Woman discovers husband’s secret double life on Facebook

The woman’s sister had been scrolling on Facebook when she came across a photo of a couple – and the man looked very similar to her brother-in-law.

‘I found out my husband had another wife’. Picture: Supplied

Disorientated and in shock, Michelle Agbulos stared at the wedding photo on Facebook.

The picture showed a delighted bride posing happily with her new husband — but the groom was shockingly familiar.

“It was my own husband, Andrew O’Clee, the father of my then six-month-old baby,” Michelle, 47, said.

“My sister, Jasmine, had been browsing Facebook and stumbled across a video of an ice bucket challenge — where people are filmed being drenched in freezing water for charity,” Michelle told The Sun.

“She recognised the guy in the video, which was captioned ‘Uncle Andrew’ and ‘Auntie Philippa’ and so of course she clicked on the profile page.

“The profile picture was a wedding photo of Andrew with this other woman.

Michelle Agbulos was a devoted wife, cruelly duped by her bigamist husband. Picture: News Licensing / MEGA TheMegaAgency.com

“She was so horrified, she couldn’t bring herself to tell me and got my best friend to show me instead.

“All I remember is staring at the picture and my best friend saying to me, ‘Michelle, I am going to tell you something that is going to change your life. Andrew is living a double life’.

“Those words went on to haunt me for a long time.”

Michelle met O’Clee in 2000, while working as a shop assistant at UK fashion retailer River Island. He was a product manager at the store, then aged 21.

A year later, the couple got engaged and in 2008 had a lavish $57,000 ­wedding in West London.

But in 2014, Michelle realised she had been cruelly duped after learning her husband had married Philippa, a finance manager, the previous year.

He was living a double life just 65 kilometres away.

Michelle said she felt betrayed after trusting the man for 14 years.

“I had to take a step back to get my head around it — and bit by bit, it hit me how he’d got away with it,” she said.

Michelle’s husband was married to another woman. Picture: Supplied

“Looking back, I realised he’d started to cut me off from everybody around a year after we married. But at the time I hadn’t noticed.

“When I asked why I hadn’t seen his family since our wedding, he told me it was because he’d ‘fallen out with his mother and brother’.

“Then I remembered how, in 2011, Andrew had got a new job as an accounts director at a different company, so was never around.

“We were trying for a baby at the time, but his hours were so long and he was often away.

“I rem­ember feeling frustrated, but he told me he was doing it for both of us, so I was supportive.”

That same year, ex-soldier O’Clee had told her his company had been involved in a fraud probe and that he had to be taken to a witness protection house.

Michelle says: “He instructed me not to tell anyone, or I would put us both in danger. I was scared for my life, so I kept quiet.”

She would wait for O’Clee to visit her and, for more than a year, he would meet her for sex up to four times a week when he was let out of his “safe house”.

The couple had been together since 2000. Picture: Supplied

But Michelle later discovered he was really having an affair with Philippa and was buying a home with her in Surrey, in England’s south east.

He claimed his fictitious court case was being heard in Cuba so he had to fly out, but it is thought he and Philippa were ­actually there on honeymoon.

Michelle said she would see her husband for two hours each day, and he was always accompanied by a man he claimed was a plain clothes police officer.

In those two hours they would eat, talk and “make love” before he left again.

She said she believed every word he said because she didn't think her husband would lie to her – and she felt like she couldn’t speak to anyone about it.

After two years of trying for a baby, ­Michelle found out she was pregnant in June 2013 – something she thought would be a “wonderful” addition to their lives.

But, when she told her husband over the phone, he was silent.

“During the pregnancy, he was barely around and, when I did see him, he wasn’t very nurturing,” she said.

“Even during the birth of our daughter, Amelia, Andrew turned up five hours late and cut the umbilical cord — before telling me he had to leave with a police escort.

Michelle had the couple’s first child shortly before she discovered his deception. Picture: Supplied

“It may seem naive, but I had no reason not to believe him.”

In September 2014, after the Facebook ­revelation, Michelle went to her local police station and reported her husband.

She said she was scared and felt she didn’t know who her husband was anymore. But, even more terrifyingly, she had nowhere to go as her husband paid for everything.

“He’d manipulated and psychologically abused me. I felt really angry at myself, even though I’d done nothing wrong,” she said.

In April 2015, O’Clee was jailed for eight months at Chichester Crown Court after admitting bigamy — marrying someone while already married to another person.

Michelle says: “He had forged a decree absolute to evade detection and even convinced his mum and brother that he had divorced me. It felt surreal.

“In court, I spoke out about how he had manipulated me and made me feel like I was nothing.

“But Andrew even had the nerve to demand a paternity test. It was like being punched in the stomach.

“During the case I heard how, while we were trying for a baby, my husband had already started his double life with a new woman.

She is speaking out about her experience. Picture: News Licensing / MEGA TheMegaAgency.com

“After Andrew was jailed I tried to carry on with my life, but my self-esteem was on the floor. I felt guilt and shame and didn’t know who I was any more.

“I had given everything to this man and suddenly I was alone. It scared me.”

Three years later, in 2018, Michelle had a panic attack at work, which made her more aware of her mental health.

She became a conscious coach — a form of mentor — which led to her writing a self-help book, Shine Baby Shine, published in February this year.

She says: “I got to the point where I was burnt out, so I quit smoking and focused on an independent life with my daughter.

“I decided I wanted to help other women who may also have suffered relationship trauma.

“I wrote a book sharing my story to help inspire others and show them how to create a life they deserve.

“Coming out of a relationship with a toxic, narcissistic person can be daunting.

“I was psychologically and emotionally abused by my husband for many years and realised it can happen to anyone.

“Now I want to help any woman suffering like I have and help them realise they still have a future.

“Since my donation and connecting with Refuge, I am now a survivor’s voice for them.”

Shine Baby Shine: Reclaim Your Self-Worth And Heal From Co-Dependency by Michelle Agbulos is out now and available on Amazon.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and reproduced with permission