{"id":40903,"date":"2023-12-01T12:39:14","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T11:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1937186"},"modified":"2023-12-01T13:11:46","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T12:11:46","slug":"who-is-paolo-macchiarinis-wife-bad-surgeons-relationship-explained","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/who-is-paolo-macchiarinis-wife-bad-surgeons-relationship-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Paolo Macchiarini\u2019s wife? Bad Surgeon\u2019s relationship explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1986, Macchiarini married an Italian woman called Emanuela Pecchia. <\/p>

By Grace Henry\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 01 December 2023 at 11:39 AM<\/p>

\n\n

If, like us, you\u2019ve already binged all three episodes of Netflix<\/a>\u2018s Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife, you\u2019re probably one, still in shock, and two, have lots of unanswered questions, including where is Paolo Macchiarini now<\/a>?<\/p>\n

You may also be wondering about the women in Macchiarini\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

In the docuseries, we hear frequently from journalist and NBC producer Benita Alexander, who met Macchiarini in 2013 to arrange an appearance on a documentary called A Leap of Faith, which was eventually broadcast in 2014.<\/p>\n

Towards the end of the documentary, we meet another woman named Ana Paula Bernardes, the mother of one of Paolo\u2019s patients.<\/p>\n

While both women feature in the film, Macchiarini was also married to another woman named Emanuela Pecchia.<\/p>\n

Read on for everything you need to know.<\/p>

Who is Paolo Macchiarini\u2019s wife?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"NBC\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
NBC producer and journalist Benita Alexander and surgeon Paolo Macchiarini.<\/span><\/figcaption> Netflix<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

While we hear from both Alexander and Bernardes in the documentary, Paolo was actually married to an Italian woman called Emanuela Pecchia, and the couple have two children together, a girl and a boy.<\/p>\n

The docuseries begins with the NBC producer Alexander describing how she met Paolo, who she was filming for a documentary about his \u201clandmark\u201d surgery, which saw him perform the first transplant of a synthetic organ, giving a man a laboratory-grown windpipe, with the graft supported by the patient\u2019s own stem cells.<\/p>\n

Alexander and Macchiarini grew close, with the surgeon flying her across the globe from the Bahamas to Mexico, Greece, Italy and more. Macchiarini even took Alexander and her daughter to meet his mother in Lucca. Macchiarini told Alexander that his divorce had finally come through and proposed to her on Christmas Day, 2013.<\/p>\n

The pair began planning their wedding, which Paolo insisted on taking over, telling Benita that Pope Francis would officiate and guests would include Bill and Hilary Clinton, and Michelle and Barack Obama \u2013 some of whom he claimed to have operated on. Macchiarini told Alexander that Andrea Bocelli would sing at the event, and the three Michelin-star restaurant Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence would be providing the food.<\/p>\n

The date was set for June 2015, however, it never happened.<\/p>\n

One of Alexander\u2019s friends sent her an email showing her that the Pope was due to be on a tour of South America when he had \u201cagreed\u201d to marry them.<\/p>\n

\"Ana\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Ana Paula Bernardes.<\/span><\/figcaption> Netflix<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

According to\u00a0Vanity Fair<\/a>: \u201cMacchiarini tried to blame the scheduling mix-up on Vatican politics and claimed that he was on his way to Rome to straighten things out.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe maintained that her fears were unfounded\u2014that he was acting in good faith and that everything would work out as planned. He said the Pope would be cutting his trip short and returning early.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Alexander saw through the lies and called the wedding off. She later hired a private investigator, who confirmed that the information Macchiarini had told her about their wedding was pretty much false.<\/p>\n

Having never visited Macchiarini in this hometown of Barcelona, Alexander decided to take a trip overseas with two of her friends. When they approached Macchiarini\u2019s home, Alexander heard children calling someone \u201cdad\u201d and returned to the car. While she stayed in the car, her friends spoke with him and met his wife and children.<\/p>\n

In the documentary, viewers also hear from Ana Paula Bernardes, who met Macchiarini in 2010 when he operated on her son Danilo at Cisanello in Pisa. Danilo died shortly after the operation due to some complications. Following Danilo\u2019s passing, Macchiarini continued to speak to Bernardes and they eventually got into a relationship. They later welcomed a daughter together.<\/p>\n

However, things came crashing down in 2016, when Bernardes learned of Macchiarini\u2019s relationship with Benita Alexander via a magazine interview she did with Vanity Fair in which she exposed Macchiarini\u2019s actions, including the fake wedding and that he was already married.<\/p>\n

Bernardes fled with her child.<\/p>