When Debbi met Steve in 2011, she thought she had finally found the love of her life. He was kind, caring, and made her feel special. But her extreme jealousy and the lengths she went to in order to make sure he stayed loyal shocked many people.
Jealousy is something most people experience in relationships, but for some, it takes over their entire lives. For Debbi, it wasn’t just a passing emotion—it became an obsession. And her way of handling it? Making Steve take a lie detector test every time he came home.
Debbi and Steve’s love story started like a fairy tale. Living in Scotland at the time, Debbi met Steve through a mutual friend on Facebook. They started chatting, and after several weeks of exchanging messages, she decided to travel to London to meet him in person. It was a big step, but from the moment they saw each other, there was an undeniable spark.
“I knew we were meant to be together when we had our first kiss under London Bridge,” Debbi recalled. “I wasn’t planning to fall in love again after my last relationship, but Steve stole my heart.”
Their relationship quickly became serious. They started making plans to move in together and even talked about marriage. Debbi admitted that she and Steve didn’t always see eye to eye, but she felt deeply connected to him.
“Well, when you’ve got a good man, you’re not going to let him go, are you?” she said during an interview on ITV’s “This Morning.”
However, things started to take a turn when Debbi’s jealousy began to surface. She was diagnosed with Othello Syndrome, a rare psychiatric disorder that makes people believe their partners are cheating—even when there’s no evidence. Her condition led her to take extreme measures.
At first, Debbi’s jealousy was normal—like any other woman who worried about her partner being unfaithful. But after a previous relationship in which she was cheated on and abused, her fear grew stronger. She couldn’t shake the feeling that Steve might betray her too. That’s when she introduced the lie detector tests.
Every time she had doubts about Steve, she made him take a polygraph test.
Steve admitted that things were difficult in the beginning. “We used to do the tests all the time, but now it’s way less frequent,” he said on “This Morning.” “Maybe once a month or even less—like once in a blue moon.”
But Debbi still kept a close eye on him. Steve enjoyed watching football and Formula 1 racing, but even that wasn’t safe. Debbi would monitor the screen, making sure he wasn’t looking at women in the crowd. Sometimes, she banned him from watching TV altogether.
“All women have an inner beauty, but for a man, it goes beyond that,” Debbi explained. “It’s not just about finding someone pretty—it’s about mentally fantasizing about them. That’s what worries me.”
To control the situation, Debbi set strict rules for Steve. She installed child-proof filters on his phone and laptop to stop him from accessing any inappropriate content. If he went out, even for something as simple as buying milk, she would test him as soon as he got home.
“I get so worried that he’s been eyeing up the shop assistant that I just have to know the truth,” she admitted.
In 2019, a documentary called “Only Human” captured one of these moments. After finally convincing Debbi to step outside for the first time in eight months, Steve took her to their local shop. It should have been a simple outing, but when they got back, Debbi insisted on testing his loyalty.
“Did you notice any women in the shop?” she asked him.
Steve shook his head. “Can’t say as I did. No.”
Debbi checked the results. “I’m impressed you’re telling the truth,” she said, relieved.
But when she asked if he found singer Mel B attractive, Steve’s “no” was detected as a lie. Furious, Debbi made him retake the test multiple times. Each time, she accused him of lying.
“The app is at least 60% accurate,” she insisted. “It’s backed by a polygraph.”
Aside from Othello Syndrome, Debbi also struggled with bipolar disorder and body dysmorphia, which made everything more complicated. Her jealousy grew even stronger when they moved in together. She started tracking Steve’s online activity and even banned him from watching shows with female characters.
“One night, an advert for a women’s razor came on TV, and I panicked,” she admitted. “I was convinced Steve was checking out the model.”
She became so anxious that she bought an actual lie detector machine to test him whenever she felt insecure.
Debbi’s behavior didn’t go unnoticed. In 2015, she appeared in the Channel 5 documentary “87 Stone: Fat Chance of Work.” But the way she was portrayed upset her.
“They made it all about my weight instead of my real struggles,” she said. The negative attention led to online bullying and threats, making her even more withdrawn.
“They made it look like I was bossing Steve around, but he was just helping me through a tough time,” she explained. “I got so many hateful messages that I stopped wanting to leave the house.”
Despite everything, Debbi and Steve have found ways to cope. They spend hours playing video games together, which Debbi says helps distract her from her jealousy.
“Gaming helps me focus on something else,” she said. “Instead of obsessing over what Steve is doing, I can put my mind somewhere else.”
Studies show that around 15% of people with Othello Syndrome have been violent towards their partners. Debbi admitted that her jealousy had pushed her to the edge before.
“I’ve thrown things across the room when I got really upset,” she confessed. “I’ve put Steve through a lot, but he’s stood by me, so I know he’s the one for me.”
She also believes that many other women might be suffering from the same condition without realizing it.
“There’s so much pressure on women to look a certain way,” she said. “I’m lucky to have a partner who understands, but not everyone is that fortunate.”
Steve admitted that living with Debbi’s jealousy could be hard, but he never thought of leaving her.
“Sometimes I get nervous when I take the lie detector test, and my heart races. Then the results come back inconclusive, and Debbi starts doubting me,” he explained. “But I just tell her I haven’t cheated and hope she believes me. I put up with it because I know we’re soulmates. She’s special to me, and a little jealousy isn’t going to change that.”
Debbi hopes to boost her confidence by getting gastric band surgery, something she believes will improve both her physical and mental health.
“I wasn’t always overweight,” she said. “My small frame is carrying an extra ten or eleven stone more than it should.”
She believes that if she feels better about herself, it will help her trust Steve more. She dreams of a life where she can fully enjoy being with him without the constant fear of losing him.
For now, their love continues despite the challenges. Steve remains committed to Debbi, proving that sometimes love really does mean standing by someone through the toughest battles.
