Kira Cousins, 23, has spoken publicly for the first time since her deception came to light last October. The former supermarket employee from Airdrie pretended a plastic doll was her newborn baby, tricking her then-boyfriend Jamie Gardner and her family into thinking she was pregnant.
Why she did it
In an exclusive conversation with the Sunday Mail, Kira acknowledged her actions were wrong but insisted she felt unable to inform Jamie she was no longer expecting after experiencing a miscarriage. "I couldn't tell him. I did lose a child. I'd tried to tell him when I first lost the child. I still have messages on my phone which said, 'Jamie, we need to sit down,' but I couldn't speak to him about anything."
The deception
Kira donned a prosthetic baby bump for several months, distributed ultrasound scan pictures and organised an extravagant gender reveal celebration. She also published images of infant clothing and presents, including a £1,000 pram and car seat, together with AI-generated clips displaying the "baby" moving within her belly. She documented hospital visits and claimed prenatal examinations had identified a cardiac abnormality.
Kira stated she permitted Jamie to think she remained pregnant because she feared telling him the truth. "I think there was a bit of fear and shock as well. I'd gone through that myself. How do you tell someone that you've already gone through all that by yourself?"
Jamie's account
Jamie described how he believed he'd become a father and wouldn't have remained in the relationship had he realised Bonnie-Leigh Joyce was a doll. "If I had ever known that was really a doll, I'd have run off sooner. I've not got a clue what really happened to be honest." He refuted Kira's assertions that she had tried to tell him about a miscarriage, saying he has no memory of it.
The discovery
Kira's mother eventually uncovered the realistic doll concealed in her bedroom in October. Those in Kira's inner circle grew suspicious after nobody had heard the "baby" cry. Kira also purportedly went as far as claiming 'Bonnie-Leigh died'.
Kira claimed Jamie had taken the doll to his parents' house without her. "He took that doll, without me, to his mum and dad's house, which is about a 20-minute drive. Everyone in that house saw it and none of them twigged."
She said she eventually told Jamie the truth. "He said, 'You're a psycho,' and walked out. That was the last time we've ever saw each other." Yet Jamie contests that Kira told him directly, stating that when he discovered the truth it wasn't "through her".
Aftermath
Kira maintains that people who accepted she had given birth should have realised earlier that her daughter was a doll. "If they didn't, they were stupid." She insists she has been in telephone contact with Jamie since. "We have spoken quite a few times since, but it's weird. I can't even understand what we are because we don't hate each other, but we don't love each other."
Jamie, who declined to participate in a TV documentary about the controversy, added: "I want to get as far away from her as possible. I just want to move on with my life."
