A bank manager left his fiancée reeling after confessing to her that he’d been ‘living a double life’ by pretending to go to work every day.
London-based Mike and Yasmin, who have been together for five years, appear on the new Netflix show Blue Therapy, in which struggling couples agree to have their relationship therapy sessions filmed.
The pair sat down on therapist Karen Doherty’s couch to address the income inequality that was driving a wedge between them – with teacher Yasmin earning twice as much as her partner of five years.
During their first session, Mike admitted his reckless spending habits had pushed him into debt of £12,000.
Yasmin was taken aback, saying she’d estimated the figure to be more like £6,000 – but that wasn’t the only secret Mike was keeping from her.
Mike admitted he’d been made redundant and lied about it for two months by pretending to leave the house for work in the morning before ‘circling back’.
‘It’s embarrassing to say, but I’ll dress up like I’m going to work, we leave the house around the same time, and then I’ll literally circle round, and as long as she’s gone to work, I’ll just circle back home,’ Mike said.
A visibly shaken Yasmin admitted: ‘I just feel completely and utterly blindsided. He’s been living another life, just lying to me.’
As they left Karen’s office, Yasmin told Mike, who she shares a son with, ‘I can’t even look at you right now.’
A bank manager left his fiancée reeling after confessing to her that he’d been ‘living a double life’ by pretending to go to work every day
Mike and Yasmin are among the seven Black couples who appear on the show, led by Karen.
The UKCP-accredited therapist, who has 23 years of experience, told the Daily Mail Blue Therapy show is both ‘authentic’ and ‘dramatic’, explaining: ‘The drama is in every relationship, we just need to let it play out.
‘We need people to feel safe enough to be able to explore it together.’
Karen said she spent a total of seven hours counselling each couple about ‘universal’ problems such as early pregnancies, infidelity, and growing inequality between a caregiver partner and one whose career is taking off.
Despite its success, the original web series drew criticism after fans discovered the show’s ‘therapist’ Denise was an actress.
The show’s creator Andy Amadi told Metro.co.uk that one-half of the show’s central couple, Chioma, wanted to start acting as he addressed fabrication accusations in an interview in 2021.
‘What I will say is this: The cast is real. They’re not actors, none of them are actors,’ the director said.
‘It’s a reality show, and I feel everyone should enjoy it as a reality show. Whether it’s real or fake… that’s down to the viewers’ interpretation. None of the cast are [actors] apart from Denise, who has acting experience.’
Netflix’s adaptation which promises to delve into ‘real issues’ with ‘real couples’ is ‘authentic, it’s not performative,’ Karen confirmed. ‘That’s the beauty of it.’
In an interview with The Mirror ahead of Blue Therapy’s premiere on March 4, Andy said that each couple featured on the Netflix series was thoroughly vetted, adding: ‘They’re 100 per cent real now.’
The pair sat down on therapist Karen Doherty’s couch to address income inequality that was driving a wedge between them – with teacher Yasmin earning twice as much as her partner of five years
He admitted it was ‘quite difficult’ to find contestants who were willing to ‘air their dirty laundry on camera’ for the ‘scripted’ online version, explaining how Andy assigned ‘stories from real couples’ to actors.
But with the latest Netflix adaptation, ‘what you see is what you get’.
On the most intense moments from season one, Karen said: ‘There was overwhelm and having to leave. There was sadness, where people were caught unawares, and they cried.
‘There were really sad stories, there was bravery where people talked about very intimate issues.’
Karen also teased a couple that ‘may have split up’ before lightheartedly confirming that ‘the rest are significantly better’ after therapy.
All episodes of Blue Therapy are now streaming on Netflix.
