message and was like, Okay, we've kind of done with the finance side, do you want to come in? So I was absolutely so I went in and it was a private room with a head of European sales. The room was gorgeous. We had or dirves that were laid out and the watches were laid out in front of me. These ridiculous, I mean the price of a house, these watches in front of us, and it was just this woman, Leo and me.
Leo bought two watches that day as gifts for family members. With Bernie's help, Leo's watch business got off the ground, and as a thank you, he would let Bernie borrow some of the pieces.
If we'd go for dinner, he'd give me a Rolex or a a tech Philippin. He then called one day and he said, this Rolex has come my way for me to recondition and to sell. It's just a Sa Mariner. I've got quite a few of them anyway. But he was like, I thought of you.
Leo was making him an offer.
He was like, look, you buy it off of me for twenty thousand. I will recondition it, I'll make it look as good as new, i will polish it, I will have it back up. And it's usually worth about thirty to forty thousand.
Twenty grand up front. It would be a huge investment for Bernie. And then Leo would resell it at a profit of at least ten thousand pounds.
Of course, it would be amazing. That extra ten ground for me at this minute in time would open up doors. I've never had just a ten thousand pounds sum in my account.
But Bernie didn't have twenty thousand pounds just lying around.
And I was all right. I was like at the first I just don't have anywhere near that money whatsoever. Literally, I think for my entire life it's been paycheck to paycheck. I'm just very clever with it. Nowhere do I have that kind of money.
Leo had an idea, what about Bernie's clothing business. It wasn't as successful as the watch sales.
So he said, well the clothes was like, you know, it's taking too much of your time. Is it really doing anything? And I was like, it's getting a bit tiring, And so I said, look, why don't you just sell sell all of the clothes just in bulk. Somebody will buy it it, sell the website off, like, sell the business, get this watch, and then use that lump sum for how whatever you want to do your next project.
Bernie had a few ideas for new businesses he wanted to start. The investment in the watch represented a new chapter, so he started crunching the numbers.
I was like, look, I can take this money out of all of my credit cards. But if I do that with my bills, my wage in retail will it won't even cover half of all them repayments in one go by maxing out them cars. So he said, look, once I've got the money, it will take about a week for the watch to get here. So I will recondition it, I'll get it sent to you. You'll sell it before you next get paid if I get it. But I'd never do anything to hurt you. This is
for your benefit. Look, if it's too much then you know what, let's just not do it. Let's just just forget about it completely. And by that point I was like, I'd already kind of imagined if I sell all of this stuff and I take from these credit cards, by the end of it, I could have ten to twenty thousand pounds, which is just mine to do with. So I was like, right, okay, I trust him one hundred percent, let's just do this. Bernie was in So I sold the website off and then I think that only got
about half of it, maybe a little bit more. And then I did have a few credit cards, so I got rid of the final bits of the clothes, took out from every credit card that I had, maxed it out, and gave it him.
Bernie got fifteen thousand pounds from maxed out credit cards. For the rest of the money, he took out an incredibly high interest loan.
These payday loans, the interest rate is seventy nine percent per month, and that's more than what you've borrowed.
Bernie was putting everything on the line. He sent Leo the twenty thousand, and Leo ordered the watch.
It'd been delivered to his Hyde Park address.
But it was the week of Christmas and Leo wasn't home. He was at the castle.
He has responsibilities around the UK, so he was up there doing official business and he will get.
To it with the holidays. It could be a week before Leo got to the watch. That meant weeks before they could resell it.
That's when I started panicking because at that point there is absolutely no way that I am going to be able to cover that next payment. And I told him that I am getting nervous because I know the tsunami that's coming if this isn't paid.
But Leo was calm. He handled deals like this all the time.
He just kept reassuring me, saying, look, there's a little bit of a delay. I've got a buyer. I've got somebody that's interested. As soon as I can get my hands down to this watch. It will take me one day to recondition it because it's in very good quality, and I will literally have a buyer for you within twenty four hours.
After that, Leo seemed to change. The loving calls and texts started dwindling.
The communication with me and him went very sparse. The morning messages, which by this point had constantly continued If I had even to the point if he was staying at mine and I woke up at four in the morning to go to work, when he woke up, I would still get that morning message.
And now those techs stopped coming. Their connection started to feel less like a romantic relationship and more like a business partnership.
It went from loving and just amazing conversations to all about the watch.
For Bernie, this cold shoulder really hurt. Obviously he was concerned about the watch, but that wasn't what he really cared about.
I am fully in depth, I am fully in love with him.
In seven months, Leo had become the center point of his life.
He was my world at that point, and there was nothing else that I was concentrated on. I had stopped talking to my friend, even my best friend. I'd stopped talking to my family, and all of a sudden, this person is completely disregarding me. I was panicking then. I was then going back to that state. What have I done? What have I said? I know it's Christmas. I don't want to contact him too much because I know that he's working and he's probably with people with his family.
But at the same time, I'm panicking because I'm not getting that response. Then comes Christmas Eve and he kind of goes silent a little bit, and then I get Christmas Eve. I get a few messages, very cold, and it was like I'm with people, I can't talk. I was like, okay, I just wanted to wish you a merry Christmas.
It was important for Leo to spend time with his family because he had so little time left. Maybe the reality of his diagnosis was finally hitting him. Bernie understood why Leo might be pulling away, but it still starts.
Next morning, I did actually get quite a nice message. It's just like Merry Christmas, handsome and blah blah blah blah blah. I instantly my mood I was uplifted. I was like, oh, it's okay. What's your plans for today? It was I went straight into that puppy mode like he could do no wrong. And he said, I'm with my family all day. I won't be able to contact you for the next two days. I was like, Okay, that's absolutely fine. I get it. It's Christmas, you are supposed to spend that with your family.
Bernie spent that Christmas alone waiting for a message from Leo. But that day Bernie noticed something strange.
It seemed like.
Leo was actually spending Christmas Day with another man, someone Bernie had never seen before.
There was a picture on his WhatsApp update. It was him, but there was somebody else in the background. There was this guy just walking towards the camera, looking directly in the camera as if he was going to say something, and it was the inside of a church, and it just bugged me.
For a few days, Bernie stared at the photo, practically memorizing every detail.
Anyway, So on the twenty seventh, heet messaged. I was like, sorry, I've not been I've been with family, this and the other. I was like, okay, how was your Christmas to check up to so much? And he was like, no, we just really stayed around the castle and then we didn't really do anything. I was like, oh, what about the church? I was like, what church? And then it was just like I was like, oh, I just saw your update on your WhatsApp and it was a picture of a church.
I was like, I don't know what you're talking about. You didn't see anything.
But Bernie had looked at the photo over and over he knew what he saw and I.
Was like, no, it was I didn't do an update. That was no update. And then he got into such denial he was adamant and quite nasty with it that I completely made it up. I did not see it. There was nothing on his profile.
It was the first time Leo had acted like this. He was defensive and angry over something so small. He knew it meant Leo might be hiding something. So Bernie pulled back a bit.
I kind of slowed down message in him. I don't get a call again quite late at night, and it's like I've just had a massive argument with my family.
On the other end of the phone, Leo was hysterical.
And he's like, Bernie, I can't take this. I can't take this life anymore, the stress that I've been under. I just don't like my family. I don't want to do this anymore. Can you come and get me? So of course I've then said yes instantly. Where are you? Calm down, stay on the phone with me.
Leo sent an address. It was a five hour drive from London, so Bernie got in the car and stayed on the phone with Leo while he drove through the night to meet him. At two am, he picked up Leo and brought them to a hotel.
We stayed the night. We had a long conversation about his stress levels and he's sorry that he's been distant and he doesn't how to cope with this as well as his diagnosis. And at the end of this he'll get the watch. He's going to go down, he'll get it, and if he hasn't got it by this point, he will give me the money and then sell it on himself. And I just felt seeing and he was in tears. He went asleep and I was stroking his hair. It was as if this guy was broken, broken with life.
There in the hotel room, Bernie finally fell close to Leo again. Leo needed him, and Bernie would do anything to make him happy. The next morning, Leo seemed renewed, back to his old self. He confessed to Bernie that he had been hiding something. Now he was finally ready to talk about it.
It's like, so, I've got a serious question that I need to ask you, and I've been thinking about this with everything that's been going on, and I was like, okay, and it was like I've had enough of this entire life that I have to do and I'm done with it. I want to move away. And he was like, I want to move somewhere in Scotland. Would you come with me? And I was like sorry, I was like what. I was like, I've seen this house. I've been thinking about this for a long time and I was going to
go on my own. And that's why I've been distant because I didn't know what I was going to do. But I want you to come with me.
Leo was dead serious. He was ready to put in an offer on a house.
I was like, I've already contacted the estate agent. This house was a full on castle in the Scottish Islands. When you think the quintessence English castle. It was exactly that.
They looked at the listening together and started imagining a new life there. They wouldn't have to hide from Leo's family or the press. Bernie could take care of Leo as his cancer progressed, and whatever came next, they could face it together.
It's like, I just wanted to be me and you and I was like yes. And it's difficult now to really kind of explain exactly how it felt, because his world at certain points starts to crumble and he has to get what he can do and run to create another life for himself. But in the end it was all a lie.
On the next episode of Betrayal Weekly, I emailed Arundel Cars, which is the official residence of the Duke of Norfolk.
There was absolutely no record of Leo Howard, Leo Bosehoward or absolutely anything. So then I started doing my own research. This person, this Leo Howard, there was absolutely no trace.
Before we end the episode, I have some exciting news. Betrayal will be doing our first ever live show as part of the Virgin Voyage's True Crime Cruise. We'll be answering listener questions and discussing them live on stage with Stacey and Tyler from Betrayal season three, as well as
Caroline from season four. So if you have a question for us, please email us at betrayalpod at gmail dot com with the subject line listener question and if you want to join us on the Caribbean cruise, there are still spots available search Virgin Voyages dot com true Crime. If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal team or want to tell us your Betrayal story, email us at Betrayalpod at gmail dot com. That's Betrayal Pod at gmail dot com, or follow us on Instagram at
Betrayal Pod. You can also connect with me on Instagram at It's Andrea Gunning. To access our newsletter, view additional content, and connect with the Betrayal community, join our substack at Betrayal dot substack dot com. We're grateful for your support. One way to show support is by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts and don't forget to rate and review Betrayal five star reviews go a long way. A
big thank you to all of our listeners. Betrayal is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group and partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is executive produced by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Fason, hosted and produced by me Andrea Gunning, written and produced by Olivia Hu and Monique Leboard, also produced by Ben Fetterman. Associate producers are Caitlin Golden and Kristin Melcuri. Casting support from Curry Richmond.
Our iHeart team is Ali Perry and Jessica Krincheck. Audio editing and mixing by Matt del Vechio. Additional audio editing by Tanner Robbins, betrayal's theme composed by Oliver Bains. Music library provided by mob Music and for more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts