Today, we’ll be recapping the insane TikTok drama, “The Danish Deception”.
If you had asked me what Danish Deception was a few days ago, I would’ve sworn it’s when you open a tin of Danish cookies hoping to find sugary delights but end up with sewing supplies.
This soap-opera-style TitkTok mess comes to us courtesy of Onyeka Ehie, a Nigerian-American and former Bachelor contestant. Here’s a photo of her pre-scam:
She was a contestant on the 23rd season of The Bachelor (Colton Underwood’s season, LMAO) and was eliminated in Week 5. She eventually returned for the 6th season of the spin-off show, Bachelor in Paradise.
She revealed in a 25-part TikTok series how her three-year marriage to a Danish man named Martin Fredsgaard Andersen started like a cheesy romance flick and ended like something you already know Netflix is making a documentary about.
Personally, I think the story didn’t need to be this long. There’s a lot of fluff that we could have done without but ultimately made the story more immersive. On that note, I have to hand it to her for making this retelling cinematic AF. She released a teaser video, followed by the pilot, and ended each chapter with a cliffhanger. She even named the saga herself.
While watching it, I realise why she’s told the story this way. If you’re going to reveal to the world how you got scammed, you might as well make some money from it. Each video in the series has a ton of views, and I have no doubt that her account is monetised.
I know that’s right.
Because we don’t have all the time in the world, I will be cutting through the fluff to get you the main gist. So sit down and grab some scones while I be mother. Because…
The silhouette is you. We like to have fun over here.
It’s June 2022. Our protagonist, Onyeka, is tired of serving capitalism, so she goes on vacation to Croatia where she meets a Danish man named Martin. They flirt heavily with each other, bond, and exchange Instagram handles, agreeing to keep in touch.
Here’s a picture of them together so you have a face in mind whenever I mention him.
I have to mention that I found this photo of them on an Instagram page named “WhiteMenDatingBlackWomenClub“. Do not take this as commentary on interracial relationships. I just think it’s funny as hell.
As the days go by, Martin is blowing up her Instagram with flirty messages. They start talking, and it’s clear there’s mutual attraction. He reveals that he comes from a royal family and offers to fly her out. She first refuses because she’s an “Independent Woma (Part 1 by Destiny’s Child), but eventually agrees. Martin pulls out all the stops. He flies her out to Monaco and then to Cannes where they knock genitals. Onyeka is getting her entire life.
She’s so turnt that she tells him she’s in love with him, and then passes out on her way to the bathroom, smacking her head on a flight of stairs in the process. Just as the ambulance is about to take her to the hospital, lying in a puddle of her blood and urine (she peed herself when she fell), Martin cradles her face and says, “I love you too.”
When Onyeka returns home to America, she tells her family and friends that she’s found love. Her typical Nigerian parents react the way you expect.
But they eventually come around, and so do her friends. Months later, Onyeka and Martin have settled into the rhythm of long-distance relationships, which I assume involves a lot of…
It’s hard out here for long-distance relationship folks.
Martin announces that he owns multiple rental properties in Denmark and is considering buying another, but currently doesn’t have enough money because his cash is temporarily tied up in other things. Onyeka feels guilty that he’s paid for everything so far. And because she believes they’re in a relationship that’s heading to marriage, she offers him some money as a way to “pull her weight”. He’s grateful but turns down her offer.
Here’s Whoopi Goldberg to voice the thought I had when I got to this part of the story.
Not long after, Martin visits Onyeka in America and charms the pants off her family and friends. He randomly mentions being an Olympian, which gags everyone present, including Onyeka, because he’d never brought it up before now. When he returns to Denmark, she’s depressed AF and offers to uproot her entire life to move to Denmark and be with him. He declines, saying he doesn’t want to separate her from her family. With the level of care and consideration Martin showed, I imagine Onyeka was like…
Right after this, Martin’s life seemingly goes to shit as the following series of unfortunate events happen to him:
- His father dies.
- His uncle also dies.
- He develops severe back pain due to two herniated discs and has to get surgery.
- Something goes wrong with the electrical setup in the apartment building he just bought that would cost $50,000 to fix.
He decides to cancel his trip to see Onyeka so he’ll have enough money to fix his problems. She misses him so much, though, so she gives him some money to help him fix his building problem so the trip can proceed as planned.
These things happen over the span of months. In that time, they decide to get married, go ring shopping, and consult an immigration lawyer. Onyeka’s mother randomly asks if Martin’s parents even know Onyeka exists, because they’ve never met. Onyeka briefly spirals over this, but returns to regular programming when the delusion takes over.
Then comes the next set of problems for Martin:
- Because Martin plans to move to America, he sells his house and decides to invest $250,000 from that sale into a friend’s plumbing business. Onyeka encourages it after he insists it’s a good investment.
- Weeks later, he claims the Danish IRS says he owes $318,000 in unpaid taxes and asks to borrow $15,000 from her to complete the money he has. When she hesitates because she needs the money to pay her own taxes soon, he manipulates her by saying that if he doesn’t fix this, it will jeopardise his green card application process. She immediately gives in and lends him the money. He now owes her $25,000.
- A friend he borrowed from to sort the tax problem needs his money back urgently. She gives him $3000 to add to the money he’s already raised to pay his friend back.
At some point in all this happening, they set a wedding date. They get married at a courthouse with Onyeka in a Fashion Nova dress.
Not Fashion Nova. Lol
They go on vacation to Cabo…
Eat the rich fr
…and while Onyeka’s stunting for the gram, she notices many Danish people viewing her stories, including Martin’s ex-girlfriend. When she points this out to him, he calls them bad belles and asks her to block all of them. She does and forgets about it.
Here’s a list of weird stuff that happens next:
- Onyeka meets Martin’s parents and is shocked to see that they don’t live like royalty. The house is small, the vibes are off, and he seems somewhat ashamed of the house. She just assumes that they don’t enjoy the flashy life.
- Martin announces he’s found a wealthy family to buy the apartment building and claims their contract requires both sides to put money into escrow so no one pulls out. He says he needs $120,000 and will get a loan for $100,000 and needs $20,000 more. She gives him $3000, bringing the total money he owes her to $31,000.
To celebrate selling his house, he wants them to go ON YET ANOTHER VACATION. She rightly points out that they have very little money, so he suggests they use her credit cards, seeing as the sale of the house will go through soon, and he’ll pay her back. Even though her savings are gone at this point, SHE AGREES, accruing credit card debt on top of the regular debt she already has.
After the trip, Martin claims the IRS has flagged the sale of his Denmark house. She panics because it means they’re going to struggle financially for longer. He says the IRS has scheduled a hearing for this, which goes badly. A second hearing is set for his personal and business accounts. He claims all his assets will be frozen for months and that the government will put him on a fixed living allowance. He insists she shouldn’t tell anyone about his financial issues so they won’t look at him differently.
He later says the second hearing went well and instantly sends her only $9000, claiming all remaining funds are in his business account, which is now frozen for eighteen to twenty-four months. He claims his remaining money has been drained by insurance charges on his two rental buildings. He is suddenly broke again, and she resumes supporting him financially.
At Christmas 2023, Onyeka gets Martin’s real tea from one of his close friends.
Martin has a major gambling addiction.
Here’s some other stuff she finds out:
- He owes her friends (Let’s call them Mr and Mrs Watch) $200,000. Months prior, Martin approached Mr and Mrs Watch about a watch selling business. Mr Watch agreed and the watches were sold, but Martin never sent their share of the money. ($200,000)
- Martin lied about no longer having a gambling addiction. Mrs Watch does some digging and finds out that the payments for the watches were made into a crypto wallet that’s been connected to a gambling website for years.
Mrs Watch suggests they hire a private investigator to find out more about Martin. Here’s what the PI finds:
- No criminal background — a miracle given his track record with money.
- He never went to the Olympics.
- The house he claimed he was living in in Denmark at the time he and Onyeka met wasn’t his. The PI reverse Google-searched a photo of the house and found out the house is situated in Germany.
She confronts him with all this, and he attempts to lie but gives in and starts crying when she threatens to call his mother. At this point, I’m like:
BUT SHE DOESN’T. She still loves him and thinks things can still be salvaged. She makes him start attending Gamblers Anonymous meetings. They also set up a plan to repay Mr and Mrs Watch. And for a few months, things seem to be going well.
Until she finds out that he’s still gambling. Like mad. As in, he’s gambled all his money away and has only 34¢ in his bank account.
They do the whole spiel again. She gets upset, he cries, apologises, and they go back to regular programming.
Until he starts gambling again.
This time, he sells more of his comically expensive watches, takes a salary advance from his workplace, and uses ALL THE MONEY TO GAMBLE.
Everything that happens next is a rollercoaster of shit so I’m going to put it in list form.
Ready?
- Martin somehow owes Onyeka’s mother $10,000 he owes her. He claims he’s sent it and keeps lying about why it hasn’t arrived yet. When Onyeka confronts him about it, he yells about being unhappy and proceeds to excuse himself from the narrative that is their marriage. He then storms out and flies back to Denmark.
- While Onyeka is crying to her sisters about her impending divorce, she finds out he also borrowed $3000 from her youngest sister. Twice. He paid back the first time and didn’t pay back the second time.
This is when Onyeka’s eyes finally open.
- She starts calling all the friends and family she’d introduced Martin to and found out he’d borrowed money from them and never paid back. Pretty much every single one, and he told them to keep it a secret from her.
- Onyeka unblocks Martin’s ex on IG and reaches out to her. The ex already knows what’s going on and spills even hotter tea: They’d dated for seven years (he’d told Onyeka they only dated for four). She reveals he stole money from her, her family, her friends, her coworkers, and that he was still with her four months into his relationship with Onyeka.
At this point, Onyeka is like:
- Onyeka call up Martin’s sister, whom she had never spoken to because Martin said he had beef with her. She learns the royalty claim was fake, and Martin never owned any property in Denmark. Martin’s sister explains that Martin has a long history of borrowing money from people for fake business ideas. Around the time of his rehab stint, he got money from loan sharks who threatened to break his knees and those of his friends and family. After that, he escapes to Shanghai and starts scamming people there too.
- Also, his old gambling rehab doctors had described his gambling addiction as the worst they’d ever seen in their careers.
That last one made me cackle because it gave me flashbacks to Dr Samuel Loomis describing Michael Myers in the first Halloween movie.
To say Onyeka is distraught is an understatement. She calls everyone she knows Martin spoke to while in America and finds out from some guy who wanted to be a mentor to Martin that Martin had scammed him of $30,000. He’d even sued Martin, but Martin lied and hid it from Onyeka.
Onyeka decides that all she can do now is fight, and, seeing as Martin didn’t leave behind any clothes or a car for her to burn, she starts by initiating the divorce proceedings. This makes Martin start blowing up her phone with ChatGPT-crafted messages saying he loves her and wants to work on what they have. She ignores him until she’s walking her dog one day, and he shows up in a black SUV and says with a smile, “Hey baby.”
Onyeka, who is seeing things clearly for the first time in three years, takes in a deep breath and screams…
And so he drives off in a hurry. Was he actually trying to kidnap her?!
Imagine “Hopeful” by Twista and Faith Evans playing as you read this portion
Onyeka is no longer legally tethered to Martin Fredsgaard Andersen. He couldn’t get anything else from her because she bought everything she had before they met and didn’t have time to put his name on any documents.
Their divorce was finalised on the 4th of November, 2025.
Onyeka refuses to end it here, though. She’s dedicated to making sure no one ever experiences what she went through. She says many victims of Martin’s have reached out to her since she put her story out, and she’s putting enough evidence together to put Martin behind bars forever.
You better werk, Onyeka.
