Wives Of 'Cancer Con Man' Bigamist Appear On 'This Morning'

Two women who were married to the same man have spoken together on This Morning about their ordeals.

Michael Eels left his wife Andrea Etheridge-Eels for Sally Howard in 2009 after telling Angela that he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and had to move to Newcastle to receive treatment.

However, he hadn't actually been diagnosed with cancer - he had met Sally on a dating website and moved so he could get married to her.

Andrea met Michael in 1994 and they were married in 2003 before he sat her and their three children down in 2009 to tell them that he had three months to live because of jugular cancer.

In fact, he had persuaded Sally to give up her job and move up to Newcastle to be with him. The two married in 2009 with neither woman having any idea of the existence of the other.

Andrea said: "It was either because he was going to the best hospital, or he was working up there any way so he'd stay, or it's too far to bring the children.

"If we arranged a time to visit he'd then have to further away for work or go for more treatment. He was away for seven years. He kept saying the treatment was going well."

Things started to get weird when Sally found a card in his car from Michael and Andrea. She looked up Andrea on Facebook and saw that she had the same surname as Michael which aroused her suspicions.

Three years later the pair finally in got in touch with each other and met up to compare their marriage certificates.

Once they realised what he had done they immediately contacted the police. Michael was sentenced to just three months in prison this year (rather fittingly) on Valentine's Day.

However, they have been told that he is likely to only serve a third of that time inside and the women received a pretty paltry £1,000 ($1,376) in compensation for their trouble.

Andrea said: "He should have got three years or more. Just to lie about the cancer was bad enough.

"I don't think anything of him. He's just a nobody now. He's a con man."

A lot of people agree with the women. People on the internet are pretty outraged by Michael's lies and think his sentence is too lenient by far.

One user said: "My heart is broken for these ladies, what a bloody horrid man to do this to these women and their families?

"To lie about something like cancer is disgusting. Michael Eels belongs in jail for longer than three months!"

Another simply said: "Lying about having cancer?? You f***ing so and so!! :triumph: #thismorning."

Sounds about right.