A British mum-of-nine who dumped her husband of 23 years for a young
Gambian man she met online has converted to Islam so they can get
married. Heidi Hepworth, 45, now wears a hijab and prays to Allah every
day as she prepares for her wedding with her taxi driver boyfriend,
Mamadou Salieu Jallow, 31. Heidi said she proposed to her Gambian
boyfriend and he accepted.They are planning to have the wedding in a
mosque in Gambia, a nation that is predominantly Muslim and which Heidi
says is "a happier and more caring place than Britain".
She
plans to move there after they marry next year once her divorce is
finalised.Speaking on her relationship with Mamadou and their coming
nuptials, she said:No-one imagined this would last but we love each
other and are making plans to marry. I’ve never been happier.Speaking of
the proposal, Heidi said:I think it’s fine to take the initiative.I
have wasted enough time in my life in an unhappy marriage.
Heidi
split with her husband of 23 years last year and began dating Mamadou.
She even left her kids at home in Britain and went to Gambia to be with
him. People figured it was a phase that would pass soon, but they were
wrong.At the time, Heidi's husband Andy, 45, said: "It’s a mid-life
crisis. She’s been brainwashed."
Heidi's
ex-husband, Andy Andy also criticised Heidi for leaving her kids,
saying: A caring mum wouldn’t go off gallivanting around Africa with
her new boyfriend.But Heidi defended her actions, telling The Sun last
year:I don’t have a single regret. I’m not a terrible parent.It was
really hard for me to leave my kids, but they couldn’t come with me so I
had no choice.I was shocked at the anger that was directed at me for
supposedly abandoning my children. That just didn’t happen.Heidi has two
sons and a daughter aged 25 to 30 from a previous relationship. She and
Andy have three daughters aged 7, 10, and 24 and three sons aged 12, 18
and 19. Heidi revealed that when she left, her eldest daughter moved
into her house to stay with the three youngest children so that their
life wasn't disrupted greatly.
