Fake baby scammer Kira Cousins insists people who believed the newborn she pretended to give birth to was real “were stupid”, as she broke her silence over the extraordinary deception.
Kira Cousins, 23, tricked her then boyfriend Jamie Gardner and those closest to her by strapping on an artificial baby bump for months, before pretending a lifelike plastic doll was their newborn daughter, Bonnie-Leigh Joyce.
The former supermarket worker, from Airdrie, sparked headlines around the world after the Daily Record unravelled her astonishing deceit last October.
Speaking exclusively to the Sunday Mail in her first ever interview, Kira has accepted what she did was wrong but claims those who genuinely believed the doll was a real baby should have realised sooner.
She said: “If they didn’t, they were stupid.”
View 4 ImagesKira at her gender reveal party(Image: Facebook)
Kira also confessed why she faked giving birth, claiming she was unable to tell Jamie she was no longer pregnant after suffering a miscarriage.
She said: “I couldn’t tell him. I did lose a child. I’d tried to tell him when I first lost the child. I still have messages on my phone which said, ‘Jamie, we need to sit down,’ but I couldn’t speak to him about anything.
“I can hold my hands up and say, ‘No, I shouldn’t have used a doll’, but at the same time, nobody knows what our relationship was like.”
Jamie has confirmed he genuinely believed the doll was real and said he thought he had become a father.
View 4 ImagesThe reborn baby doll(Image: Facebook)
He said: “If I had ever known that was really a doll, I’d have run off sooner. I’ve not got a clue what really happened to be honest.”
In her web of lies, Kira posted baby scans, videos of a lavish gender reveal party in the lead-up to the ‘birth of her daughter’ before claiming she weighed 5lbs 4oz. The ‘mum’ also uploaded pictures of newborn clothes and items loved ones bought – including a £1,000 pram and a car seat – alongside what is believed to be AI-generated footage of the ‘baby’ kicking in her tummy.
She even wrote about hospital appointments and claimed ante-natal tests picked up a heart defect. The realistic reborn babies retail between £30 to £2,000 – with some versions even being able to make crying sounds and produce fake tears and wet nappies.
READ THE FULL STORY: Kira Cousins breaks silence on fake baby deception and confesses why she did it
Kira said she allowed Jamie to believe she was still pregnant because she was terrified of telling him she had lost the baby, with the elaborate lie quickly snowballing beyond her control.
Jamie disputed Kira’s claims and said he has no recollection of her ever attempting to tell him she had suffered a miscarriage. He did not wish to comment further.
Kira went on to claim she had given birth to a baby weighing 5lb 4oz and said she managed to keep the deception alive by preventing her own unsuspecting family from getting close to the doll.
View 4 ImagesKira says her loved-ones had no idea(Image: Facebook)
She said: “All of my family had been asking, ‘What is going on? Is she depressed?’ because I wouldn’t let anyone near that doll, only me and Jamie.”
She claims Jamie cared for what he believed was their newborn during visits to his parents’ home. But just days before the extraordinary lie was exposed, young relatives became suspicious after travelling with what they believed was a baby in the back of a car.
They later told their mum they believed it had actually been a doll. It is understood Kira’s mother eventually discovered the lifelike doll hidden in her bedroom in October.
It was also reported that those closest to Kira became suspicious after no one had heard the “baby” cry. Kira also reportedly even went to the extreme lengths of claiming ‘Bonnie-Leigh died’.
Kira alleged she was finally forced to tell Jamie days later that the baby was in fact a lifelike plastic doll.
Describing the moment she confessed, she said: “He said, ‘You’re a psycho,’ and walked out. That was the last time we’ve ever saw each other.”
However, Jamie disputes that it was Kira who told him directly and said when he found out the truth it wasn’t “through her”.
Kira added: “When I first got back in contact with Jamie after this, one of the first things I asked him was if he really knew. People think there is one picture of Jamie with the doll and everyone thinks he held it once, but he didn’t. I’ve got hundreds more.
“No one was near that doll except me and Jamie. So if anyone should have known, it was Jamie.”
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