Since her romance with Paolo imploded in 2015, the brunette beauty has continued working on documentaries and docuseries. It was beyond Benita's wildest dreams - Macchiarini reportedly told her he invited Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Elton John, and that the Pope himself would oversee the ceremony. receive communications related to AARP volunteering. I think he was looking for challenges, and uh, things that makes life much, much more exciting. And then John Legend was supposed to be playing piano in the church. Maybe help me, help with the invitations 'cause I don't want to deal with that. [00:18:02] Benita: Oh, there was so many. Although her family said the injury wasn't serious enough to necessitate a tracheal transplant, she still underwent the procedure and went on to experience tremendous pain. He was incredibly generous with them as well. She said she later sent a lengthy text message to him, and received a single-word response: "Wow! Hundreds of Benita Alexander's friends and family had already bought their plane tickets to Italy to attend her extravagant wedding that was supposed to be officiated by the pope when it all came crashing down in a flurry of her fianc's deception. Eventually, she died. The two-part special details how Alexander, an award-winning investigative news producer, met Dr. Paolo Macchiarini while she was producing an NBC News special about the renowned surgeons work in the field of regenerative medicine. She soon discovered that as she lived an apparent fairy tale romance -- with someone who not only seemed to care for her and her daughter but also lavished her with expensive gifts and trips -- others were already searching for the truth about Macchiarini. And it was very difficult for us um, with the story because, you know, we had all hoped for one of these happy endings, you know, this was, the hope was to do a two-hour special, and at the end of it, you know, Hannah's home in South Korea, running around the backyard with her, her big sister, and you know, being a happy toddler as, as she should have been all along, and you know, Hannah was the most vibrant little girl. Benita Alexander-Noel was born on April 21, 1966 in Australia. Alexander, an award-winning documentary TV producer, met Macchiarini in 2013 while working on a story about the surgeon's pioneering work transplanting synthetic tracheas, or windpipes. [00:01:28] Benita: I grew up in Australia, and I had an uncle, my mother's brother, who worked for Radio Free Europe. It just never stopped, to the point that I would come home from these trips, and all my friends were hanging on the edge of their seat. His work, if controversial, is also groundbreaking. So he goes to the Vatican, ostensibly, to ask for help finding someone who will marry us, and he calls me after that meeting and says to me, tells me I need to sit down, um, he has good news, but I need to sit down. I just, I felt like somebody punched me in the stomach. She started her career at a local news station before moving on to work at NBC in New York. And he's getting noticed in the medical field. [00:24:45] Bo Lindquist: I mean he basically said that he was going to revolutionize medicine, and, and not just invent a new kind of a trachea or a new kind of transplant, but actually revolutionize surgery. They become engaged and plan a lavish dream wedding, to be attended by celebrities and officiated by none other than Pope Francis himself. And I said, "Well how's that going to work, because we're both divorcees," or so I thought, and I'm not Catholic. Yeah. In mid-2013, they became a couple and in December that year they became pre-engaged as Macchiarini, who lived in Barcelona, Spain, said he was still legally married with two children but had been separated for a long time and was filing for divorce. I had tried, at one point I pushed him away, and we didn't see each other for about three months. [00:24:20] Bo Lindquist: When we made our initial agreement to, to start filming, he said that his uh, personal life would be out of bounds, and I mean a bit odd that, that we couldn't even talk about where he went to school or, or something like that, but why should we? Macchiarini told Alexander he was having difficulty finding a Catholic priest who would marry two divorcees, but he told her not to worry, he would talk to his contact in the Vatican. News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. In need of a lung transplant, doctors arranged to transfer her to Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. "He [the Pope] wanted to use us as the poster couple for the Catholic church, to prove people who are divorced can get married in the Catholic church.". Journalist Benita Alexander is swept off her feet by a dashing Italian doctor, Paolo Macchiarini, while filming a documentary about his miraculous surgeries. [00:33:17] Bob: What he thinks is this is going to be an incredible challenge. She'd been in the intensive care unit in Turkey for three years, and her health was still deteriorating. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. Um, (laugh) I was uh, in my 40s. He was, he was just there when I needed somebody. His six papers on the transplant surgery were retracted. As Alexander began to unravel the web of lies Macchiarini had told her, she began to wonder if the world-renowned thoracic surgeon had also misled people in his professional life. www.aarp.org/volunteer. "He didnt know Pope Francis, he wasnt his personal doctor.". We had 300+ people coming from all over the world. Her multiple awards include: Edward R. Murrow, 2 Emmys, 7 Emmy nominations, Alfred I. duPont-Columbia, NABJ and Sigma Delta Chi. Her first marriage was to fellow journalist John Noel. Two-hour special that investigates the perfect engagement gone wrong between Emmy award-winning journalist, Benita Alexander, and the internationally acclaimed surgeon, Dr. Paolo Macchiarini Two-hour special that investigates the perfect engagement gone wrong between Emmy award-winning journalist, Benita Alexander, and the internationally acclaimed surgeon, Dr. Paolo Macchiarini. But at this point, they're just questions. I truly was for a period there, happier than I think I've ever been. "It was the weirdest thing," Alexander said. From what we can tell, Benita still resides in New York alongside her daughter, where shes primarily a freelance executive producer for Lion Television, all the while serving as a public figure. The Love Con: Directed by Star Price. Despite her work ethic, she fell in love with Macchiarini. "I was angry as hell. I want to focus on work. Instead, he says their underlying health conditions were fatal and may have been a factor in their deaths. Nobody, except my closest friends and family, knew about the Pope because we weren't allowed to talk about it, but they knew that was a big VIP wedding. I mean not, not physically, but he could be quite uh frightening actually when he got angry. Her mother was Korean, and her dad, Canadian. You know, the equivalent of going to a drugstore and buying whatever, you, they, the idea is ultimately we'll get to the point that, you know, you have a failing organ or you lose a body part, you just order up a new one. [00:36:07] Matthew Christopher: Confident, rico-suave, I am Paolo, ha-ha, and I'm like, okay, you know, I'm like am I nervous? Perfect. And so we were looking into this field, and we found this doctor. And it's presented to me by Paolo, it's not even about our wedding or about our love story. Alexander said Macchiarini later called her, telling her he was at the Vatican and that he had some big news: Not only did he find someone willing to perform the ceremony but he said it was his own patient, the pope himself. [00:11:55] Bob: And how old were you then? [00:32:14] Matthew Christopher: She actually came to my private showroom which was really cool, and um, I had my whole staff there, and we had to sign a nondisclosure agreement, and I was like, what is going on here? You know the, the invitations talked about needing a password, a secret password to get into the wedding, and you couldn't get in unless you had the invitation with you. One of the reasons I am so adamant about continuing to talk about this is because I think victim-shaming is terrible. The happy couple start planning their wedding in earnest, and well, we already know Paolo likes a challenge. Meanwhile, the investigation into Macchiarini's professional life was ramping up -- the Karolinska Institute was investigating whether he'd fabricated aspects of his medical research. NEW YORK Dr Paolo Macchiarini, He Lied About Everything with Benita Alexander Armchair MBA 18K subscribers Join Subscribe 1.5K Share Save 128K views 2 years ago I chat with Benita Alexander. Documentary producer Benita Alexander thought it was love when her job introduced her to internationally renowned surgeon Paolo Macchiarini. [00:31:00] Bob: One of those nondisclosure agreements is signed by Matthew Christopher. [00:40:30] Benita: Paolo lived in Barcelona, and so we had talked about what were we going to do after the wedding. It defeats the point, Benita recently said. [00:36:00] Matthew Christopher: On Valentine's Day, I met him. [00:31:04] Matthew Christopher: I'm a couture wedding gown designer. Um, you know, they come in and I'd say, "Welcome to your closet." Are you new to podcasts? But unfortunately, her personal life has been marred by a turbulent childhood in Huntington Woods, Michigan, and a series of unsuccessful relationships. There was no evidence the Obamas had heard of him, either. I'm never viewed like that, but I was definitely like, huh? "We had to clear her throat basically every four to six hours, sort of 24 hours, seven days a week," said Oscar Simonson, a cardiothoracic surgeon who worked at the Karolinska Institute and its affiliated hospital at the time. And it came down to how are we going to accomplish doing all these pieces for this wedding that is going to be so high profile, so exclusive, I mean I've never heard of anything so, it was, I mean in my career I've experienced some great things; this was wow. It really affects you. She said one question was heavy on her mind: "Why did you do this to me, why would you do that to anybody? Benita Alexander grew up like a regular American kid. In the meantime, please feel free [00:02:54] Bob: Benita focused on emotional stories, many involving children in tragic circumstances. And whatever that is, let's, let's push that away, you know. Alexander then married, Edson Jeune, a ballroom dancer. The Karolinska Institute, which had renewed Macchiarini's contract in November 2015, launched another investigation into Macchiarini and reversed its previous conclusions -- Macchiarini was indeed guilty of scientific misconduct, the Institute determined. Meanwhile, the doctors were still trying to save Cetir's life. [00:09:18] Benita: Yeah, so we, we started focusing our story around Hannah and her family, and Hannah was actually, she was going to be the youngest person in the world to ever get one of his experimental transplants; the first toddler, and also the first patient to be operated on in the United States. I did not think that by pulling that thread, we would completely undo the sweater.". Corbascio called the decision "absolutely insane.". The famous surgeon, a miracle worker who gives hope to hopeless patients, who's rewriting the rules of medicine. Of the eight patients given artificial tracheas by Macchiarini, only one is still alive today. Benita was also the Co-Executive Producer and narrator for the 2016 TLC documentary, "Breaking the Silence," about sexual abuse. And he came to visit us in Australia, and I was just, I was only 8, but I was ab--, absolutely infatuated with what he was doing and asked him all these questions. I'm kind of a control, you know, right, I'm kind of a control freak. And, and, and embraced me and held me so hard. But when it comes to the wedding, Paolo takes the lead. And he, so his reputation sort of proceeds him, but when he walked in to where we were sitting that day, he, when he walked in, he looked right at me, and our eyes met, and I've never in my life had something like this happen to me before, but I, I felt like a silly, little schoolgirl. ", Jupiter and Venus appear to 'kiss' in the sky, What is graupel? It was killing me, and but I was also so in love with him. [00:03:01] Benita: Yeah, one of the ones um, there was a father in New Jersey, whose wife had abducted their son to Brazil, parental abduction, which is when one parent takes the child, against the other parent's will to another country. I think he needs to be behind bars. It was at this point that Benita said she started to feel that something was not right. Benita Alexander is an award-winning investigative television producer, showrunner, correspondent, director, writer and narrator who has worked on a wide variety of film and TV programs. And, and then he would tell me the priest won't marry us, and this went on and on and on. [00:30:34] Bob: Now your wedding is a cause. Elton John was going to be performing. Three months later, the Karolinska Institute ruled that while Macchiarini did not always rise to the level of its standards, he had not committed scientific misconduct. In 2020, she appeared on the ABC documentary series The Con to discuss her personal life and narrate what happened between her and Paolo Macchiarini. [00:12:11] Benita: Not like that, you know, this was, this was one of those almost cliche movie moments where, you know, I don't even believe in love at first sight, but there was some sort of thing, something happened. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. How to, what do we do now? I'm going to have to do the exact number but [00:12:07] Bob: And you hadn't felt that way ever, or at least not for 30 years, something like that. On your mark, get set, go. See the shocking new details about Paolo Macchiarini's alleged medical crimes, new interviews and new revelations Friday on "20/20" at 9 p.m. After doing her own research, Alexander found that Pope Francis had just married 20 couples and began to believe it was possible after all. They make it for you in the lab, right. And I said, "Well what are we going to do?" Where is Benita Alexander now? I was so career-driven, and so career-oriented, but I was madly in love. And he was putting artificial tracheas, the windpipe, into patients. Therefore, when Benita met the charming Paolo Macchiarini in the spring of 2013, thanks to NBCs A Leap of Faith, and he swept her off her feet, she crossed the professional line to start a romance with him. We were sitting together on the, on the plane, and I just sort of started pouring my heart out to him, and he was a very good friend. It started with Andrea Bocelli was going to be singing in the church, because Paolo told me that his mother and Bocellis mother were friends. They become engaged and plan a lavish dream wedding, to be attended by celebrities and officiated by none other than Pope Francis himself. Benita Alexander, an award-winning documentary TV producer and Paolo Macchiarini fall in love after meeting in 2013 while she is working on a story about the surgeon's pioneering w Show more. Benita has become a recognized love conned expert and along with speaking engagements, she is a regular guest correspondent on "The Dr. Oz Show." And the two go on a magic carpet ride together. The procedure uses the framework of a plastic tube lined with the patient's stem cells and is intended to help them replicate into a healthy version of the failing organ. But her death was awful. How does one design a wedding dress for a wedding [00:34:25] Matthew Christopher: With the Pope? And so there was a lot of palpable excitement about this wedding, you know, people were really eager and excited for this wedding. [00:38:37] Bob: But even without asking any questions, one thing is clear, this wedding is going to be big. I, I thought it was ridiculous. It was kind of romance on steroids. Oxygen.com interviews filmmaker and reporter Benita Alexander, an executive producer of the 90-minute documentary "Seduced by Evil," about con man Derek Alldred. AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that empowers people to choose how they live as they age. Free online workshop! Firstly , on a personal observation , girl , you absolutely need a makeover. [00:39:38] Matthew Christopher: Yeah, I mean we were going through fittings, we were going through the process of um getting things together. Benita Alexander is a producer, director, writer, and narrator, who has actually been behind several episodes of ID's 'Now,' 'Dateline,' and even 'Inside the Obama White House.' It thus comes as no surprise that her professional success has given way to her confidence. [00:34:17] Bob: Well, at some point you transition from wow to okay, I've got to get to work on this, right? [00:12:57] Bob: And there is another reason Benita must focus on her work at the time. During her investigation into Macchiarini, Alexander hired private investigators in the U.S. and Italy. Star-Studded Wedding Becomes Brides Worst Nightmare, Part 1, Journalist exposes her celebrity fianc, part 2, Computer hacker drains couple's life savings. I found him very um, hmm, he had a presence about him. If your response is to point a finger at a victim, thats really sad. So it was scary. ID gives the viewer the opportunity to experience this along with Benita the highs and the lows and to discover, along with her, howhe lied about everything, says Henry Schleiff, Group President of Investigation Discovery, Destination America and American Heroes Channel in a press release about the documentary. Moreover, the Italian investigator found records showing that despite planning a wedding with Alexander for so long, Macchiarini was still legally married. Paolo Macchiarini proposes to Benita Alexander before leaving US for work: Part 2Alexander seemed to be living a fantasy lifestyle. In fact, we both worked for NBC in New York at the same time, but we didn't know each other then. But our guest list was insane because now that the Pope was marrying us, he kept inviting all these dignitaries, you know, so world leaders were coming to our wedding. And he actually said his barber in uh the south of Russia, he, he managed to find this excellent, excellent barber in Kazan there where he performed his Russian experiments, brilliant guy. She said she'd never fantasized about a "Prince Charming." By the time Alexander discovered these things about Macchiarini, she said she'd spent over $50,000 on wedding preparations and quit her job. He was dying and Macchiarini became someone Alexander could lean on. This is a surgeon. Dashing, successful and charming, Macchiarini, she thought, was the perfect man for her. For more compelling true crime coverage, follow our Crime magazine on Flipboard. I'm, you know, I like, I like information. And that frees up Benita to go public about their relationship. Macchiarini had told her that he and his wife were separated, but that the divorce hadn't yet been finalized legally. I'll take care of it." Documentary producer Benita Alexander thought it was love when her job introduced her to internationally renowned surgeon Paolo Macchiarini. He never did that with me, but I, I've, I have seen him really being quite, quite unpleasant with um, PhDs and people who were sort of subordinate. 5 Journalist Benita Alexander (right) has. Thats what I have the power to do now. I was just kind of like, um, 'cause Benita's so awesome and like, you know she was totally in love with him. Benita is the Executive Producer of the documentary film, He Lied About Everything, which premiered in the U.S. in 2018 on Investigation Discovery, and continues to be broadcast around the world. And I think I was even blushing. See production, box office & company info, Fatal Experiments: The Downfall of a Supersurgeon. Benita was also the Co-Executive Producer and narrator for the 2016 TLC documentary, Breaking the Silence," about sexual abuse. Learn how to subscribe to AARP Podcasts on any device. The first meeting between Benita Alexander, an award-winning producer for NBC News, and Dr. Paolo Macchiarini, the famous transplant surgeon, took place at the bar at Bostons Mandarin Oriental hotel. Subtitles English [CC] Audio languages English Buy Season 1 It does make it difficult sometimes, because you, some stories are so heavy and so difficult, and I would sometimes, it would take me weeks sometimes to sort of shake a story, and people would sit with me, and their stories would sit with me for a long, long time. Her daughter has thus been the only constant in her life. [00:00:03] He was incredibly generous, you know, and so romantic and just so wonderful. Worked for NBC in New York at the same time, but he be! Him very um, you absolutely need a makeover 00:18:02 ] Benita: Oh, there was career-driven! To hopeless patients, who 's rewriting the rules of medicine make it for you in the U.S. Italy! Magazine on Flipboard is signed by Matthew Christopher: I 'm never like. 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