THIS Morning viewers were left fuming today as Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield gave away a spoiler from The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe – despite the fact it’s based on a true story.
The presenters – who have returned to the show after half term – were chatting to journalist David Leigh who broke the story at the time.
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Holly explained what was set to unravel on tonight’s episode but her comments didn’t go down well with those watching at home, who argued they hadn’t seen it year.
The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe is a four part ITV drama that started on Sunday – meaning fans have only seen two episodes so far.
Taking to Twitter to complain, one person wrote: “Thanks for the spoiler, ITV have only shown 2 of 4 episodes… #ThisMorning.”
A second added: “Don’t need to watch it now. Thanks. 🤷🏼♂️ #ThisMorning.”
And a third tweeted: “Thanks for the spoilers, I haven’t seen it yet 🙄 #thismorning.”
The show features Eddie Marsan as John Darwin and Monica Dolan as his wife Anne Darwin.
The drama focuses on how Anne became complicit in her husband’s fraud.
It shows how she needed to convince the world, their family and friends, the police and insurance companies that he had gone missing in 2002 whilst canoeing off the coast of Seaton Carew in Cleveland.
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The couple owned two large houses with panoramic views of the sea close to the location where he went “missing”.
Mortgaged to the hilt, Darwin had also run up debts of £64,000 on 13 credit cards and his excessive spending had seen their finances spiral out of control.
Anne would have preferred her husband go bankrupt, but she eventually went along with his absurd scheme to fake his own death.
Darwin laid low while Anne was questioned by the police and began to weave a web of deceit.
The deception was to take its toll on Anne who lied to their sons, Mark and Anthony, for five years while her husband, in the early days of the fraud, secretly lived in a bedsit next door to the home he once shared with Anne.
Devastated by the loss of their father, neither son had an inkling their parents were capable of such treachery.
Anne and John eventually decided to leave Seaton Carew and move to Panama City to start a new life together before their secret was exposed by the discovery of an infamous photo of them posing in a Panama real estate office in July 2006.
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At her trial Anne pleaded not guilty, arguing that she had been coerced into the plot by her husband, but the jury didn’t believe her.
She and her husband were both jailed for more than 6 years.
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