Married to a Stranger

This week the Dating Detectives welcome Dominique, whose “movie-perfect” meet-cute with a quiet coworker spirals into a chilling case study in coercive control. After love-bombing, and a whirlwind Halloween wedding, a dream Smoky Mountains honeymoon gives way to explosive rage, religiously justified domination, isolation from friends, terrifying reckless driving, stalking, and paranoid delusions. Dominique walks us through the pink flags she ignored, the gaslighting that made her second-guess reality, and the careful plan she used to reclaim her home after his arrest. Content warnings: domestic abuse, religious trauma, stalking, mental health crisis. If you’re in an unsafe situation, you’ll find support resources below.

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***The following Program contains names, places and events that have been anonymized or fictionalized for the purposes of protection and safety. The following Program is provided for entertainment purposes only and any commentary from the hosts are strictly conjecture and should not be held as making any definitive statements about the truth or identity of any particular individuals or circumstances.

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