How well can you ever really know someone? What about those you love? As some folks have found, not everyone knows each other inside and out. Lifetime's new movie Deadly Revenge, which premieres Saturday night, will illustrate that situation when a woman named Cate (played by Alicia Ziegler) falls for the dangerously charming Harrison (Mark Hapka) who seems to have a lot of secrets that could threaten her life and safety — including a past girlfriend who mysteriously disappeared years earlier. While Deadly Revenge didn't happen in real life, there are unfortunately many real situations like it.
Everyone and anyone is capable of living a double life — and they do. Men and women equally create webs of lies they hide from the world and it's not at all uncommon, psychologists told the Los Angeles Times. Dr. Gail Saltz explored the concept of the secret life in her book Anatomy of a Secret Life . "Many secret lives remain sub-rosa for surprisingly long periods of time," she wrote. "Relationships are kept hidden through sheer ingenuity, and dark acts stay in perpetual darkness. The balance of power between secret and secret-keeper is constantly being negotiated. If we can control our own secrets, making sure they occupy the place we want them to, then our lives can seem manageable."
How intense. Here are three such instances of secret lives by men, women, and celebrities.
Stephen Collins
Last year, it was reported that the 7th Heaven star has been allegedly molesting young children for years. The accusations became public as part of Collins' divorce from his wife, Faye Grant, which she initiated once she discovered Collins' alleged actions. "On January 19, 2012, I learned for the first time that Stephen had been living a secret life," she said in court documents, according to People.
"I believe that Stephen used his celebrity status to engender the trust of the families of the children he molested," Grant also said, according to Entertainment Tonight. "I further believe that there have been other victims, but he has thus far only confessed to those three girls."
After the allegations, Collins gave a statement to People, part of which read as follows. "Forty years ago, I did something terribly wrong that I deeply regret. I have been working to atone for it ever since. I've decided to address these issues publicly because two months ago, various news organizations published a recording made by my then-wife, Faye Grant, during a confidential marriage therapy session in January, 2012. This session was recorded without the therapist's or my knowledge or consent. On the recording, I described events that took place 20, 32, and 40 years ago...The publication of the recording has resulted in assumptions and innuendos about what I did that go far beyond what actually occurred. As difficult as this is, I want people to know the truth."
Doctor With A Dark Side
In 2010, CNN reported on the story of Barbara and Michael Mastromarino. Barbara claimed that Michael had a drug problem and cheated on her. He lost his medical license, and then reportedly started selling stolen diseased human tissue and bones. "My life with him was an entire lie. Everything that I believed wasn't so," she told CNN. "He always had a story. ... He lied to his attorney; he lied to me. He lied to everyone that crossed his path." Michael plead guilty to body stealing, forgery, grand larceny and corruption, and is currently in prison.
It's Very Complicated
Liz Linham thought she had a happy and normal marriage to Aidan Linham. That is, until she saw photos of his wedding to his mistress on Facebook, as reported by The Daily Mirror. It turns out that he reportedly used his business trips to see Hayley Totterdell, who lived 16 miles away.
According to The Daily Mirror, Aidan had been seeing Hayley for three years during his marriage to Liz. "I genuinely didn't know what was going on. I never thought for a moment that he'd gone and married someone else," Liz told the newspaper. "It has completely altered the way I look at everyone. I look at people now, who I have known and trusted for years, and think 'can I really trust you?'" Aidan has since been jailed for bigamy in the UK.
