The Dating Detectives

After nearly 20 years of marriage, Lauren thought she knew what it meant to be a good wife: make sacrifices, keep the peace, and do whatever it takes to keep her family together. But what started with small lies and financial secrets slowly spiraled into a marriage defined by manipulation, control, and increasingly shocking sexual demands. As her husband's fantasies grew more extreme, Lauren found...

When Claire met James at a Halloween party in Quebec, she was fresh out of a controlling relationship and ready for a new chapter. Charming, confident, and seemingly emotionally available, James swept her off her feet with romantic gestures, thoughtful gifts, and promises of a future together. But there was one thing Claire couldn't ignore: James had a history of what he called "crazy ex-girlfrien...

We're back with Part Two of Nick's jaw-dropping story, and if you thought things couldn't get worse, think again. What started as a whirlwind romance has spiraled into a nightmare of manipulation, mysterious destruction, and increasingly disturbing behavior. As Nick struggles to make sense of the woman he thought he was going to marry, the stakes become higher than ever when his young daughter ent...

When single dad Nick meets Maya on Hinge, their chemistry is undeniable. Within weeks, they're inseparable, exchanging declarations of love and making plans for a future together. But what starts as a whirlwind romance slowly takes a darker turn when Nick begins noticing strange inconsistencies in Maya's stories, increasingly controlling behavior, and accusations that leave him questioning everyth...

Lucy thought she knew everything about the boy she’d loved since high school. After years together, college, an engagement, and plans for a picture-perfect wedding, their future seemed all but certain, but little things had started to feel off. Strange explanations, inconsistent paychecks, missing details, and lies that seemed too small to matter left Lucy constantly wondering what she was missing...

When Ivy met the man who would become her second husband, she thought she had found her soulmate, and for years, their marriage seemed to prove her right. But when his behavior suddenly shifts and he insists the problem is all in her head, Ivy begins questioning everything: her instincts, her confidence, and even her own mental health. As suspicious moments pile up and the people around her encour...

This week on The Dating Detectives, Mackenzie is going undercover with a case that starts with nothing more than a wife’s gut feeling. After 16 years of marriage, Sarah notices her husband’s work dinners, overnight trips, and phone habits suddenly starting to change, so she quietly hires Mackenzie to find out where he’s really going. What begins as routine surveillance quickly turns into a full-bl...

After escaping a difficult first marriage, Emmy thought she knew exactly what red flags to look for, and when she met Noah, he seemed to be everything she had been missing: loving, dependable, devoted to his family, and just as committed to building a healthy relationship as she was. But as marriage, a new baby, cross-country moves, mysterious jobs, missing paychecks, and increasingly frequent wor...

When Steph meets Logan through work, he seems perfect. He was charming, successful, financially stable, and someone she already knows and trusts long before their relationship turns romantic. Things move quickly from coworkers to serious partners, with road trips, family introductions, and wedding plans making it feel like everything has fallen perfectly into place. But as their future gets more r...

The BYU Bandit is back for Part Two, and the story only gets wilder. As Courtney’s relationship with Riley becomes increasingly volatile, the lies grow bigger, the manipulation gets darker, and the queer resource center they’ve worked so hard to build begins raising some serious questions. But when Courtney finally starts comparing notes with the other women in Riley’s orbit, she realizes just how...

In Part One of this two-part story, Mackenzie and Hanna sit down with Courtney, whose journey from devout Mormon missionary to queer student at BYU leads her into an underground LGBTQ+ community, and into the orbit of its charismatic, chaotic leader. What begins as a story about coming out, leaving the church, and finding the people who finally make her feel understood quickly becomes a tangled we...

This week on The Dating Detectives, Mackenzie and Hanna sit down with Lauren, whose relationship with a charming, attentive man slowly transformed into a terrifying cycle of manipulation, abuse, apologies, and increasingly desperate attempts to leave. Lauren opens up about the trauma bond that kept pulling her back, the shame and confusion that can make leaving feel impossible, and what happened w...

Happy Dating Detectives Monday… with a slight change of plans! Mackenzie and Hanna are popping in with a quick update about this week’s episode. We’ll be back on Wednesday with a brand-new full episode, but if you’re dying for more Dating Detectives in the meantime, head over to Patreon and use code TDD to get your first month for just 50 cents . Thank you, as always, for supporting the show, supp...

This week, The Dating Detectives are going undercover—rideshare edition. Fresh off their Florida live shows, Hanna shares the unbelievable story an Uber driver told her on the way to soundcheck, involving a suspicious wife, some very unofficial private investigating, and a trip that takes an unexpected turn. Then, Mackenzie has a perfectly on-theme Undercover case of her own: when a woman starts q...

This week, a former private investigator comes on to share a story unlike anything we've covered before. Instead of uncovering red flags in her own relationship, she's desperately trying to save her daughter from a man she believes has built his entire life on deception. As she quietly begins investigating her daughter's new fiancé, she uncovers one shocking discovery after another, forcing her in...

This week, Rachel shares the story of a whirlwind vacation romance that seemed almost too good to be true. What starts as a spontaneous Las Vegas fling quickly feels like something out of a rom-com when Rachel meets a charming stranger who insists on paying for everything—from luxury hotel stays to dinners and weekend getaways. But when she agrees to let him borrow a rental car for "just a few day...

This week, a chance pandemic match seems to turn into the perfect relationship. Over the course of several years, Emily builds a life with a charming, successful partner who appears to check every box, earning the trust of her friends, her family, and eventually her future. But as plans for the next chapter of their lives begin to take shape, small inconsistencies start to surface, forcing Emily t...

This week, Emily returns to share the next chapter of her story after an unthinkable boundary is crossed by the one person she trusted most. As the lines between therapy, manipulation, and control become increasingly blurred, the shocking betrayal evolves into a deeply complicated web of secrecy, dependency, and emotional abuse. Emily opens up about how grooming can reshape a person's reality, why...

This week, our guest Emily shares a story unlike anything we've heard before. After surviving years of horrific abuse as a child, she finally finds what seems like a lifeline in the therapist who believes her when no one else will. But as that trusted relationship deepens over the years, subtle guidance begins to blur into something far more unsettling. What starts as a story of survival slowly tr...

This week, Claire returns to continue the story she began last episode, and the warning signs that once seemed subtle become impossible to ignore. As the pressure inside her marriage continues to escalate, Claire shares how manipulation, shifting goalposts, and constant self-doubt slowly reshaped her reality, making it harder and harder to trust her own instincts. Are you in the Chicago, Tampa, or...

This week our guest Claire shares the beginning of a relationship that seemed to have all the ingredients of a great love story: adventure, deep connection, and a partner who appeared thoughtful, supportive, and committed to growth. But as the years unfold, subtle moments of criticism, manipulation, and shifting power dynamics begin to reshape how Claire sees herself and her place in the relations...

This week we have a wild Mackenzie Undercover story, but this time Mackenzie got all the tea doing her side hustle as a makeup artist, and then ended up in a PI dilemma. What starts as an ordinary makeup appointment quickly turns into a front-row seat to a web of secrets, suspicious behavior, and enough awkward tension to make anyone sweat. As Mackenzie finds herself in an unexpected ethical dilem...

When Emma reconnects with a childhood family friend during a disaster relief deployment, she never expects to fall for a man who seems straight out of a movie. A decorated paramedic, respected leader, and real-life lifesaver, Adam is the kind of person everyone admires. As their relationship deepens, Emma finds herself swept into a world of grand gestures, heroic rescues, and unwavering devotion....

When Emma reconnects with a childhood family friend during a disaster relief deployment, she never expects to fall for a man who seems straight out of a movie. A decorated paramedic, respected leader, and real-life lifesaver, Adam is the kind of person everyone admires. As their relationship deepens, Emma finds herself swept into a world of grand gestures, heroic rescues, and unwavering devotion....

This week on The Dating Detectives , Sarah—a therapist and longtime listener of the show—shares the story of a relationship that seemed perfect from the outside. After nearly a decade together, a shocking message forces her to question everything she thought she knew about her partner, sending her down a rabbit hole of secrets, deception, and unsettling discoveries. As Sarah unpacks the red flags...