CONS & SWINDLES: ITV ANNOUNCES NEW DOCUMENTARY STRAND

ITV have announced four new documentaries are part of new factual strand 'Cons and Swindles'.

In Search Of Instagram’s Worst Con Artist

The inside story of Belle Gibson, a 21-year-old social influencer who claimed that she cured her terminal cancer through wellness and healthy eating. Her miraculous story brought her fame and money with a successful app, a book deal and countless television appearances, but when journalists investigated, they discovered something shocking: none of her story was true and she never had cancer.

She had misled her millions of followers - and for some there were devastating consequences. With access to friends and family who speak on the record for the first time, this series discovers the truth about Belle Gibson - was she a manipulative and compulsive liar, or a damaged young woman exploited by big brands for their own ends?

The Other Mrs Jordan - Catching The Ultimate Conman

This brand-new series for ITVX unravels the complex strands of the multiple “other Mrs Jordans” and follows the manhunt led by retired U.S Marshal Tex Lindsay to track down the shady figure who left so much pain and confusion in his wake.

Mary Turner Thomson had grown used to her husband’s frequent and often sudden trips away to far-flung locations as well as the secretive nature of his work, which meant he was regularly unable to maintain contact with her.

She contented herself that these challenges were a necessary sacrifice when your spouse, William Allen Jordan, was a CIA agent working in counter-terrorism in the early 2000s... or so she thought until a fateful phone call in April 2006 from someone claiming to be “The Other Mrs Jordan”. This is the cat-and-mouse tale of William Allen Jordan – bigamist, fraud, father and conman - and features interviews with Mary and other key figures.

The Great Erection Deception: The Stiff Nights Story

What happens when you cross a Mormon with a vegan and an erectile dysfunction supplement? The answer is the jawdropping true story of Stiff Nights. Featuring interviews with key figures involved, this brand-new film tells the true story about an unlikely partnership between a Mormon and a vegan who got together to create what would be marketed as an all-natural sexual supplement that would compete with Viagra.

They called the pill Stiff Nights and it had enormous success selling in shops all over the US and beyond, but the success was short-lived when the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) started looking into them and discovered that Stiff Nights wasn’t all natural and contained sildenafil, an ingredient in Viagra. An investigation was launched - an elaborate sting - and that’s when the action got very hot...

While following the story of Stiff Nights, the film looks at the birth of Viagra (which marks the 25th anniversary of its launch this year) and hears from its lead scientists who developed this infamous little blue pills.

The Great Erection Deception: The Stiff Nights Story also charts the rise of the culture of modern-day ‘over the counter’ sexual supplement pills by talking to users, distributors and sex shops and shed light on what has now become a multimillion dollar business.

The Football Fraudster

When his promising professional football career ends, Medi Abalimba turns to an astonishing life of crime - this film tracks what followed as the fraudster poses as stars from the world of sport and business to scam multiple unsuspecting victims.

We hear from Medi’s victims - including Love Island star Georgia Steel - as they reveal how this accomplished fraudster earned their trust before betraying them in the most devastating ways, and forensic psychologist Dr Donna Youngs provides context and insight into what might have driven the escalation in Medi’s crimes and how easy it was to fall under his spell.

This brand-new film shows how, over a criminal career spanning two decades, Abalimba develops his MO by coming up with bigger and more elaborate scams featuring multiple personas and targets - and all while living the life of a millionaire with designer clothes, flash cars, helicopters and five-star hotels. As the film will ultimately discover, no-one is safe from this most accomplished of fraudsters...

Transmission details will be announced in due course.