Cheryl Thomasgood left behind her two sons and second husband in the Isle of Wight for a new way of life in Kenya after falling in love with warrior Daniel Lekimencho – however she didn’t get her happily ever after
Just weeks after meeting on a package holiday in Kenya, British mum Cheryl Thomasgood tied the knot with Masai warrior Daniel Lekimencho. At 34, Cheryl had left behind her quiet life on the Isle of Wight with her two children and second husband for her new lover—but she later lived to regret it.
And her son, Stevie Liddington, says the abrupt decision tore his life apart and ruined his childhood. The couple met in the early 1990s whilst staying at the Bamburi Beach Hotel in Mombasa and hairdresser Cheryl soon traded in her suburban, comfortable home life to relocate with the Kenyan warrior, 10 years her junior.
Earlier this month, Cheryl spoke out about the romance, saying she eventually felt used as a “meal ticket”. But expressing her anguish hasn’t made up for the torment felt by Stevie, who was just 11 when she left the family home.
Speaking to MailOnline, he says he is “ashamed” and “deeply disgusted” by his mother’s actions. “She was never the kind of mother who cared about her children’s emotional well-being, and even now, decades later, she continues to show who she truly is by dragging this all up again without a thought for the people it hurts,” he said.
Stevie, who relocated to Seoul, South Korea, with his wife and children, says he hasn’t spoken to his mum in 10 years. Meanwhile, his brother, who lives in Canada, also has little contact with their mum, according to the brother.
Even before she abandoned them, Stevie’s childhood had already been traumatic. His father, Robert Liddington, left when he was four-years-old, resulting in Cheryl experiencing a mental breakdown, MailOnline reports.
The brothers were placed into foster care before Cheryl’s second husband, Mike Mason, provided stability for the family and looked after them as if they were his own. But his life then shattered into pieces when he received a phone call from his mum saying she was never returning home.
Matters were made worse, he says, after she spoke with the press. Children at his school would bring in newspapers and make fun of him after she shared tales of her unconventional romance. She swapped her home comforts to live in a mud hut in rural Kenya, where she lived off cabbage and cow’s blood.
The couple eventually left Kenya behind in 1995 so she could return to the Isle of Wight, and three years later, they had a daughter, Mitsi. They tied the knot on Valentine’s Day, both wearing traditional Masai clothing.
But when she reportedly would go missing for days, it was Stevie who was left to look after his half-sister. He remembers praying that she was still alive as he walked around the local neighbourhood for hours trying to search for her.
Stevie claims that his mum’s relationship with Daniel was “violent” and that he cannot forgive Cheryl for what she did, having firmly closed the door shut at any opportunity for a reconciliation, adding that she should “never have been a mother”. Four years after marrying, Cheryl and Daniel split in 1999, with the mum citing that the spiritual warrior “turned into a miserable sod”.
She claimed her third husband changed whilst living in the UK, and became “obsessed” with wealth. And now three decades later, the mum-of-three, now 65, has opened up about her regretful past.
“I made a huge mistake, it was very wrong of me, and I have a lot of regrets, especially about how it damaged my children,” she told the Mail. She added: “Daniel was trying his best, but he could never understand the Western ways and couldn’t be the dad that they needed.”
She maintains that there is “one good thing” to come of their difficult romance, which is their daughter Mitsi. Following their relationship breakdown, Daniel remained on the island, where he now works in a supermarket.