Former QVC executive, 62, sues reality show matchmaker she paid $150,000 after she was set up with a string of men who were 'married, mentally unstable, physically ill, pathological liars, serial Lotharios, stalkers and convicted felons'

  • Darlene Daggett, QVC's president for U.S. commerce from 2002 to 2007, filed a lawsuit against matchmaking agency Kelleher International on Thursday 
  • The 62-year-old Pennsylvania woman says she paid $150,000 for the dating service, which promised to match her with compatible wealthy bachelors 
  • Instead, Daggett says she endured a series of dates with 'men who were married, mentally unstable, physically ill, pathological liars, serial Lotharios' and worse
  • Within hours of filing the lawsuit on Thursday, both parties agreed to settle 
  •  Amber Kelleher-Andrews appeared on the short-lived NBC reality show Ready for Love

A former QVC executive filed a lawsuit on Thursday, against the matchmaking company she paid $150,000 to help her find a mate. 

In the lawsuit, divorced mother-of-four Darlene Daggett said Kelleher International promised to hand pick her wealthy bachelors, with the goal of finding someone she could spend her retirement years with.

Instead, the 62-year-old former president of QVC's U.S. commerce, says she forked over six figures but ended up suffering a series of disastrous dates with men who were more than just unsuitable.

'Kelleher’s "highly screened" matches for Daggett included men who were married, mentally unstable, physically ill, pathological liars, serial Lotharios, stalkers, convicted felons, and men unwilling or unable to travel and/or the subject of professional sanctions,' Center City lawyer M. Kelly Tillery wrote in the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Philadelphia and obtained by Philly.com

Darlene Daggett (left), QVC's president for U.S. commerce from 2002 to 2007, filed a lawsuit against matchmaking agency Kelleher International on Thursday. The company is owned by Amber Kelleher-Andrews (right)

Within hours of Daggett filing the lawsuit on Thursday, both parties agreed to settle. Neither are talking about the case now, citing a non-disclosure agreement, but Daggett's lawsuit gives plenty of detail about her grievances with the California-based company. 

Kelleher International, which claims to be the nation's largest privately-owned matchmaking service, was founded in 1986 by Jill Kelleher and is now run by her daughter Amber, a former Baywatch and Melrose Place actress. 

She also appeared on the short-lived NBC reality matchmaking competition Ready for Love, produced by Eva Longoria, which aired in 2013 and was promptly cancelled.

Kelleher-Andrews also appeared on the NBC reality matchmaking show Ready For Love, which was promptly cancelled after just a few episodes aired in 2013

Kelleher-Andrews also appeared on the NBC reality matchmaking show Ready For Love, which was promptly cancelled after just a few episodes aired in 2013

The company says they've matched thousands of marriages in their three-decade history, and charge anywhere from $25,000 to $150,000 for their services. 

On the company's website, they compare their matchmakers to 'personal headhunters, continuously networking and recruiting' for their clients. 

While they don't publicize their past clients, it's been speculated that Jennifer Aniston, Paula Abdul and David Spade among other celebrities have coming knocking on their office door, looking for love. 

Daggett says she went to the company in 2014, hoping they would help her find someone with whom to spend her retirement years. 

'Due to her senior level position in a local firm, [she] felt that social dating sites did not provide her with the degree of screening and privacy she was looking for,' the lawsuit states. 

She opted in for the company's most expensive plan, the $150,000 CEO level, which guaranteed her matches from around the world and the personal attention of Kelleher-Andrews. 

But Daggett says she did not get what she paid for. Instead, she suffered brief romantic entanglements with increasingly disastrous men. 

Daggett's first match, an Australian entrepreneur, seemed great at first - whisking her away to Panama and Costa Rica after two dates in 2015. 

They made plans to meet in Pennsylvania after the vacation, but Daggett says her date called her two days later saying he 'needed to go dark'.

Meet the matches  

 #1 - The Interpol Spy

Daggett was introduced to an Australian entrepreneur who was apparently well known to a senior staff member at Kelleher. Daggett and the man hit it off quickly, had two dates in California, spoke for hours nightly and then took a trip to Panama and Costa Rica in the spring of 2015. 

Daggett flew home on a Sunday with the understanding that this gentleman was going to meet her in Pennsylvania the following weekend. Two days later he called and said, 'He needed to go dark' for two weeks, but would stop on his way home to visit with Daggett. The man mentioned doing work for Interpol in previous conversations with Daggett, so Daggett thought this was a potentially legitimate, albeit strange occurrence. 

Eleven days later, Daggett received an email saying, 'His life was not his own, and that he'd be gone until the end of the year.' He went on to say that he would be totally off the grid with no cellular phone contact, text or email. 

On rare occasions, Daggett would receive messages saying he would call at a specific time, but these calls never took place. On another occasion, Daggett received a message from this same man stating that he had crossed three oceans, mountains, deserts and jungles, beaches, farmland and more time zones than he could count. According to Daggett, these brief communications had the feel of clandestine operations taking place in Eastern Europe. 

Thirteen months later, on or about June 20, 2016, Daggett received a telephone call from this gentleman's previous girlfriend with whom he had been cavorting around the globe. She informed Daggett that she had met with him after Daggett left their second date, and he had her fly in the same day that Daggett left Panama. 

When he went 'dark,' the two of them were actually sailing to Cuba. When he said he would be totally off the grid for the remainder of 2015, crossing oceans, deserts and the like, he was actually traveling all over Europe and Australia with this woman. 

During Daggett's conversation with this woman, she also mentioned to Daggett that this man was violent and had hit her twice.

 #2 - The Serial Lothario

 A few months later, in the fall of 2015, Daggett met a senior executive for a Fortune 500 company who lived in Belgium and worked in Poland. 

Despite the distance, he and Daggett spoke and texted multiple times a day. This gentleman flew to visit Daggett at Thanksgiving and again at Christmas. The relationship was off to a very positive start, and he and Daggett began planning their lives together. By all accounts, they were equally smitten and communicated this to Kelleher. 

On the morning of December 27, 2017, Daggett received a tender morning message from this man, as was the custom between them, and by 2pm that same afternoon, this man had called off the relationship via email, saying he did not want to live in Pennsylvania part time. There was no fight, no telephone call, no compromise and no conversation. Daggett wanted the opportunity to understand how this relationship went so wrong so quickly and was deeply hurt by this man. 

Daggett pleaded with staff at Kelleher not to match this man again based upon her concern that he would do this again. The staff at Kelleher re-matched this man shortly after his breakup with Daggett. 

Again, this man came on very strong, accelerating the relationship in a short period time and did the exact same thing to the next woman. 

The fact that Kelleher matched this man after Kelleher was warned about his strange behavior indicates a lack of vetting related to potential matches and a lack of concern for the well being of Kelleher clients.

 

 

 #3 - The Alleged Widower Turned Convicted Felon and Stalker 

In February 2015, Daggett was matched with an alleged widower from Virginia. During lunch, he told Daggett he was having flashbacks. When Daggett inquired what that meant, he said, 'It was a snowy and rainy day like today that my wife was killed.' The man was tearing up and Daggett comforted him the best she could. 

For a multitude of reasons, Daggett was not interested in this man and did not continue to date him. 

A few months later, Daggett received an email from him, asking if Daggett would consider helping him with some aesthetic decisions that needed to be made on an 11,000-square-foot house that he was building in Boulder, Colorado. Given that he had lost his wife and Daggett has some talent in this area, she agreed to help him. Daggett made very clear that she was doing this out of kindness and continues to have no romantic interest in this man. The gentleman sent architectural plans, reclaimed wood samples and a kitchen cabinet door prior to meeting with Daggett. 

Daggett invited him to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to review his plans and samples in person, as it would be difficult to do over the phone. Daggett and the man went out for dinner and Daggett noticed that she had a voicemail from an unknown number. Twice, Daggett listened to the first five seconds of the message before turning the phone over to the man, saying, 'I think this call is for you. I'll give you a little privacy and I'll be back in a few minutes.' When Daggett returned, the man was ghostly pale. Daggett asked if everything was ok, and he said 'no.' When Daggett asked what was wrong, he said that he was married. 

The woman who left the voicemail on Daggett's phone was his wife, even though he previously informed Daggett that he was a widower. The man went on to tell Daggett that he had been raped as a child and his lying was latent behavior associated with the trauma. The man also said, 'I need to cause pain and shame.' Daggett did not ask for clarity about upon whom he wished to inflict such pain. Instead, Daggett told him to get his bags and get out of her house immediately. All area hotels were fully booked so Daggett took him to the Philadelphia airport late that same evening. 

Earlier in the evening, his wife apparently called Daggett's ex-husband saying, 'Did you know your wife is having an affair with my husband?' Daggett's ex-husband said, 'I'm not sure who you are, but I'm not married and I don't have a wife.' 

Daggett called Kelleher the following Monday to tell them about this man. According to Kelleher, they immediately called him and removed him from Kelleher's client roster. At Daggett's request, this man was told to never contact her again. The man agreed saying, 'Out of respect for Darlene, I will not contact her by any means.' 

The gentleman violated that promise by continuing to send emails to Daggett. Ultimately, an attorney was sent to him saying that if he continued to contact Daggett, she would seek a restraining order to stop these unwanted advances. 

About one year later, Daggett was traveling with her daughter in Europe when she received a telephone call from her realtor saying that a client from Virginia (the alleged widower) was interested in coming to see her home. While Daggett's home was on the market, it did not have a sign on the property, so this man must have been keeping track of her residence or movements in some fashion. Daggett told her realtor that under no circumstances was this man to be let into her home. 

Daggett believes that this man wanted to gain access to her home for one of three reasons. He wanted to see or speak to Daggett, leave something in her house or hurt Daggett or her children. 

Daggett was genuinely frightened for her personal safety and that of her family. Daggett hired a prominent attorney to write a very stern warning regarding this continued contact, making clear that she would file a restraining order and a criminal complaint for violation of the Pennsylvania Stalking Statue. Local police officials were also made aware of the incident and patrolled Daggett's property while she was out of the country. Daggett consulted a Private Detective to see if she needed security for herself and her family. Most challenging of all, Daggett had to sit down with her four children and tell them that she had a potential stalker who had tried to gain access to their home. 

As a result, doors needed to be locked at all times and Daggett asked her family to report any cars lingering in the driveway that did not belong on the property. Daggett unintentionally reported friends of her children to the police because she did not recognize their cars. This compromise to Daggett's privacy and safety has changed her way of life and her family's. 

Last year Daggett's best friend received a call from a woman at her place of business. The woman said she got Daggett's friend's telephone number from this man's cellular telephone and that she was investigating a number of improprieties. Her friend was told that the FBI was involved. The woman said, 'He's been cooking the books and laundering money, running up $20,000 AMEX bills on designer dresses, women's shoes and high-end hotels.' Apparently this man was also paying 'hush money' to Ashley Madison - an online dating service that targets married individuals seeking to have affairs - and was also sending monthly checks to a woman in California because he was married. The woman on the phone said that the man also tried to kill himself. 

On December 9, 2016, this man was convicted of bank fraud in the amount of $10.5million dollars. The government did not initially seek detention, but on February 10, 2017, his bond was revoked because he attempted to buy a King Air jet from a Texas aircraft consulting group. It was determined that this man was a flight risk and he was remanded to county jail where he currently awaits sentencing.

 

#4 - The Censured Judge

Approximately two months ago, Daggett received a call from the Founder of Kelleher who said she had identified a man that she thought would be an interesting match.

 Daggett was told that he was a New York State Supreme Court Justice and top mediator in the country. The Founder of Kelleher said she had spoken with this man, but her contact in New York was away and had not met with him yet. 

Based on what Daggett was told, she was interested in meeting this man. The Founder of Kelleher provided his name and Daggett immediately conducted a rudimentary internet search of this man to learn more about him. What Daggett found on that initial search was alarming to her. This gentleman was censured for carrying on an affair with an attorney who regularly appeared before him and for sneaking off to broadcasting school while he was supposed to be in court. 

Daggett called Kelleher to share her concerns and the Founder of Kelleher said, 'It couldn't have been that bad. He still has a job.'

#5 - First Seriously Ill Man

Daggett, without her prior knowledge, was matched with a gentleman who had Crohn's disease for close to fifty years. 

After spending several months developing a relationship and traveling with this man, Daggett realized that she could not surrender her desire for an active and robust retirement to become a future caretaker for this man. Had Daggett been presented with the facts, she would not have chosen to be matched with this individual, saving both of them the heartbreak of breaking off a relationship. 

Daggett's concerns of future health problems turned out to be correct because this man was, sadly, diagnosed with Parkinson's disease at the end of last year.

 

 

 #6 - Second Seriously Ill Man

The very next man that Kelleher matched Daggett with, unbeknownst to Daggett, had a very serious heart condition and had suffered three prior strokes. 

During the first date between this man and Daggett, this gentleman lost consciousness in her car. Daggett immediately tried to take him to the nearest hospital. When the man regained consciousness, he pleaded not to be taken to the hospital and instead asked that he be taken to Daggett's home. The man shared with Daggett that he had blockages in both carotid arteries and wanted to go back to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to be treated by his own cardiologist. 

The man had surgery at the beginning of the year and is still on rehabilitation six months later. 

 

Miscellaneous Mismatches

Kelleher also matched Daggett with a series of gentleman that did not meet her criteria for suitable matches, as Daggett reiterated during her weekly conference call with her matchmaker at Kelleher. Despite expressing that she wanted to be matched with a financially independent, retired or semi-retired gentleman who had significant flexibility in his schedule, a desire to travel frequently and was open to marriage, Daggett was matched with the following men.

  • A) Daggett traveled to San Francisco, California and was matched with a man who had no interest in a bi-coastal relationship and was unwilling to travel.
  • B) Daggett was visited by and traveled to Boston, Massachusetts to meet a man who did not meet the criteria for financial independence, semi-retirement or flexibility to travel. The match was in his 60s and wanted to work until his late 70s or early 80s and lived in a small two bedroom condominium. This gentleman shared custody of his sons. His youngest son was still in elementary school and his custody arrangement prohibited him from moving out of Massachusetts until his nine-year-old son turned eighteen.
  • C) Daggett travelled to Miami, Florida to meet a man who resided in New York, New York and Miami, Florida, but was only interested in dating women in their 40s. Daggett was matched with him despite the fact that Kelleher was aware of his strong preference for younger women. This match also had a wife with a long-term critical illness and was not open to marriage until she passed.
  • D) Daggett traveled to Nantucket, Massachusetts to meet a match that otherwise met her criteria, but Daggett was invited to a party on his boat where unlawful substances were being consumed on board.
  • E) Daggett also traveled to Avalon, New Jersey to meet a match that had no interest in traveling. 
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'The man also mentioned doing work for Interpol in previous conversations with Daggett, so Daggett thought this was a potentially legitimate, albeit strange occurrence,' her lawsuit says.

However, over the next several weeks, Daggett says she had only fleeting contact with the man, who made it appear like he was on some 'clandestine' operation.

Eventually, she figured out that he had actually been spending all that time traveling the world with his ex. The two allegedly got back together the day that Daggett flew back from panama. 

Next, Daggett says she was set up with a Belgium-based senior executive for a Fortune 500 company, who she dubbed the 'serial Lothario'. 

She says he wined and dined her, and even spent Thanksgiving and Christmas at her $8million home in Devon, Pennsylvania, before ending the relationship without explanation after several months.

Another failed suitor came in the form of a former judge for the New York Supreme Court. Daggett found out from a simple Google search that the man had been censured during his time on the bench for sleeping with an attorney who regularly appeared in his court. He also was caught reshuffling his court appointments so he could attend broadcasting school classes.

But the worst match of all happened in 2015, when Kelleher set her up with a Charlottesville, Virginia widower.

Daggett says the man cried on their first lunch date, because his wife had been killed on a similarly cold and rainy day. 

But during dinner with the man one evening in Philadelphia, she received a voicemail from the man's wife, who turned out to be alive and well. 

When she confronted her date about the call, he claimed that he had been raped as a child and that the trauma caused him to lie uncontrollable and cause other people to feel shame. 

Daggett says she cut off all contact with the man after this incident, but he continued to email her and even showed up outside her house. 

Eventually she had to hire an attorney to pursue a stalking complaint against him. Several months later, he was charged and convicted in an unrelated $10.5million federal fraud case and is currently awaiting sentencing in Virginia.  

The lawsuit says the incident left her “genuinely frightened for her personal safety and that of her family'.   

Both Daggett's lawyer and Kelleher International's lawyer declined to comment after both parties agreed to settle on Thursday.  

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