Woman, 53, who thought she had the perfect marriage with her 'secret agent' husband

It is an astonishing tale of lies and deception that gripped viewers watching the BBC drama Mrs Wilson, about a woman who discovers her 'spy' husband had three other wives.

But it turns out the true story of Alison Wilson, portrayed on screen by her granddaughter Ruth, is not unique – for a Scotswoman found herself caught up in a similar bewildering experience.

As Mary Turner Thomson from Edinburgh watched the story of wartime 'secret agent', bigamist and serial liar Alexander Wilson unfold, it felt like her own life being played out on screen.

For like Mrs Wilson, the 53-year-old thought she had the perfect marriage – until she discovered her American husband, who claimed he was a CIA agent, had another wife and at least 13 children with six women.

William Allen Jordan was kind, attentive and a wonderful father to their two children, but also a serial liar who had another wife throughout their six-year relationship and in 2014 was jailed for bigamy.

Miss Turner Thomson said: 'Watching the series has been very like looking at my own story.

'I met William online when I was a single mum with a nine-month old baby. He was very charming, and we sent emails back and forth. 

'We started dating and he actually asked me to marry him within two weeks of meeting – I said no, but we did eventually get engaged, then were married for four years.

'After six months of being together I fell pregnant, which was a huge surprise because he told me he was infertile after having mumps as a child. 

'I thought he was going to think I'd had an affair because he was so utterly convinced he couldn't have kids.'

Jordan manipulated his wife and led her to believe he was a CIA agent on secondment to MI5. 

Time away on missions provided the perfect cover for seeing his other families. 

He even persuaded Miss Turner Thomson to find almost £200,000 to pay 'blackmailers' he claimed had threatened to kidnap their children Eilidh, now 16, Zach, 13, and her daughter Robyn, 19.

She said: 'In 2004 when I was pregnant with Zach, he told me somebody he met on an undercover operation was going to kill our kids, kidnap them, rip bits off and send them to us in the post if we didn't give them money. 

'By this stage, I was four years in and completely under his control, so I sold everything I owned – my house, my car, my life insurance, everything.'





MailOnline