Here's What Dirty John Meehan's Daughters Are Up to Now
Are you watching Dirty John? Because in case you hadn't noticed, it happens to be the most dramatic show on TV right now-which makes sense considering it comes from Bravo, aka the network that blessed us with this gif:
Anyway, Dirty John (based on the hugely popular podcast from Christopher Goffard) is fascinating thanks to its wild plot-but it's also fascinating because it's 100-percent true. John Meehan was a real con-artist who preyed on a wealthy Orange County woman named Debra Newell...but before Debra was in the picture there was Tonia Sells.
John and Tonia were married for a decade and had two daughters together named Abby and Emily Meehan. And while Abby and Emily weren't raised by their dad, they're well aware of his story-and how it ended.
So, what are they up to now? Hanging with Terra Newell, for starters. But before we get to that, keep in mind that from here on out there are ~spoilers~.
First Up, John's Daughters Seem Awesome
Emily and Abby were raised by their mom, and judging from their very active social media presence, they're super smart, outgoing women who are nothing like their father. Emily is an RN who's engaged to be married to this guy:
A post shared by Emily Meehan RN, BSN (@ematyourcervix) on Jun 29, 2018 at 6:39am PDT
And Abby's a college student:
A post shared by Abby Meehan (@abigail_meehan) on Apr 29, 2018 at 5:49pm PDT
And Yes, They're Here for the Show
Both Abby and Emma flew to Los Angeles for the premiere of Dirty John with their mom, and even went ahead and took this iconic photo with Eric Bana, who plays their father on TV.
A post shared by Emily Meehan RN, BSN (@ematyourcervix) on Nov 14, 2018 at 4:34pm PST
Meanwhile, here they are posing with Tonia at the premiere. Can you imagine how surreal this must have been?!
Note: They Weren't Close to Their Dad
After the Dirty John podcast went viral in 2017, Abby took part in a Dateline feature and opened up about the impact her infamous father had on her life.
"Sometimes I kinda think like what if I'm like him?" she said in an interview [Ed note: scroll down to watch!]. "But then I just know who I am and I'm more like my mom. And I'm a good person and I'm just not like him at all, and I just tell myself that. It's a weird feeling. I haven't see him in a long time and just seeing pictures of him holding me and kissing me, it's just weird because he hasn't been there. And then seeing him like trying to be my dad and being that father, and I just like haven't felt that in a long time. It didn't last long. It lasted less than a year."
But They *Are* Close to Terra Newell
AKA Debra Newell's daughter, and the person who killed John in self-defense (read more about THAT here). Terra actually ended up meeting John's daughters after connecting with them following his death, and they recently hung out in L.A.:
A post shared by Terra Newell (@terranewell) on Nov 19, 2018 at 12:30pm PST
"She kinda told me that she felt guilty for doing what she did, and I kinda told her that it's okay and we're kinda happy that he's gone," Abby explained. "And that a weight has been lifted off our shoulders. And then she told us that she was coming to Georgia to pick up a dog, and then we kind of made plans to meet up with her and her mom. It went really well, they were really sweet, and it wasn't like awkward at all or felt uncomfortable. I know it's for the better now, after what he did, or attempted to do, that could have happened to me, it could have hurt my family. Something really bad could have happened and I'm glad that it didn't get the chance for it to happen."
Well, my jaw is on the floor. You can watch footage of their first meeting in the Dateline video below-and make sure to check out Dirty John on Bravo:
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