Dirty Dan Proposed Then Cheated
Engaged and expecting, Chantelle was soon to find out the truth...
Imet Danny Thomas at a kids’ Halloween party in 2012. Gorgeous, cheeky, charming – just my type! I was a single mum to Mason, then 3, and Harley, 2. ‘I’ve got two boys as well,’ Danny told me, proudly.
And he was single, having split from his ex-girlfriend.
When he took me out for dinner a few weeks later, we got on really well.
Danny swept me off my feet and, by Christmas, he’d met my boys and moved in. Then, on Valentine’s Day 2013… ‘Marry me!’ Danny blurted, out of the blue. ‘Yes,’ I said, thrilled. It was very quick, but things felt right with Danny. We picked out a diamond engagement ring.
Danny played footy with the boys, and I was glad they had a
He swept me off my feet and, by Christmas, moved in
man in their lives again. We were happy. That May, I fell pregnant. Danny was there for every scan and, with four boys between us, we were excited to discover we were expecting a girl.
Only, two weeks later, we were watching telly together.
Danny was texting his ex about their kids and they got into an argument. He was showing me the messages. We didn’t have secrets. Or so I thought… Because then another message flashed up.
I’ll tell Chantelle what you’ve done, was the gist.
‘What does she mean?’ I cried.
‘Nothing,’ he said, suddenly defensive.
But my mind flashed back to a weekend just before I fell pregnant.
Danny had stayed away for the night. He’d said he was visiting his kids, but now I was suspicious.
So I called his ex and she admitted that they had slept together that weekend. Devastated, I hung up. ‘She’s lying,’ Danny raged, when I confronted him about it. ‘Nothing happened.’ But I didn’t believe him. ‘Get out,’ I told him. Danny went to stay with a mate, but phoned the next day, still denying it.
‘Just admit it, and maybe we can move on,’ I said. Finally, the truth tumbled out. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. He claimed it’d only happened once, that he didn’t remember, he was drunk.
He said it was the worst mistake of his life.
My tears fell as he made excuses, begged for forgiveness. Pathetic. I was six months pregnant, we were engaged. How could he? I’d struggled as a single mum before and I didn’t know if I could cope again. I felt heartbroken, yet vulnerable, and I desperately wanted us to be a family.
‘I can’t forgive you,’ I said. ‘But I’ll try and forget.’
So Danny moved back in, promised never to cheat again.
And, in January 2014, I gave birth to Millie-jorge.
Danny was by my side and cut the umbilical cord.
We were both utterly in love with our little girl, and Danny was a hands-on dad.
He got a new job in a warehouse – finally, it felt like we’d settled down properly.
It was a shock when I fell pregnant again when Millie-jorge was just 4 months old. ‘We’ll cope,’ Danny said. To celebrate, we set our wedding date for September 2015.
We booked the register office,
It turned out Danny had told her he was single
planned a reception. I bought a beautiful, white wedding gown.
‘Soon I’ll be Mrs Thomas,’ I told my friends.
In January, Danny had arranged to stay away for the night for someone’s birthday.
They’d planned to go for dinner, play some snooker.
‘I’ll text you when we get in,’ Danny promised. Only he didn’t. By 9pm, his phone was off. I couldn’t help picturing him with another woman.
The next day, he came home mid-afternoon.
‘My phone battery died,’ he laughed. ‘We were home by about 11.30pm.’
But a few weeks later, I spotted a message on Danny’s Facebook when we were sitting together. It was from a girl. Asking when he was going to come out again.
‘Who’s that?’ I asked, worried.
Danny promised it was just an old friend, but I didn’t believe it.
The following day, I searched for her name on Facebook and sent her a message. She quickly replied. It turned out Danny had told her he was single, taken her back to the house he was staying at. She admitted they’d been in bed, fooled around, and she said Danny had tried it on.
If I’d let him, he deffo would have slept with me, she wrote. Little rat, I wrote back. I was seven months pregnant and he’d cheated again.
I confronted Danny. He denied it.
My hormones all over the place, I felt angry and betrayed – but most of all scared of being alone. After all, they’d not had sex. So I tried to move on. Hollie-mae was born in March 2015, with Danny by my side.
But our relationship was rocky and we bickered a lot.
I felt I’d no choice but to cancel the wedding for now.
Then, when Hollie-mae was 5 months old, Danny spent the night away again.
He came home with a mark on his neck… ‘I just bashed it,’ he said. But then I saw he’d become friends with a girl on Facebook.
He promised she was no-one, but even if it was the truth, I knew I’d never trust him again.
‘It’s over,’ I said, kicking him out for good.
I’ve since heard he’s dating that last girl – that ‘no-one’.
Danny says nothing happened until we broke up, but I can’t trust a word he says.
At least I saw Danny for the cheat he was before we got hitched.
Now I’ve realised I can be a great single mum and I’m much happier.
From now on, it’s just me and the kids.