Benita Alexander’s romance with surgeon Paolo Marcchiarini was wonderful, until it turned out it was too good to be true. The next episode of ABC’s 20/20 will feature Alexander’s story and how she uncovered her fiancé’s lies.
What’s Happening:
- ABC News has announced that their next edition of 20/20 will focus on a sweet love story that quickly turned sour when Benita Alexander uncovered her fiancé’s web of lies.
- The two-hour special includes Amy Robach’s interview with Alexander who opened up about how she fell for the whirlwind relationship and was blinded by love.
- Alexander, a television producer, fell head over heels in love with world-renowned surgeon Paolo Macchiarini while producing a report on his revolutionary new surgery technique.
- During their romance, Macchiarini took her to exclusive destinations around the world. He proposed and while planning their wedding, surprised Alexander by telling her about VIP guests who would attend including Elton John and John Legend.
- But the exaggerations didn’t stop there. Macchiarini announced one of his patients offered to officiate the wedding: the Pope.
- What Alexander thought was a perfect match turned out to be a web of lies. There was a storm brewing in Macchiarini’s professional life: several colleagues alleged he committed scientific misconduct by falsifying data to make his new surgery technique – performing trachea transplants using a synthetic trachea – appear more successful than it was.
- The two-hour program also features interviews with those who witnessed Macchiarini’s downfall up close including:
- 20/20 airs on Friday, February 12 (9:00 – 11:00 pm ET) on ABC and is available to stream on ABC News digital platforms and Hulu.
More From ABC:
- Alexander’s story was the premiere episode of ABC’s The Con. The news series premiered in October 2020 and was hosted by Whoopi Goldberg.
Creative Team:
- David Sloan is senior executive producer
- Janice Johnston is executive producer
- Colleen Halpin is senior producer
- Emily Whipp is producer of this episode