Charlotte Chilton maintains that Conor Maynard is the father of her daughter despite two negative paternity tests.
Over the past year the Traitors star, 32, has been embroiled in a paternity drama with the influencer and musician, also 32.
Just before giving birth to her daughter Penelope in October, Charlotte publicly announced Conor as the father, explaining they’d been introduced by her castmate Harry Clark, whose girlfriend is Conor’s younger sister, Anna.
But, in March, Conor revealed that a paternity test confirmed he was not Penelope’s father, with a second taken in August putting an end to the speculation.
At the time Charlotte’s representative said that she had ‘fought an extraordinary battle for truth and justice with heartfelt conviction’.
However, a few months on, Charlotte has now insisted that she will continue to fight to prove Conor is her father’s baby despite the two tests.
The pair met at a wrap party for The Traitors in January last year, with Charlotte maintaining her daughter could have only been conceived with Conor as she hadn’t slept with anyone else.
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In an interview with The Sun, she’s now claimed the DNA tests are showing as negative due to a rare medical condition.
‘I have researched and researched trying to find the answers because I know for a fact that the only person who can be my daughter’s father is Conor Maynard,’ she said.
‘And finally, after speaking to experts I have found out that what might have happened is I could have been carrying twins but lost one very early.
‘Then strange genetics come into play which means that twin could have taken certain DNA so her father could never show up on a paternity test. It is something called chimerism because of a vanished twin in the womb’.
Although the DNA tests are usually more than 99.9% conclusive, she is refusing to back down.
‘I have had so much abuse from people wondering why I am saying he is her father. I am saying it because I know it is true,’ she said.
‘I know I will get to the truth eventually – because I know the facts. I am speaking to experts to see what we can do now to prove that he is the father.
‘Penny has a striking resemblance to someone that on paper is not her father. Even the day we slept together is the conception date.’
Charlotte first raised doubts about the accuracy of the first test after claiming Conor changed testing locations last minute, adding that an unidentified male was also present when his sample was collected.
After demanding another court-ordered test, the second also showed Conor was not the father.
What is chimerism?
Chimerism is a condition where an organism has two different sets of DNA and can occur naturally through the fusion of two fertilised eggs.
It often happens as a result of ‘vanishing twin syndrome’, where anindividual has absorbed a twin in the womb. The absorbed twin’s cells are integrated into the surviving twin’s body.
It can complicate paternity tests by causing a mismatch if a person has two or more distinct sets of DNA from different cell lines.
If it goes undiagnosed, it may result in false negative parental DNA paternity tests.
There have been several high-profile cases of chimerism.
In 2015, an American man failed a paternity test after doctors revealed his dead twin, whose DNA the man absorbed in the womb, was the genetic father of the child.
That was the first ever reported case of a paternity test being fooled by a human chimera.
Meanwhile the case of Lydia Fairchild (born 1976) saw the American woman discover she had two distinct populations of DNA among the cells of her body after a DNA test concluded she wasn’t the mother.
Her ex-husband then accused her of fraud, while prosecutors in their custody case called for her two children to be taken away from her.
She was pregnant at the time and while blood samples were taken immediately after she gave birth to her third child, DNA tests also indicated she was not the mother.
Two weeks later, DNA tests seemed to indicate that she was also not the mother of that child. Upon further investigation, it was discovered Fairchild was carrying two different sets of DNA, the defining characteristic of chimerism.
The recruitment consultant from the West Midlands went on to explain she’d gone ‘absolutely insane trying to find a logical explanation’.
‘No one would ever put themselves through this if they were lying. I won’t give up. Imagine knowing that you are telling the truth and how frustrating and upsetting it is knowing I’ve got nothing I can do to prove there was no one else. I’ve only got my word. It has nearly destroyed me,’ she said.
Charlotte then declared that she could ‘categorically say it is impossible that Conor is not the dad’.
Despite standing firm, she acknowledged the ongoing back-and-forth has made her look like a ‘liar’.
Fighting back tears, Charlotte admitted she was left suicidal and had faced many people telling her she was a ‘terrible’ mum who should have her daughter taken away.
However, she’s now feeling in a ‘good place’ and is returning to university, with plans to become forensic psychologist.
Although facing immense guilt over the public fight to confirm her daughter’s father, Charlotte insisted she’d ‘stuck to the truth’ and ‘stood up to the bully’.
She went on to say the ordeal was ‘not going to define me or stop me from speaking the truth’.
Going forward, she wants her daughter to also realise that when she is ‘old enough to understand’, her mum is a ‘strong woman who won’t be intimated by anybody’.
‘This isn’t over and I’m going to be doing my detective work. Everything in the dark will come to light,’ she added.
When the results of the first paternity test were revealed, Conor shared a statement online, which read: ‘I am glad that the speculation can finally be put to an end.
‘All I would ask is that people act with kindness in response to this news – there is a child at the heart of all of this, and that should not be forgotten. I wish Charlotte and her family all the best.’
After the second he said the results had been proved to be ‘conclusive’ and he was glad to now ‘finally draw a line under this’ and wanted everyone to be able to ‘move on with our lives’.
Last month he announced his engagement to girlfriend Kitty Bertrand.
Metro has contacted representatives for Conor Maynard for comment.
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