A whirlwind romance quickly turned into a nightmare for a British grandmother who married a man 20 years her junior in The Gambia . Anne-Marie , 52 , from Warwickshire , met husband Omar on a night out when he was in the UK on a student visa . At the time , she was 41 with two children from a previous relationship and he was 21 . 'He was handsome and charismatic , he said he 'd treat me like a queen and I would never want for anything . He told me everything I wanted to hear , ' she told Channel 5 show Love Rats Abroad . Anne-Marie , now 52 , from Warwickshire , met husband Omar when she was 41 and he was 21 . She said Omar persistently text and called her after they first met so , in the end , she thought 'why not ' and started dating him . Not long after they had been together , he suggested he move into her family home as he could n't afford the rent on the place where he had been living . Then as his student visa neared its expiration date , they decided to get married just months after they had first met . 'He had come to the country on a student visa , he had n't been able to finish the course , he needed to send money back home , otherwise people would n't be able to eat . I admired him for staying and doing what he had been doing to keep his family going , ' Anne-Marie said . ' I entered into the relationship besotted and in love , it was dream . ' After a whirlwind romance , the couple married in the Gambia . Anne-Marie 's son Joe , who was ten when they got together , said their relationship did seem to move quickly . He said : ' I was young so I did n't know about relationships but it felt quick . I went from seeing him a couple of times a week to him always there and staying . ' Anne-Marie and Omar travelled to his native The Gambia to marry in 2006 - but she said she immediately regretted it . 'On my wedding day it was a wonderful day but I had doubts in the back of my mind , I was thinking `` am I doing the right thing ? '' Anne-Marie said Omar had been charming and charismatic before they tied the knot . 'The day after we married we had argument , his eyes were bulging , he put his face in mine and said `` you are my wife now , you do as you 're told '' . I was frightened , I thought `` what have done ? I think I 've made a big mistake. '' . ' Anne-marie said Omar was aggressive and violent when they returned to the UK and spoke of one harrowing incident - which he denies - when she said he whipped her with a belt . She said : 'He held me to the floor and he took his belt off whipped me over and over on the top of my thigh . I was crying screaming and begging for him to stop and he carried on . I asked `` is this how you control your girlfriends ? '' and he shouted `` yes '' back to me . ' Anne-Marie said Omar put her under pressure to take out loans so he could send money back to his family in the Gambia . As a result , she racked up debts of £15,000 . She said life with Omar was 'awful ' with 'spiralling debts ' and constant arguments but the marriage lasted for five years before he left . Following the breakdown of her marriage , Anne-Marie is now £16,000 in debt . Now a grandmother of one , she said she had n't seen him since and is desperate to track him down so he can help her pay off her debts and she can get a divorce . She said : ' I was with this man for a long time and I have debts I ca n't pay . I want to find him and see if I can get money from him as half of the debts are his . 'Before I met Omar my credit rating was good . Now at the rate I am playing it back , it will take 17 years to clear the debt . ' As the loans were taken out in Anne-Marie 's name , she would have to prove she was coerced into taking them out for the debts to be written off . She said : 'Unless I can find out where he is , I ca n't recover it , I ca n't even divorce him as I ca n't serve him the papers . ' Channel 5 was able to get a statement from Omar who admitted his marriage had been violent at times but he denied the allegation that he had whipped his wife with a belt . He said he never forced Anne-Marie to take out loans and as far as he is concerned , they are divorced - as he said he secured this in The Gambia in 2012 . Love Rats Abroad is on Channel 5 Thursday at 9pm .
1975 - Marie , 52 , met husband Omar on a weekend out in the UK . He was travelling in the UK on a tourist visa . At the time , she was 41 with two children and he was 21 . ' He was handsome and charismatic , ' she said . Months later he moved in with her and then they married in The Gambia . After tying the knot , she said he changed and became aggressive . Alleges he made her take out loans that owed her £ 15,000 in debt . ' Awful ' marriage lasted five years before Omar left .